Out of Hibernation

As February prepares to give way to March, it is time for this old bear to get fired up for the 2016 dirt track season. Until now, I have been reduced to following events in Arizona and Florida with the aid of the internet, but now find the opening of racing in the Tri State area less than a month away. My season will begin with the Quincy,Il. Raceways Quincy Mall car show on Saturday, March 12 with the annual awards banquet following that same evening. The following weekend, the season will kick off with the spring special at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo., with five classes in action for complete shows on both Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19, featuring modifieds, sport mods, stock cars, hobby stocks, and 4 cylinders. With our Canton High School boys basketball team having captured a fourth straight district title this weekend, we are keeping that weekend open in case of an unlikely third consecutive trip to the final four in Columbia, Mo.
 At this time, plans are to begin our 2016 season the following weekend at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson,Iowa on Friday and Saturday for the Spring Extravaganza. The five classes listed above will be joined by the debut of the Lee County late model class. Basically, this is a low budget hybrid set of rules with an emphasis on crate engines. Again, two complete shows will be run, with the late models racing for $1,000 to win both nights. There has been some negative chatter about yet another set of rules on the  internet - imagine that! - but in my limited research, I have run down about eight drivers planning to run this new class, with all but two of them being new to the class, or drivers who have previously quit running late models. Considering the fact that late models are my first love and I can leave work on Friday night in Quincy and be in my preferred seat in Donnellson for the weekly show in about 75 minutes, I am hoping the new class is successful. Reports also have several cars from the eastern Nebraska/Kansas area headed to Lee County for this opening weekend, as the crate class at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood,Nebraska apparently run very similar rules. There is a two day. $5,000 to win special on the Lee County schedule on August 1 and 2, as well. The MLRA late models will visit Lee County twice in 2016, as Lee County experiences a full blown late model revival.
 Quincy Raceways will open the season the following week on Sunday, April 3, with UMP late models, UMP modifieds, plus three IMCA classes, stock cars, sport mods, and sport compacts. The UMP Big Ten late models will visit QR twice in 2016, the UMP Summernationals will come to town in July, but the major event on the schedule is the second annual visit by the World of Outlaw late
models on Thursday, July 28. It is by far the most aggressive schedule in the history of the
" Broadway Bullring."
 Our April schedule will also include the Deery Brothers Summer Series on April 9 at West Liberty,Iowa Raceway, featuring the reworked purse for the series, and the $10,555 to win Slocum 50 late model tribute to our old friend at 34 Raceway in West Burlington,Iowa on April 16. Between weekly shows and numerous specials, we are hoping to get back to more nights at the track in 2016.
Last season found this writer at only 34 events, probably the lowest total for me in more than 30 seasons! Of course, Mother Nature had a lot to do with that!
 Still, I did manage to add one new track in 2015, a very enjoyable trip to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton,Iowa. I still have several " area " tracks I would like to add, so we will see what this summer holds.
 Also, I want to wish the best of luck to my friend and fellow Positively Racing blogger, Brian Neal, as he embarks on his new adventure as head man at the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction,Iowa.
 We will be marking off the days as the calendar turns, and maybe we will meet up with old friends and new as our season takes off Racin' Down the Road.