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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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JOURNEY
TO IOWA by Norm Bogan |
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Early Saturday morning, I hit the donut shop for coffee and a bagel and then put the steed in an easterly direction looking for sunrise. Crossing the Mojave Desert like the old borax wagons and arriving in Barstow to join the “Mother Road of America”, Route 66 (I-40). About four hours later, I pulled off the interstate into Ash Fork, Arizona to pick up my riding companion. As he jammed the last of his baggage in, I kicked the spurs to the flank once and we were rolling along at seventy-five miles an hour towards Albuquerque. Soon we were swooping past the San Francisco Peaks and on to the Petrified Forest and Painted Deserts. At the base of the Third Mesa of the southwestern Indian Nation, we crossed into New Mexico passing through such metropolis as Grants, Gallup and eventually, Albuquerque. At the western limits of town, our car made a hard pull to the right and we spotted a sign, which read Sandia Motorsports Park. While many times I would have let my steed take its head and go racing, I regained control and continued east for an evening respite. Securing lodging for the night, and enjoying a delicious meal at a local food emporium, we settled in for a short night before heading into the Midwest. An early morning departure found us drawing from the first pot of coffee at McDonalds, then heading to Tucumcari in pursuit of Clint Eastwood. Leaving I-40 we veered to ten o’clock and heading into the Badlands of the Southwest on US 54, across the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, finally reaching Kansas. This is countryside of old and new, as the many cattle were grazing on rangeland awaiting a trip to the slaughterhouse and eventual fame as a Big Mac. They kept the grass trimmed around the many giant locusts munching on tumbleweeds (oil wells). It was our quest to chronicle the mighty fight of the once proud warrior, the Southwest Armadillo against the Detroit iron. Scorecard read Cars-7, Warrior-0. Our journey carried us on to Wichita and later Kansas City, the same terminus for the above-mentioned cattle. One slight delay occurred, when in our zest to seek out 81 Speedway so my companion could add another track to his list, we overlooked the fact that a red light on the dash was saying, “hey stupid you’re out of gas”! Spending an hour or so along the lonesome highway, a friendly Kansan, offered us a five- gallon drink for twenty dollars, making us once again mobile. After traveling about forty miles on a one lane Interstate 35, we found refuge in Lenexa, Kansas and crashed for another short rest before journeying the last miles to that Mecca of Speed, Knoxville, Iowa. When you see sprint cars on the lampposts, you know you have arrived. Our first stop was the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Executive Director, Tom Schmeh took time from his busy schedule during Nationals week to show us around the suites overlooking the track and discuss accumulating information on the days of yore when many CRA racers traveled to South Africa to battle during the winter months. A tour of the Hall of Fame and Museum is a must do for even the slightest of sprint car fans. This facility continues to accumulate new materials and equipment to display, providing a Memory Lane for all who have seen the many revered people honored in the Hall of Fame and famous racers from the many years. On tap for the future will be a research library with many photos, newspaper articles, programs and other materials. Completing our visit, I contacted local resident, John Katich, Webmaster of www.usadirtracing.com and a contributing broadcaster for a number of race venues. John and his wife, Santa, invited us to spend the night with them. We were able to capture some of the flavor of Nationals Week with a visit to a local bar and grill, followed by a visit to Knoxville Raceway, where at midnight we sat in the backstretch grandstands and witnessed the cleaning and painting of the turn two guard railings. The evening continued into the late hours of an early morning, with some hot and heavy bench racing. After bidding our hosts adieu, we completed the Nationals Week experience with a stop for victuals at the Hy-Vee, qualifying my traveling companion as a certified sprint car nut. This day will be completed with the Ultimate Challenge at Southern Iowa Raceway in Oskaloosa |
