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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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JERRY
WELD CLASSIC by Norm Bogan |
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Arriving
at Lakeside Speedway, my traveling buddy and I ventured into the grandstand area
to survey the facility. While
visiting with the Hughes family setting up the SCRA souvenir stand, promoter
Marc Olson stopped by and after renewing old acquaintances, invited us up to his
office to view the trophy for Saturday’s feature.
What we saw was a chrome pedal car, which looked like a quarter midget.
It was a very unique trophy and I think the winner will be pleased,
although it wont fit on the mantle. Continuing our visit with Marc, he related how tonight’s show would be free admission to all fans. The motive, being to expose them to the non-wing show, enticing them to return on Friday and Saturday. His plan worked well as the stands were near full capacity both nights. Only twelve cars were at the track this evening since it was an open practice and no points were being awarded. About four of the cars were from the Midwest and most had wing tabs on the roll cage. In their practice sessions, all the visiting drivers exhibited the ability to run competitively with the SCRA regulars. The track was well prepared and there were a number of hot lap sessions with the cars adjusting to the track conditions and then returning for another run. Sharing the billing tonight were a number of stock cars, I believe listed as factory stocks. The stock cars split time on the track with the sprinters. I notice that each time the stocks were on the track, it appeared that the moisture came back to the surface, enhancing the performance of the sprinters. After numerous practice sessions for both classes, the stock cars ran a feature, followed by the sprints in the Jerry Weld Classic, named for the local driver, which fans felt was the best sprint car driver from the Kansas City area. Eleven cars ran the fifteen-lap feature, designed to give the visiting fans an idea of the quality of show they could expect from the NWWC tour. Charles Davis Jr. showed his prowess tonight as he led the show from start to finish and enjoyed the spoils of victory. Bud Kaeding, Bobby Graham and Troy Rutherford trailed Davis to the checkers. The crowd seemed impressed with the show and flocked into the pits afterwards to collect autographs and souvenirs. Marc Olson and his staff had provided a good racetrack for the competitors and they in return, put on an excellent exhibition of racing. |
