It turned out to be another washout for local racing last weekend. Luxemburg Speedway and the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway were able to get their racing programs in on Friday night, but the local tracks that race on Saturday and Sunday night had to cancel their racing programs because of the rainy weather over the weekend.
I made the trip to Luxemburg Speedway on Friday night. It was only the second race night Luxemburg Speedway has been able to complete this year. Just like Shawano Speedway, clay was added to Luxemburg Speedway during the offseason which has made things a bit more difficult getting the track ready during the wet spring we are having.
I wasn’t at the opening race at Luxemburg Speedway, but had heard reports that the track was rough. It got rough again last week, especially in corners one and two. Track officials did their best to keep the racing surface as good as possible. Overall, it was an entertaining show and worth the trip.
Shawano Speedway is still looking to get its second week of racing in the books. That is hard to believe considering that the Speedway was supposed to open its season on April 16 and here we are entering Memorial Day Weekend. I can’t remember a season when there has been so little racing through the first month of the season.
Because of all the rainouts, and to create more fan interest, Shawano Speedway has announced a couple of additions to its racing program in the upcoming weeks. The first will be the return of the Spectator Eliminator competition on Saturday, June 11.
The Spectator Eliminator competition was a weekly competition in the 1980s but eventually disappeared. It was reintroduced several years ago and was popular with the fans, but again the competition was eventually discontinued. Well, it is back for at least one time this year.
“We want to generate a little more fan interest and add a little bit more to the show,” said Dale Hodkiewicz, Shawano Speedway race director. “Our show has been pretty much five classes for a long time, so we thought we’d mix it up a little bit and have a little nostalgia brought back in.”
Hodkiewicz also said a decision hasn’t been made yet if this will be the only appearance of the Spectator Eliminator competition in 2011. “We’ll see how it goes and maybe we’ll bring them back one more time or something.”
On Saturday, June 25, four-cylinder cars will be added to the racing program. Hodkiewicz said that he had received requests to have four-cylinder cars race at the Speedway, so Speedway officials decided to give it a try. There will be no heat races for the four-cylinder cars. They will race only a feature event.
“We’ll give them a chance to do some hot lapping before the feature and then line them up and give them a run,” said Hodkiewicz.
The feature lineup will be determined by a draw. The payout is to be determined.
“It’s a different type of racing obviously than what our regular classes are,” said Hodkiewicz. “They are not used to running on such a huge track so it could be interesting.”
Hopefully Mother Nature will also want to see the added events and start providing some good racing weather soon.