EDGEWATER RACEWAY PARK
Season opener: April 4
Web: www.edgewaterrace.com
Favorite concession food: Chicken sandwiches & French fries
FYI: Fans can watch in comfort with aluminum seating with backs. … LED lights will be added to the scoreboard this season for easier viewing. … Eight divisions are offered for the quarter-mile strip. … Along with the racing action car shows and swap meets are also on the schedule.
ELDORA SPEEDWAY
Season opener: April 18
Web: www.eldoraspeedway.com
Favorite concession food: Pizza sandwich
FYI: The track received its first makeover since 2004 with the addition of new clay from Ohio. … An infield media center, along with a new concession stand, is expected to be completed early this summer. … Check out May 9 on the schedule: For the first time in sprint history the winged World of Outlaws will run with the non-wing USAC sprints.
SHADYBOWL SPEEDWAY
Season opener: April 18
Web: www.shadybowl.us
Favorite concession food: Subs
FYI: Shadybowl boasts itself as the fastest 3/10th-mile oval in the world and it offers side-by-side racing with six different divisions. … Off-season projects were put on hold in favor of developing a new tire program to save racing teams money. … Consider bringing a lawn chair. There is plenty of bleacher seating provided but Shadybowl also offers a nice view from its hillside seating.
WAYNESFIELD RACEWAY PARK
Season opener: May 2
Web: www.waynesfieldracewaypark.com
Favorite concession food: Walking tacos
FYI: The track has added safety fencing and upgraded its main grandstand. … The view during the summer is unique with a cornfield just beyond turns 1-2, and sprints have sometimes gone over the embankment and into the fields. … Lucky fans can hitch a ride with sprint legend Jack Hewitt, who often brings his two-seat sprint car and raffles off rides. … Five different divisions run on the 1/3-mile dirt track.
WINCHESTER SPEEDWAY
Season opener: June 27
Favorite concession food: Tenderloin
FYI: Winchester still holds the world record for the fastest half-mile with JoJo Helberg’s lap in 12.669 seconds (142 mph) a couple seasons ago. … Check out the multiple day ticket packages for discounts. … The frontstretch is open before main events for autograph sessions and photo opportunities with drivers and their cars. … Winchester has always been famous for bringing in big names. Kenny Schrader is scheduled to compete in the ARCA race. Merle Bettenhausen is one of many legends appearing at Old Timers Weekend. Indianapolis 500 veteran Bob Harkey serves as the Grand Marshal.
Except for an occasional clap of thunder rumbling in the dark skies, Kil-Kare Raceway remained relatively quiet last week.
The Kil-Kare staff wasn’t phased. They’ve been dealing with storm clouds since last September when, without warning, the Greene County track abruptly closed for the season. Now, seven months later, Kil-Kare is prepared to once again unleash its own rolling thunder down the facility’s state-of-the-art quarter-mile dragstrip.
Kil-Kare plans to host its season-opening event April 17 as the Miami Valley kicks off the 2015 racing season this month.
The 3/8th-mile modified D race track, however, will remain closed. For now.
William Tharpe, Kil-Kare’s dragstrip competition director, expressed confidence last week the oval could be running again by next season. It likely won’t be doing it under NASCAR’s umbrella. Kil-Kare dropped its NASCAR affiliation with the Whelen All-American Series for late models.
“The benefits NASCAR receives from us is kind of more than what we received,” Tharpe said. “If you’re paying for a service and you don’t get what you feel is good for your business …”
That sentiment played a part in Kil-Kare’s shutting down last season. Tharpe said owner Dave Coterel Jr. wanted to streamline Kil-Kare’s management and provide a better product.
Tharpe said that can be seen on the dragstrip with the No Hatin’ Drag Race Organization events, the return of Friday Night Lightz, the Xtreme Outlaw Series and special events like Night of Thunder. Admission (excluding some special events) is $5.
“There was a lot of frustration shutting down a month early, but that’s also enabled us to open on time (this season),” Tharpe said. “Otherwise we would have been looking at a May or June projected opening date. (Dave) had a vision of where we needed to be in a five or six-year amount of time. We weren’t going to reach that goal. … You have to figure out a way to solve it and breathe new life into it.”
As for the oval, Tharpe asked racers and fans to be patient. Low car counts and shrinking crowds, among other issues, prompted Kil-Kare to look for ways to return the oval track racing to its earlier glory days when Dick and Barb Chrysler owned and operated the track.
“That track will be back open at some point. We can’t put a definite time on it,” Tharpe said. “I’d love to say next year. I’d love to say 2017. Who knows? Something could happen now and we could have it open next month.
“People are a little frustrated, but I think they understand as a whole we’ve got to get it figured out. There’s a right formula to make it work. … The speedway definitely has some good plans for the future.”
Tharpe said Kil-Kare has reached out to promoters around the country for ideas. They’ve also solicited input from drivers about what worked and what didn’t.
There is one thing Tharpe can definitely say about the oval: it won’t be turned into a dirt track.
“We’ve kicked around the idea of going to dirt. It’s been talked about,” he said. “But with our logistics on how our facility is laid out, do we want to take on that animal yet? My opinion is if we couldn’t get a good asphalt program going, how am I going to make a good dirt program? The dirt track rumor is a great one to hear. We have fun with it. All the rumors are that, just rumors.”
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