 Spring and Kenny Wallace after the races. |
There is nothing quite so fun for someone who has a passion for something, than to share that passion with someone else. Last night I had the privilege of sharing my intense love of dirt track racing with my good friend Spring. I knew months ago that one of the best places to break her in right would be the first and second turns at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri. It’s a great, high-banked dirt track, and since Spring is a NASCAR fan, I figured the fact that it is co-owned by Kenny Schrader couldn’t hurt. Kenny Schrader and Kenny Wallace were both on hand last night (see photo of Spring and Mr. Wallace) which was the icing on the cake.
We headed out a little late and got caught in some traffic, but it didn’t matter. When two chicks are on the road talking about everything from our husbands and kids to photography and Rascal Flatts, time flies no matter how slow you’re moving. Fortunately for Randy, he got the back seat of ol’ Blue and was able to nap on the way down.
My husband and my brother were waiting for us, literally. Scott was tapped for cash, so I was able to come to the rescue with enough to get him in and get some food for the night. In a scene reminiscent of some switched up episode of the Jetson’s, Spring also had to dig into her wallet to help out her man. What we girls don’t do for a night at the track!
After leaving the boys at the upper parking lot, we headed down below where we signed in at the pit gate and headed toward a fine-looking mix of Late Models, Winged Sprints and Midgets. As we walked, I clued Spring in on a few safety rules (don’t stand in an open pit stall, be aware of your surroundings at ALL times, etc.) and explained a bit about the differences between Sprints and Midgets, and even Sprints and NASCAR-type Stock Cars.
As we were strolling along, getting our bearings, who should we see but a real, live Girl Gone Racin’! Tiffany Wyzard, who has been driving 410 Winged Sprints for the past few years was kind enough to spare a few minutes to chat with us and allowed Spring to snap a few pics. We enjoyed getting to visit with her, and hearing how she and her sister started in Quarter Midgets and Tiffany went on to work her way up to the big cars. I had seen both young ladies race before, at Jacksonville Raceway in Illinois. Tiffany seems to really enjoy what she does, and when Spring asked if the guys give her any crap, she smiled and told us that they really don’t. We got the feeling that if they do, she’s the kind of girl who can hold her own. Tiffany proved that she could manage that big ol’ Sprint Car too, by starting on the pole of her heat race and leading all the way from green to checkers. Congratulations, Tiffany! We’ll get those pictures up as soon as we can. To find out more about Tiffany, check out her web site: TiffanyWyzard.
Speaking of pictures, Spring definitely earned her rookie stripes last night. As I have mentioned before, she has a style and flair all her own, and it shows in her race work as much as it does in her studio shots. We are all familiar with the standard racing shots with cars coming down the track, or turned just so in the corners. Spring wanted no part of that. She is out to take the shots that no one else gets, and we will be sharing those as soon as we can. This morning, her son is having a tonsillectomy, so he will need her attention for a while, but I know that as soon as she can, she will get the pictures on the site. Until then, she sent me a few, just to tease everyone, and I will put them on in just a few minutes. I will also return to add more to this blog, but right now, I need to grab some Cheerios and get to work!
Later that same day…
Alrighty, now that I’ve had my fill of racing news and results for the day, it’s time to get back to talking about last night. The response to Spring’s series of photos has been incredible. I knew she did a great job with those, and everyone who has seen them says the same. I can’t wait to see how the others turned out and get them up on the site, but it’s been a very rough day for Spring’s little boy, and I have a feeling she’s going to be pretty busy with him for a while, as well as shooting a wedding this weekend. She is one busy gal!
With regard to the photos, Jason Keith went out on a backboard last night, which is always a scary sight. From what we could tell immediately after the accident, he was moving his arms and such, but I know that the track emergency team wanted to take every precaution when it came to getting him out without further injury. I do not know if they gave an update last night before the races were over, but I sure hope he’s ok. That was one nasty flip, and it’s much better for everyone when the driver is able to get out under his own power and walk away.
When we weren’t in one of the turns trying to get great racing shots, (or should I say dodging flying race cars?) we spent time watching from the top of one of the haulers. My Dad got to talking with Derrick Myers and his Dad, and they very kindly offered us the use of their wonderful raised “patio” for a pretty killer view. There were a few obstacles in the way, but we were able to see much better than when we were down on the ground. I told Spring on the way home how jealous I was. I went to races for YEARS before I got to watch from the top of a hauler, and she did it her first time out. Talk about rookie luck!
Derrick and his Dad are nice folks, and I enjoyed talking to them. They run in the Midget class and we talked about the expense of engines, chassis and the travel involved. We’ll have some pictures up as soon as we can.
Derrick started on the pole for the feature, but had to retire early with some engine problems. For many of the cars out there, engines didn’t seem to be a problem, but tires were going away all over the place. The Midget feature was yellow-flagged numerous times due to flat tires. Even the winning car had a flat tire!
By the end of the night, we were tired, hungry and dirty, but we got a nice surprise on the way through the back pits. Kenny Wallace was down there talking to folks, signing autographs and just being his hyper self. Spring got him to sign her hat and I took the picture that’s at the beginning of this post. He’s a real nice guy, and was very patient while waiting for my pokey digital camera to warm up.
Late Models going into turn two at Pevely.
All in all, it was a great night. I think both Spring and Randy thoroughly enjoyed their first time at the dirt track and I know I had fun showing Spring around. We talked most of the way home and she finally made me a list of “favorites” for the right-hand column of the blog. I got some of them up today but I have to narrow down some of the others because she just couldn’t pick one or two!
We are scheduled to go back out this Sunday night to the first National Sprint Tour event at Tri City Speedway. Promoter Tammy Gundaker and I have been working on an interview this week, which I hope to get up shortly. The idea is to take our readers behind the scenes so you can see what it takes to pull off a weekly racing show. As soon as we get that finished up, I’ll get it posted either here in the blog, or on the web site.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave your comments. We would love to hear from you!
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