If you re-build it, they will come

It is the dream of race promoters everywhere to look up into the bleachers and see them filled to capacity with excited race fans. With all of the changes going on at Tri-City Speedway right now, it is not hard to imagine that dream becoming a reality on opening night.

Despite the challenge of wet weather, an extremely cold winter and other unexpected delays, progress is obvious at the 46-year-old Illinois speedplant. The newly configured three-eighths mile oval is banked and ready for racing. Concrete walls are going up all around the perimeter, many of the old lights have been taken down and new ones are delivered and ready to be lifted into place. Old bleachers by what once was turn one on the half-mile have been demolished and debris is being removed.

Clean up is also ongoing in concessions and all around the track. It is a big job, but things are coming together and this season will mark the beginning of a new era in racing at Tri-City.

Yes, the work has been tiring, and muscles have gotten a workout, but there are parts of it that have been emotionally taxing as well. Tearing down the old guardrails and cutting down the big half-mile meant taking a walk down memory lane. Ask any driver who has turned a significant number of laps at a track if there isn't some sense of nostalgia there. Most will tell you that there is.

Ripping apart the metal and earth where those memories were made is a bit like watching your childhood home being demolished. You know you will carry the images with you, but it's never quite the same when the physical structure is gone.

I snapped quite a few photos, and I will do my best to add more to the gallery tomorrow. Right now, there are eight up on the web site. Just follow this link:


http://www.girlsgoneracin.com/TCSConstruction07.htm

Once you've had a chance to look at those, check out the all new home page at www.girlsgoneracin.com. I hope you like it!


Here's a taste of the new Tri-City Speedway:

It's Springtime in St. Louis: Let the Racing Begin!

Trees are blooming, flowers are poking their heads up after their winter slumber, birds are chirping merrily outside my window and all of that points to only one thing: It's almost racing season!

There are a whole lot of great opportunities on the horizon for motorsports enthusiasts in St. Louis. It's time to get off the couch and head to your local race track to support the greatest sport on dirt. The Girls Gone Racin' dirt divas are more than ready for racing season to begin. We've already had our fill of televised NASCAR and are anxious to get out for the up close and personal thrill that is what makes grassroots racing so great. There is nothing to compare with the roar of the engines, the smell of spent fuel and the great people we meet each season.

Over the winter, I made some cosmetic changes to the blog and web site, since there wasn't a whole lot of actual racing to keep me busy. Today I added a slide show that uses several of the photos we shot last season and I think it turned out really well. I also found time to put together a web site for the all new Ozark Mountain Midget Series which kicks off their inaugural season in May.

Here is some of what is on the menu for the first week or so of the 2007 racing season in St. Louis:

Belle Clair Speedway will be one of the first tracks in the St. Louis are to open the gates for 2007 with their first weekly racing event scheduled to take place on March 30. Racing will include UMP Late Models, Modified and UMP Sportsman and Allied Pure Stock.

March 31 will be opening night for the Ken Schrader and Ray Marler owned I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri. The weekly racing there consists of Late Models, Modifieds, Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions.

On Friday, April 6 the St. Louis racing season officially kicks off at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach with the first running of Late Models, Modifieds, C.A.R.S Late Models, Street Stocks and Factory Stocks. It's Kenny Wallace night, and Herman himself will be on had racing his dirt Modified. Rain caused a few problems before the season even began, delaying opening night at Tri-City by one week. They have been scurrying to get the final touches on the new track design, lighting, concrete wall and all the other loose ends that need to be knotted beforehand. Don't miss the opportunity to see history in the making on this first night of racing on the new track.

Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois also opens on April 6 with a $1,000-to-win 360 Sprint Invader race, as well as Late Models and Street Stocks. This will be the first year for the former Jacksonville Raceway to be under new promoters Bill West, Jr. and Kim West.

Heading on into next weekend, Saturday, April 7, will see the return of the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars to I-55 Raceway. This will be the first night out for Girls Gone Racin' and there is a good chance that my pal Spring won't make it to this one. She is laid up with some serious back problems and until she gets those straightened out, traipsing through the infield trying to catch racing action with her camera is out of the question. It will be up to me to get the best shots I can, take notes and get everything on our blog and web site the next day. With my new camera lens and way too much time since my last race, I think I'm up for the challenge. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for racing and a little tailgating beforehand.

Get out and support your local racing!

New Track Passes Test Run at Tri-City Speedway

PONTOON BEACH, Ill. -- For the last few months, dirt has been moving and a new track has recently emerged from the gumbo clay at Tri-City Speedway. Gone is the half-mile circuit, and the quarter-mile is nowhere to be seen. In their place is a new high banked 3/8 mile track that has drivers anticipating the start of a new season like never before.

Last Friday, track owner Kevin Gundaker, along with his long-time friend Eric Jacobsen took the new track for a test drive. Eric had stopped off on his way to Kentucky Lake Speedway to check out the changes, and volunteered his #5 Late Model to be the first car on the new track.

Kevin and Eric both took turns, and, according to Kevin's wife, Tammy, it was "awsome and fast."

Below are a few photos from this momentous event, all taken by Tammie Easley of the Tri-City staff.

The Grassroots Gospel: The Gundaker Family

The Grassroots Gospel is a Girls Gone Racin’ series celebrating the drivers, promoters, fans and others who contribute to the preservation of the grassroots Motorsports effort and its traditions. It is intended as a tribute to the people who believe in the importance of maintaining the foundation of American auto racing.

Here in St. Louis, the Gundaker name is well known in two circles. One sees it everywhere from billboards, to yard signs to tractor trailers. If you have purchased real estate here, there’s a good chance that you have used their services.

To local race fans, the Gundaker name is less about down payments, equity and interest rates, and more about competition, excitement and the thrill of dirt track racing at its finest.

Three years ago, G&G Motorsports, which consists of Kevin Gundaker and his Dad, Gordon, purchased what some would consider an historic racing facility. Tri-City Speedway, in Pontoon Beach, Illinois is a dirt facility that opened in 1961 and consisted of a half-mile track surrounding a quarter-mile track.

At the time of purchase, the facility was in need of quite a bit of TLC. The Gundakers dove into the task and learned fast the true meaning of sweat equity. Instead of spending the winter bending sheet metal for his famous number 11 Late Model, Kevin spent hundreds of hours cleaning and painting, hauling off debris and old pieces of machinery.

The beat-up old trailers that used to be an office and a catch-all were replaced by new buildings to house the track’s hard-working staff. The pit gate was moved, making it easier for haulers to negotiate the pits. And everywhere you look, from shirts to building accents, you see patches of Kevin’s trademark color: Purple.

Kevin and his wife, Tammy attended promoters’ workshops, met with marketing people, and held drivers meetings. They hired staff members, discussed changes to the classes, nights of operation and a multitude of details that even they had not anticipated.

By opening night 2005, they were ready.

That first year was just the beginning of the learning process, and Tammy will be the first to admit that they made a lot of mistakes along the way. At times it was overwhelming and exhausting, but they survived and put what they had learned to good use.

Last year was better as they took what they had learned in their rookie season and began to apply it. Then they began to really work on the bigger improvements they wanted to make, ones that were more than paint brushes and brooms could fix.

This year the fruit of those labors is obvious to everyone, whether you walk through the gates, or fly overhead. Not only have they moved race night from Sunday to Friday, but the track has been completely re-configured. Gone are the half-mile and the quarter-mile circuits, and in their place is a wonderful 3/8 mile high-banked track that ought to challenge drivers and thrill fans. A new concrete wall is in the works, and to top it off, all new Musco lighting is going in this week and should be shining brightly by opening night, March 30.

Along with all of the changes at Tri-City comes a new addition to the G&G Motorsports family. Earlier this month, they became the proud new owners of Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Mo. Lake Ozark will run on Saturday nights and will certainly keep the Gundakers hopping, burning up the pavement between St. Charles and Eldon.

The Gundakers are committed to preserving the grassroots racing effort here in the Midwest, and for that we should all be thankful. Without the efforts and hard work of people like them, those of us who love racing would continue to see dirt tracks meet the fate of others, like St. Charles Speedway and 67 Raceway Park.

So now you have even more good reasons to get out and support your local racing. Do your part to keep the tradition alive. It’s great entertainment for the whole family!

Don't pimp my racin'!

It all started with the half-dressed girls in orange shorts with owls on their shirts. You know the ones I'm talking about. They don't need any more press and I'm not going to give it to them.

Then, about six years ago at the Belleville Midget Nationals, I saw some oiled up, bikini-clad pornstar-wannabe slithering all over the front of a Midget Car in victory lane while a photographer snapped away. Baby oil, Kansas dust, breezy summer day. Yeah, I can only imagine that chick having dirt in places she didn't know existed after that photo shoot!

Why is it that when it comes to marketing, whether it's shaving cream, cars, web hosting or hamburgers, the advertising industry thinks that using scantilly-clad women to promote their products is ok? Does it really increase sales or is it just an excuse to legally pornify the marketplace? It sure doesn't make me want to go out and plop my money down, I'll tell you that. And it doesn't work on the majority of the guys I know either. If they have even an ounce of respect for women, this kind of marketing should have just the opposite effect than is intended.

And why is it that as the female fan base for motorsports grows by leaps and bounds, the racing industry gets deeper into the sleaze pit? Do the brains behind these promotions really think they are going to attract more women fans, or are they intentionally trying to drive us away from an historically male sport?

Yes, it started many years ago with the girls who represent the place guys go to because they supposedly have great wings, (don't know, never been there) but unfortunately, it didn't end there.

Last year a Sprint Car driver signed a sponsorship agreement with a men's magazine so now when you take your kids to the track, and they see that billboard go buy, you get to explain to them that it's just a fancy apartment that rich people live in.

As if that wasn't enough, today another major player in motorsports announced a partnership with another men's magazine, and is even going to have their trademark girls with the big ears and the fuzzy tails walking around at an upcoming event. I can just hear that explanation now, "No sweetie, that's not the Easter Bunny."

Why has it come to the point where the motorsports marketing gurus have decided that it's not bad enough we are bombarded with sleaze on tv, radio, internet and highway signs, but they now have to trash live racing as well? Aren't there enough reputable sponsors out there that they don't have to stoop to this?
If they want to make racing an adults-only sport, which appears to be the direction they are headed, then they are shooting themselves in the proverbial bank account. Where do they think future race fans will come from if their parents keep them away from the tracks when they are young? We already have to shield them from the violent and sleazy commercials during televised racing. At live events, our biggest challenge before was always trying to find a "family friendly" area to sit in order to avoid the one foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, drunken redneck who, without fail, would always end up sitting behind us. What's next? Mud-wrestling on the front stretch?

The only thing worse than the companies, sanctions and tracks that parade slutty women around in order to sell products, make money and finance their racing are the women who allow themselves to be bought. Yes, every now and then there is a commercial that uses half-naked guys, but I'm guessing it will be a freezing cold July day in Daytona before the Chippendale Dancers show up in victory lane!

One month to go!

With just one month to go until the official kick off of the 2007 GGR season, all I can say is, "Bring it on!"

Like most race fans, I have watched the oh-so-slow revolution of seasons changing from those mild October evenings, to the ice storms of November and January, all the way around to violent thunderstorms of pre-spring. It's an ongoing circle that will finally make the turn to spring in the very near future.

As we gear up for the season, Spring and I have been working on confirming dates for races, getting credentials, organizing our paperwork and brainstorming over what to do differently and better this year.

We've had some fun lunches with other race girls, mainly Tammy and Tina from Tri-City, where we have learned more about how things work when it comes to promoting a dirt track. The girls have also been great at giving us tips as to things we can do to make sure we maintain good relationships with track and sanction owners. With all of that in mind, I like to think that last year was our rookie/learning season and this, our sophomore season, means we will apply much of what we have learned. Of course, it's an ongoing process, and I would also hope that we will never stop learning.

These past few months have meant basketball season at our house, and since I can't be outside shooting race cars, I've been honing my skills inside, taking photographs at high school varsity games, as well as junior high feeder league and Upward basketball games. It's been a lot of fun, and I managed to contribute hundreds of photos to our high school coach for use at the end of the season awards dinner, which is always a lot of fun.


Besides taking pictures, I've been trying to learn more about how my camera works, and how to process and manipulate photos in Paint Shop Pro Photo. I still have a whole lot to learn about all aspects of photography, and I doubt I will ever come close to making the kind of magic that Spring creates, but I sure have a good time trying. I'm posting one of my manipulations here just to give you an idea of the kind of playing I've been doing. I like the effects, and I'm going to play around some more when I have the time. Maybe one of these days Spring will even have time to give me a few tips.

While learning about the camera, and really pushing my current lenses to their limits, it became apparent that I just couldn't get as close to my subjects as I would have liked. With that in mind, I broke down and ordered a new zoom lens that should be here by the end of the week. My current lens goes out to 200, and the new one goes to 300, so I am anxious to see how much that helps with shooting cars. I will still have the problem of not having a decent flash, so any night time photography is still going to be left up to Spring.

It's funny, as the days are crossed off the calendar, I look forward to the racing season, yet I want to hang on to each precious hour. My daughter graduates from high school this year, and will be attending school in Springfield, Missouri, in the fall. We took a fast trip down there this weekend so she could interview for a scholarship, and had a great time. Of course, it would be a whole lot better if I didn't get all weepy at the thought of packing her up and saying good-bye! She's quite a kid though, and I know she will do well.

While in Springfield last weekend, we had about 90 minutes to kill, so we did what most women would do in our situation, we went shopping! Finding our way to Battlefield Mall was easy, and as luck would have it, two local tracks, Lebanon I-44 Speedway and Monett Speedway, were holding their pre-season race car show at the mall! All lined up in one wing of the mall were beautiful shiny Late Models and Modifieds polished up and ready to roll. It's fun to see them looking all clean and new and then think about how they are all going to look in about a month's time!

Speaking of new, things are coming together over at Tri-City. My Dad and I are hoping to make a run over there on Thursday to see it firsthand. The new Musco lighting is on its way and the weather is looking good so far for the pouring of the new concrete wall. That place is sure going to look different from the track I grew up with, but I think that all of the changes will be great. The Gundakers have sure put a lot into it, and I know they are excited about unveiling it to the world.

As it stands right now, Spring and I are hoping to get over there for a couple of hours on Play Day, March 25. We'll head back over on April 6 when Kenny Wallace is supposed to be in attendance.

Saturday, April 7, we head down to Pevely, Missouri for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. I haven't been to a WoO show in a few years, and I'm really looking forward to it. Our plan right now is to go down early and do some tailgating before the race. We're hoping that a few of our friends will stop by and say hello. I'm planning to bring a few Girls Gone Racin' stickers to give away, so if you stop by, be sure and ask for one!

Yes, the weather is warming up, and all over the midwest engines are being tuned up in preparation for another run at a track championship, or a rookie season. I don't know about everyone else, but I can't wait to get the party started!