Gold Crown Photos Posted!

Believe it or not, it's only Tuesday and I already have photos up on the web site from this past weekend! I know, it's got to be a record, right?

Well, they are there, five pages of images from all three days of the Gold Crown Midget Nationals at Tri-City Speedway. I hope you enjoy looking them over, and if you didn't make it this year, make sure you go next year because it was a blast!

Keeping Pace

This blog has been pretty stagnant this season, as has the web site and I should probably apologize, but hey, we all get busy and I doubt that many people read it anyway!

That being said, this weekend was amazing. Three nights of breathtaking midget action at Tri-City Speedway was just what the doctor ordered when it came to wrapping up the 2008 racing season. All I can say is "Wow!" The Inaugural Gold Crown Midget Nationals sanctioned by both POWRi and USAC was outstanding.

Since words really can't describe it justly, and since I am tired from my head to my toes after traipsing throught the pits for the past three nights (not to mention bouncing around in the back of the pace truck) I will let a few of my

favorite photos do the talking. Enjoy!

Marching into Fall

Summer has come and gone and I have not made it to nearly as many races as I would have liked, which seems to be the case anymore. With a daughter in college and a son in high school, I am starting to see that in the very near future, I will actually have more time for racing, but for now, I need to enjoy the moment and make sure I do all that I can to preserve it.

That's not to say that the racing season is totally over though. Two of the biggest events of the year are rapidly sneaking up as the calendar pages turn. The first, the Gold Crown Midget Nationals is slated for next month at Tri-City Speedway. This inagural event boasts $15,000 to win and is sanctioned by both POWRi and USAC. The first entry forms have already arrived and I expect the list to be long and prestigious by the beginning of October.

Of course, the second weekend of October is not only a big race weekend, but a very big Marching Band weekend for our family, so I will be splitting my time the best I can, and I expect by the time it's over, both my camera and I will be ready for a break!

Following the Gold Crown Nationals will be the Midgets Before Christmas, an indoor event at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, which is slated for December 19 - 20. Our family is already making plans to attend this one, which should be a fabulous event. This is a POWRi-sanctioned race which will feature two big days of racing that won't be beholden to the weather, a nice change of pace.

So, yes, it's post-Labor Day and racing is winding down, but there is still a lot to look forward to here in the midwest. Stay tuned here and to WhoWon.com for much more on both events!

Magnificent Midget Madness!

If I hadn't been convinced before, this weekend sealed it: There is absolutely, positively no better racing anywhere on any surface than dirt track Midget racing. And I would have to say that there are no better places to see it than Belle Clair Speedway. Maybe that's overstating things, but I've been to more tracks than I can count over more years than I care to remember, and I truly believe that statement.

Two nights in a row of wheel-to-wheel slide job action will wear a person out and leave them breathless. And if the fans feel that way, I can only imagine how the drivers feel afterward!

We witnessed some spectacular action last night between Brad Loyet, Brent Anderson, Derek King and Mike Hess, just among the front runners. There was other action going on all through the race, but nobody wanted to take their eyes off the front group because we knew we would miss something. It would have taken one of those pocket counters to keep track of all the slide jobs, and these young guys know how to do those to perfection.

As if Friday's feature at Macon wasn't action-packed enough, the Boys of Belleville decided to step it up a notch on Saturday. Despite several yellows and one very interesting spin that resulted in two cars being hooked together by the back bumper, one towing the other down the backstretch, the action never waned. It was anybody's guess who would come out of turn four in front on the last lap, and Brad Loyet proved himself worthy of repeat status by hanging onto his position in front of Brent Anderson just long enough to collect the win.

Yes, the weather is very summerish, but that's to be expected this time of the year. I'm just glad it finally quit raining long enough for us to get to some races! We are still trying to decide about I-55 this Wednesday, but it's looking pretty positive right now. Midget racing is like an addiction and I think we're ready to see what these guys have in store for us again.

Thanks so much to all the great folks at POWRi. We love the racing and appreciate the opportunity to photograph the excellent racing. Hope you all enjoy today's two added galleries!

POWRi Debuts this Weekend at Valley and Lucas Oil Speedways in Missouri

From Kenny Brown:

MILLSTADT, Ill. -- O’Reilly POWRi National Midget Series, presented by Lucas Oil, races Friday at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo. and Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. These races will feature the series’ debuts at two third-mile tracks in The Show Me State.

Valley Speedway and Lucas Oil Speedway kicks off the POWRi Toyota/TRD Challenge this weekend. Along with the races at Junction Motor Speedway and the season ending Gold Crown race at Tri-City Speedway, POWRi competitors will accumulate points toward the $5000 Toyota/TRD payout. You do not have to have Toyota power to participate in the Challenge.

At Valley Speedway, officials from POWRi and Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. will announce details about a two-race swing – part of POWRi’s “Indoor Winter Nationals” – on a temporary indoor dirt track in December. The following night at Lucas Oil Speedway, Lucas Oil’s film crew will be on hand to shoot the race. Clips from the race will be used to promote the 2009 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla., at which many POWRi drivers and teams compete. Lucas Oil is in its first season as a presenting sponsor of POWRi.

While the Kemper Arena announcement and Lucas Oil film crew dominate POWRi’s off track news, competitors in the fourth-year series hope to make on-track news with victories at the two tracks. It will mark the first time in nearly three weeks POWRi competitors will race, inclement weather forced cancellation of two races – at Belle-Clair and Tri-City Speedways in Illinois – over the weekend. Three of four POWRi races have been affected by rain this season.

Valley Speedway has been a victim of rain itself, but hopes to open its 2008 schedule with POWRi. The black gumbo track is a third mile. Lucas Oil – known as “The Diamond of Dirt Tracks” – is also a third-mile track in southwestern Missouri. The track was completed in 2006 and has hosted Midgets in other series previously, in addition to late models and modifieds.

Brett Anderson (Belleville, Ill.) is the Midget Series point leader after winning at Macon (Ill.) Speedway on April 26. Anderson leads Gary “Bubba” Altig, Davey Ray, Danny Stratton and Zach Daum in points. All five – as well as Missouri native and defending series champion Brad Loyet (Sunset Hills, Mo.) and drivers from Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Illinois – are expected to participate in the two-race swing. The POWRi 600cc Micro Sprints, meanwhile, have the weekend off.

POWRi Season Starts Friday!

From Kenny Brown at POWRi Racing:

POWRi National Midgets, Micro-Sprints to Kick Off 2008 Season at Jacksonville and Macon

Brad Loyet and Dereck King will begin defense of their titles.

MILLSTADT, Ill. -- O’Reilly POWRi expects a large contingent of cars for both the POWRi National Midget Series presented by Lucas Oil and the Micro-Sprints in the pair’s season-opening weekend April 25-26 at Jacksonville and Macon, Ill. The weekend marks the beginning of the fourth season of POWRi competition.

Last season’s point battles in both divisions showed how competitive this series is, with the National Midget championship coming down to the final weekend of action. We expect the 2008 season to be the best season yet in POWRi competition.

Brad Loyet and the Loyet Motorsports group – who are coming off the “DuQuoin Winter Nationals” two-race championship at the Southern Illinois Center earlier this season – will begin their defense of the driver and team titles in the National Midgets when the green flag flies April 25 at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill. Loyet won the season opener at the third-mile track last season, one of 5 races he won en route to the championship. The race is one of three for both the National Midgets and Micro-Sprints on the 2008 racing calendar.

The following night, April 26, Midget and Micro-Sprint competitors head about an hour and a half due east to the fifth-mile Macon (Ill.) Speedway, for the first of four National Midget and six Micro-Sprint events in 2008. Brad Kuhn and A.J. Fike won POWRi Midget races last season, while Hoosier Ryan Leek won his first career Micro-Sprint race there in August.

The 31-race National Midget schedule includes 17 races in Illinois. Other states hosting races include Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa. The Micro-Sprints will also run upwards of 30 races in 2008.

While Loyet is one of the favorites to win the 2008 National Midget championship, he’ll have to fend off several other drivers for the crown. Kuhn and Mike Hess claimed multiple victories during last summer’s action and each held the point lead at some point in 2007. Young guns Daniel Adler and Brent Beauchamp, each who have made their mark at local Sprint car races in the Midwest, also expect to challenge Loyet for the title.

On the Micro-Sprint side, King ran away with the title last season, clinching the championship with more than a handful of races to go. However, King was a non-factor in either of the “DuQuoin Winter Nationals” races at the Southern Illinois Center in January and March. If he wants to win the 2008 title, he’ll have to fight off young drivers such as Jason Ormsdy, Jarrett Cathey, Todd Kirkman, Austin Laskey, Tony Roney, Daniel Robinson and Nic Harris. King is also expected to compete in select POWRi National Midget races in 2008.

Morgan County and Macon Speedway practice will begin at 6:00pm, with racing starting at 7:00pm. For ticket and gate information on both tracks you can visit Morgan County at morgancountyspeedway.com and Macon Speedway at maconracing.com.

A Little Night Magic

Last Saturday night I had the distinct pleasure of attending my first race of the 2008 season and it was a blast!

The POWRi Midgets and Micros heated up the night inside of the Southern Illinois Center which sits in the shadow of the Magic Mile at the DuQuoin Fairgrounds. This little fifth-mile bullring played host to the final race of the Indoor Winter Series for POWRi, a series that was supposed to include a three-race schedule, which was shortened to two after big-time ice storms hit the area.

Brad Loyet was the repeat victor, nipping Daniel Adler at the line to cap off the night of fast-paced action. Brady Bacon took home the Micro win, having come to race after being rained out of ARCA practice.

Before racing got underway, I was busy hawking the calendars that we had made for the Marty Boyer fundraiser. With a lot of help from POWRi colorman, Jim Childers, the calendars SOLD OUT and I was able to send a check to Marty's benefit fund on Monday.

Everyone was so supportive and wished Marty all the best. Racing folks are just awesome when it comes to supporting someone when they are down. I just hope everyone enjoys the calendars and that the money helps Marty and his family.


And thinking of guys who have had their share of trouble in the last year, it was really great to see Tracy Hines back in action again! He was in the Don Moore Music Publications #10 that I have come to think of as Jerry Coons' Midget over the last couple of seasons. After his terrible four-wheeler accident last year, it was wonderful to see him back in a race car.

I am just so glad that racing season is off and running again! The World of Outlaws are in town this weekend at I-55 Raceway, but we won't be able to make that one. Drumline season is still going strong for our son, so we will be watching him perform and cheering on his unit.

See you on the dirt!

Get ‘em While They’re Hot: 2008 Marty Boyer Fundraiser Calendars

Marty Boyer is a dear friend of the Open Wheel racing community. He has been instrumental in covering Sprint and Midget racing all over the Midwest and has helped many up-and-coming drivers throughout the years. Last month, Marty suffered a devastating stroke and is working hard to get well. Everyone in the racing world wishes him a complete and speedy recovery.

Marty and his family will have a lot to deal with during this time, and a special fund has been set up to help ease the financial burden. The folks at POWRi Racing, the St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club, WhoWon.com and Two Girls Gone Racin’ have joined forces in an attempt to increase contributions to the Marty Boyer Fund.

These organizations have combined their efforts to create the 2008 POWRi Racing Calendar which lists all of the POWRi Midget and Micro dates for 2008. The calendar starts with the month of March and each of its twelve months has a collage of either Midget or Micro photos. All of these images were shot in the past couple of years at various Illinois tracks by Two Girls Gone Racin’.

Calendars are priced at $20 each, with all of the profits - $8 per calendar - going to the Marty Boyer Fund. The calendars will be available at many POWRi events throughout the season or may be ordered by mail. Information about mail orders may be found by following the 2008 POWRi Marty Boyer Fundraiser Calendar link on www.twogirlsgoneracin.com or by emailing Valerie@twogirlsgoneracin.com

Attendees of the March “Open Wheel Racing Night” St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club meeting in Belleville, Illinois had their first glimpse of the calendars and it received rave reviews. Fifteen calendars were sold at this event, which was highlighted by interviews with several local POWRi drivers, done by Eileen Waters. Attendees were also invited to sign a get well card for Marty.

We are excited to offer these calendars and we hope that you will join us in our efforts to help Marty and his family.

O’Reilly POWRi Racing Series – www.powri.com
St. Louis Auto Racing Fan Club – www.stlfanclub.com
WhoWon – www.whowon.com
Two Girls Gone Racin’ – www.twogirlsgoneracin.com

RaceBumpers and POWRi Team up to Support Marty Boyer

MILLSTADT, Ill. -- Our friend Marty Boyer suffered a stroke and may be faced with a lengthy recovery. Marty's efforts at MidgetMadness.com have become an instrumental part in the promotion and growth of midget racing today. Marty has helped many drivers/teams, tracks/promotors, and parts related businesses become successful without asking for much in return. Now its our turn to repay the favor!

From now until May 1st, RaceBumpers.com will donate 5% of all sales to the fund set up for Marty. In addition, we will be auctioning one bumper or nerf a week on Ebay for 6 weeks. 100% of the proceeds from the auctions will also go to the fund.

POWRi Racing will be donating 5% of the proceeds from the Dean King Memorial race at the Southern Illinois Center in DuQuoin, IL March 29th.

We strongly encourage anyone else that has benefited from Marty's efforts to do what they can to assist him and his family through this difficult time.

RaceBumpers.com
Flea Ruzic, Jason Harms
POWRi Racing
Kenny Brown, Jim Siner

(Marty, Spring and I wish you all the best as you recover. Our prayers are with you!)

Feb. 16 DuQuoin Winter Nationals Cancelled

DUQUOIN, Ill. -- The Saturday, Feb. 16 DuQuoin Winter Nationals have been cancelled due to inclement weather. The Illinois State Police have advised the public to restricted traveling in the Southern Illinois region. The area is currently suffering a power outage that is affecting approx 30,000 homes and businesses along with poor road conditions.

All pre-entries will be moved to the March 29th race. If you would like your refund please contact Kenny Brown via e-mail through the contact link on the POWRi website or by phone at 314-267-4944. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Local Drivers Fare Well in 2008 Chili Bowl Nationals

Each January, racers from all over the country, representing many forms of motorsports, converge on Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.

The Chili Bowl is by far the biggest racing event on the winter calendar. With most dirt and asphalt tracks in hibernation mode in all but the most temperate of climates, racing indoors is the only viable option. With that in mind, two of dirt track racing's top promoters, Lannie Edwards and Emmett Hahn took a gamble over twenty years ago that has turned into much more than just another Midget race.

This year's entry list was comprised of 285 drivers from 29 states, Canada and Australia. Among these drivers were NASCAR Cup champions, Drag racers, Dirt Late Model and Kart drivers in addition to those who routinely turn laps in open wheel machines. Men and women and drivers of all ages from mid-teens to early seventies filled an impressive list of who's who in motorsports today. Missouri boasted 17 pilots, while 29 Illinois drivers made the trek to the Sooner state.

Many of these drivers run our local tracks as a part of the O'Reilly POWRi Midget Series and a few were able to play the alphabet soup game and work their way up through four grueling nights of qualifying in order to claim a spot in either of the "B" or "A" Main events.

Roughly 14,000 fans make up the crowd of this sold-out-by-May event, and untold numbers of others listen to the races via internet broadcasts or get updates through blogs and forums. In fact, so many people logged onto the Chili Bowl web site this year that the server crashed and was down all day on Saturday. This year, for the first time in history, both C-Mains, both B-Mains and the A-Main were all broadcast via HBO Pay-Per-View on Saturday night. That's how we watched it, and the network did a wonderful job of bringing us all of the racing action, behind-the-scenes interviews and commentary that we were hungry for. The broadcast lasted almost four solid hours, and was well-worth the $25 price tag.

The following is a list of the Missouri and Illinois drivers and how they fared in the 2008 Chili Bowl. Many of these drivers and others will be on hand this Saturday at the DuQuoin Fairgrounds for the first POWRi Indoor Series Midget race of the season. Along with the Midgets will be the POWRi Micro Series. All will race indoors at the DuQuoin Indoor Center. With temperatures outside predicted to be in the twenties this weekend, it's time to warm up to some winter time indoor racing!

Illinois (29) – Joey Moughan (2m), Kevin Olson (4ko), Zach Daum (5d), Patrick Bruns (5x), Austin Brown (7a){Made it to the "B" Main], Dan Mecum (8m), Jay Mounce (12m), Tim Siner (15)[Made it to the "B" Main], Chris Windom (17)[Made it to the "B" Main], Kenny Brown (17b), Levi Jones (20J){Finished 11th in the "A" Main], Lee Beckwith (21s), Derrick Myers (25x), Donnie Lehmann (31), Davey Ray (33), Jeff Davis (d33), Mat Neely (35)[Made it to the "B" Main], Tyler Robbins (35T), Don Hammer (45), Daniel Adler (50), Mike Hess (51), Nick Knepper (55k), Bubba Altig (67a)[Finished 24th in the "A" after a warm-up incident], A.J. Fike (69), David Gough (75x), Kellen Conover (76), Justin Allgaier (86), Dave Camfield, Jr. (86c)[Made it to the "B" Main], Rich Camfield (87c).

Missouri (17) – Jesse Stovall (00s), Hunter Schuerenberg (1h), Tony Roney (1T), Robby Ross (4R), Bill Allen (5a), Joey Montgomery (5c), Brad Loyet (05)[Made it to the "B" Main], Danny Lasoski (05L)[Made it to the "B" Main], Joe Boyles (7b), Doug Frye (7c), Eric Todd (7T), Will Pierce (10T), Steve Stroud (21x), Jesse Hockett (29L)[Finished 12th in the "A" Main event], Joe Walker (37J), Andrew Felker (73F), Todd McVay (89JR).

2008 O'Reilly POWRi National Midget Series Schedule

April 25 – Morgan County Speedway – Jacksonville, IL
April 26 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL
May 9 – Tri-City Speedway – World of Outlaws – Granite City, IL
May 10 – Tri-State Speedway – Tri-State Challenge – Haubstadt, IN
May 16 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, MO
May 17 – Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO
June 6 – Morgan County Speedway – MSCS Sprints – Jacksonville, IL
June 7 – Belle-Clair Speedway – IL/MO Speed Week – Belleville, IL
June 11 – I-55 Raceway – NASCAR Night – Pevely, MO
June 13 – Tri-City Speedway – Granite City, IL
June 14 – St. Francois County Speedway – Farmington, MO
June 20 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA
June 21 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA
June 27 – Paducah International Raceway – MSCS – Paducah, KY
June 28 – Tri-State Speedway – MSCS & KISS – Haubstadt, IN
July 18 – Macon Speedway – Dana Godfrey Memorial – Macon, IL
July 19 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Finley Memorial – Belleville, IL
July 29 – Junction Motor Speedway – Cornhusker Midget Challenge – McCool Junction, NE
July 30 – Junction Motor Speedway – Cornhusker Midget Challenge – McCool Junction, NE
August 1 – Belleville High Banks – Belleville Midget Nationals - Belleville, KS
August 2 – Belleville High Banks – Belleville Midget Nationals - Belleville, KS
August 6 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Arnie Knepper Memorial – Belleville, IL
August 9 – Washington Town and Country Fair – Washington, MO
August 15 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL
August 29 – Southern Illinois Center – DuQuoin State Fair – DuQuoin, IL
August 30 – Southern Illinois Center – DuQuoin State Fair – DuQuoin, IL
September 12 – Morgan County Speedway – Jacksonville, IL
September 13 – Spoon River Speedway – Tom Knowles Memorial – Canton, IL
September 27 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL
October 3 – Tri-City Speedway – Bob Wente Classic – Granite City, IL
October 4 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Charlene Meents Memorial – Belleville, IL

Broken Bow Records is Primary Sponsor of the Three Race POWRi “DuQuoin Winter Series”

MILLSTADT, Ill. -- Three events each will make up the 2008 edition of the Broken Bow Records “DuQuoin Winter Series” for the O’Reilly POWRi National Midget and Micro-Sprint Series divisions, officials announced today.

Races at the DuQuoin (Ill.) Indoor Center, which features a temporary sixth-mile dirt track, will be run on Jan. 19, Feb. 16 and March 29 – all Saturdays. Thirty-lap features are scheduled for the National Midgets, who are debuting as part of the “DuQuoin Winter Series,” while the Micro-Sprints are scheduled to compete in 25-lap features.

Broken Bow Records, a country music record label, will be the presenting sponsor of the three-race series. Among those associated with BBR include band Crossin Dixon, which is currently featured on Country Music Television’s (CMT) Studio 330 Sessions. Crossin Dixon, which recently released its first two singles Guitar Slinger and Make You Mine, will play on Friday, March 28, the night before the final event.

The final event will be called the “Dean King Memorial” in honor of Dean King, whose Grandson Dereck King recently earned the 2007 POWRi Micro-Sprint championship. Dean King was avid in racing in many facets, and sadly passed away in 2006. Both the Micro-Sprint and Midget races are expected to award high winner’s shares.

Visit www.brokenbowrecords.com for more information on the record label and its musical artists.

Note from Val: Broken Bow Records is also the label for a 2GGR favorite, Jason Aldean!

Macon Time

Tony Stewart has a lot of fans in Central Illinois. At least, that’s how it looked last night at the 1/5 mile bull ring that is Macon Speedway.

My Dad, husband and I left home around 2pm and made the 150 mile journey east and north to a track we had never been to before. All we knew was that POWRi Midgets and Micros, as well as UMP Modifieds were on the menu, and Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader were scheduled to race.


That last bit of information, more than the racing line-up may have been the biggest draw of the night, at least if the plethora of Home Depot orange in the stands was any indication.

The combination of dirt track Midget racing, NASCAR stars, unbelievably mild temperatures and lack of humidity made for a night that midwestern race fans can usually only dream about. I can count on one hand the number of race nights where everything has come together so perfectly, so this was a rare night indeed!

Our first impression of Macon Speedway was that it was crowded! Cars lined the streets of this small town while Midgets, Micros and Modifieds filled the pits. Fans crowded through the gates and waited in line for autographs from Tony and Kenny. From what I could tell, no one walked away disappointed.

I cruised through the pits for a while, talking to friends and snapping a few shots. Everyone I talked to commented on the weather, so it was obvious that I was not the only one who appreciated it.

The crowd around Tony’s trailer was amazing. Yes, I consider myself a fan, but spending my time in the 12-person deep quagmire of humanity that stood there just waiting for a glimpse of the driver was not my idea of a fun way to spend my time. Anyway, I couldn’t help but having a little sympathy for the guy. All he wants to do is spend his weekend away from his real job doing the kind of racing he truly loves, and he has to be flanked by security guards just to get to the driver’s meeting. I could not live that way, and I wouldn’t trade places with him for many millions of dollars. Being rich and famous is not what it’s cracked up to be.

I thought it was great that Tony came out to race his Midget and I know the fans enjoyed it. It was fun watching him finesse that car around the track, sawing at the wheel, performing heart-stopping slide jobs, and maneuvering through traffic. To me, the person who enjoyed it most was probably Tony himself. Every time I caught a glimpse of the guy, he was smiling, so that has to say something.

Of course, Tony was not the only driver at the track, and he did not steal the show when it came to where he finished the races. A.J. Fike came out on top in the Midget feature, holding on for the win, even after numerous delays due to tangles. Fike was challenged closely by Brad Kuhn and Derrick Myers. Those two rode his tail for all forty laps, doing their best to get around but they just could not get the job done.

Racing wrapped up at the very reasonable hour of 10:30 and we headed on down the road. Even after getting through a little bit of traffic and stopping for travel snacks, we were still back in our own driveway by 1:30 am. Not a bad run at all in my opinion, and definitely worth the trip.

I am working on getting my pics up on the site and will hopefully start loading pages shortly after this post appears, so stay tuned!

Tri-City Speedway Photos Posted

With the large number of photos that Spring shoots at any one event, it became apparent to us a while back that we needed a better way to showcase those for everyone. With that in mind, we still plan to put a few up on Girls Gone Racin' but the entire gallery can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.millersevents.com/?m=36081

Please keep in mind that the photos will only be available for viewing for a limited time, so if you care to order any, you will need to do it soon. Also, you will need to sign in for viewing, but no information is stored for advertising/spam purposes.

Thanks for looking, and we hope you enjoy them. Hopefully, the ones from Pevely will be up soon too. Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

(The following was added by Val after this original post)

I put the link up on here before actually looing through the gallery because I wanted to get it up fast. Once it was done, I went back, fired up the slide show, sat back and prepared to be wowwed.

And wowwed I was.

Please don't think that I am doing any bragging at all by saying this, because every single photo in that gallery is Spring's, not mine. (She makes me look like the total amateur that I am, thank you very much!) I would be remiss if I didn't give her the credit she deserves.

The slide show starts with a few shots in the pits, then some on track action, and moves through the course of the evening of racing, telling the story of a night at the track. There are no captions, no comments and no music, and quite honestly, none are necessary. Spring's work speaks for itself.

These little snapshots of time capture the emotion that is at the heart of our great sport, creating a visual scrapbook that is like nothing I have ever seen. Yes, there are action photos, and victory lane pictures, but woven throughout those more traditional shots are pieces of artwork that showcase the fans, the crews and what goes on behind the scenes of a night in the life of a race team.

I hope that you, like me, see dust in the air, feel the heat of the engines and the heartbeats of the drivers, taste the tang of spent fuel, and hear the roar of the crowd while you immerse yourself in these images. I am humbled, as always, by Spring's talent and her artistic eye that sees beyond the surface, and into the very soul of what makes auto racing the greatest sport the world has ever known.

Back on Track

After a lengthy and painful delay, the Girls finally got out for two great nights of racing in a row this week!

On Wednesday, we headed down south for the first night of the Missouri-Illinois Challenge at I-55 Raceway, where we caught up with old friends and enjoyed the high-speed action of the Mid America Sprint Series, POWRi Midgets and Late Models. It felt great to be back at one of our local tracks and I was just happy that Spring felt up to the task.

It was warm, and we had to work to stay cool, but the racing and comaradarie were worth sweating for. The racing was fast and furious and we were just happy to be out again after all of the delays we have had this season.

Thursday we got a bit of a late start, then got stuck in traffic, but at long last we arrived at Tri-City Speedway for a night of World of Outlaws Sprints and POWRi Midget racing. The temperature ramped up a bit more, as did the humidity, but we sought air conditioning in the tower for a bit, then shade wherever we could find it.

The newly reconfigured track was in great shape for racing, and from the way the drivers took to it, it looked as if everyone enjoyed the smaller track with its high banking. It's hard to take pictures of cars that are flying by that fast, but we did our best. I am anxious as always to see how Spring's pictures turned out. I put a few of mine up already just to whet a few appetites.

We enjoyed seeing a lot of familiar faces and meeting some new folks as well. It's really nice when you all who have been to the site before come up to us at the races. We love hearing from you and hope you enjoy what we are doing.

Thanks for stopping by!