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The Best Weekend of the Year!

Posted by Troy Harrison at 09:03:04 AM

Well, gang, it's about time for the best weekend of the year for racers and fans - Memorial Day Weekend. Although it's still early in the season, no other weekend is as packed with races of all different types, both locally and nationally, as Memorial Day weekend. I decided a few years ago that Memorial Day Weekend is proof that God loves racing people and wants us to be happy. If you can't find what you like on this weekend, you're not trying.

The national scene will, of course, be dominated by the World 600 and the Indy 500, but in this region, we have the proverbial embarrassment of riches, too. In addition to the normal weekly programs in this area, we have:

The Show-Me 100, one of the crown jewels of the Late Model world. This year, it's sanctioned by the Lucas Oil series for the first time in its history, which may or may not be a good thing. But that remains to be seen.

Oddly enough, the top late model guys in the country will be split because of that sanctioning. The World of Outlaws late models will be at US-36 on Friday night, 34 Raceway in Burlington Saturday night, and Beaver Dam, WI, on Sunday night.

The traditional alphabet soup late model race will take place at I-80 on Sunday night (highly recommended), and the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series will hit Allison, IA tomorrow night and Boone on Monday night.

Central Missouri Speedway will host a special race this weekend for the Modifieds, and Humboldt will pay $1000 to win for the Mods on Sunday night. And I know I'm forgetting a bunch of races, but if I tried to list them all, Scott would probably charge me for the bandwidth.

What's great is that no other weekend of the year includes such potential for banzai road trips as Memorial Day weekend; even hitting a big race like the Show-Me doesn't take you past Saturday. My own favorite Memorial Day road trip included a Friday night race at Bolivar, Saturday night at the Show-Me, Sunday afternoon back at Bolivar, Sunday night at Sedalia for an MLRA show, and Monday night at Pleasanton for a late model show. Did I mention that there was one visit to the future in-laws and two potential wedding sites viewed during that trip? There were also no hotel reservations, something that we regretted very much after the Show-Me when we were driving South into Arkansas during the middle of the night on a twisty two-lane with no hotels for over two hours. But that's what banzai road trips are made of.

Memorial Day weekend is probably the one weekend of the year when, if you only see one or two races, you feel like you got cheated. Even a trip to Indy or Charlotte wouldn't be complete without including some of the short-track action that takes place around the "big" races. In fact, particularly in Indy, you could get your fill of great racing without ever hitting the big track.

Want to have some real fun? Pack up the family, or just a buddy or two, and hit the road without a plan this weekend. Check the oil, fill the radiator, and gas up. You don't need an RV, GPS, or hotel reservations - just list out all the races of the weekend, and pick the next night's after each night is over. You'll have a blast, and have a story or two to tell.

 

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