I guess, as they say, time flies when you’re having fun. The last post I’ve written was at the end of the 2020 “season”. We were on the track exactly three times in that COVID-riddled year: one mid-week track rental, Eastern States practice, and Eastern States Weekend where we ended up on the hook. 2021 wasn’t much better as we only completed about half the season, and the same in 2022. Big changes were planned for 2023, as for the first time in my career, I’d decided to leave Orange County as a “regular” and run weekly at Accord instead. All of the excitement of Accord’s reconfiguration and new clay turned into a crushing disappointment, as rough and dusty conditions plagued them all year long. After waiting on them to correct things for a couple of months, we returned to Orange County in July and ran the rest of the season there. It’s less impressive than it sounds because there were only about seven races left at that point. We were fast, but didn’t have a lot of luck, and it’s so difficult to compete when you only race once or twice a month. Oh well, there’s always next year…
What we hadn’t planned on, however, was Orange County disappearing. The track that has had vehicles of various types and horsepower circling it for 104 years can’t be closing down! The track that I spent most of my Saturday nights at over the course of my life can’t cease to exist! I started racing because I wanted to race on that racetrack. All of my heroes had done it, and I wanted to conquer it too. That was the only goal I had in racing: race and win on that track. Sure, the track has had its issues over the years, and we know them all: from the lousy track surface, to the crumbling infrastructure, to the inept officials and management, people in racing have been running it down for years. It didn’t matter because it was our track, and everyone still gathered there every week like they’d always done. The car counts have always been huge, and great teams and equipment have always filled the pits. Rumors of an impending sale have been swirling for over thirty years. When Chris Larsen came in with his cash and connections, we had real hope. He invested a ton of money into the facility, trying his best to turn the track into a showplace, and supporting the competitors with incredible purses. We’re all grateful for what he did, as I truly think he tried his best to turn things around, but for whatever reason, that wasn’t enough, and we’re now faced with the end. To his credit also, Mike Gurda has kept the speedway going despite losing money for years and rejecting other potential sales. This is probably the last year of racing at the track barring a miracle, and we’re faced with the stark realty that our local track and the place we’ve put so much time, money, and effort into will be no more.
So, now what? Well, that’s what we’ve been asking ourselves. All I know for sure is something will happen this year at Orange County, and when it does, we’ll be there. Our team and equipment are geared up and ready to go, we’re just not sure where yet. We’re really not located in the hotbed of dirt racing unfortunately. Wherever we go we’ll have to travel to make it happen. We’re looking at a two-plus hour ride on Saturday nights. Unfortunately that means that our family won’t be able to be there to watch us, and it’s a big commitment to ask crew members to travel that far as well. I know where I’d like to go, but it depends on sponsorship and logistics. Either way, 2024 won’t be the same for a lot of us. Don’t take for granted what we have now, and try to be positive about our favorite sport rather than drag it down. Bring a friend and enjoy a night out on a (by comparison) cheap evening of entertainment. We’ll see you there.
I guess a lot can happen in three years!