The end of August is already here. That means there is not much racing left in the East Tennessee area. Here are some thoughts on the summer racing season drawing to a close.
1. With some of our area tracks scheduling on top of each other for special events, there are no special events within 250 miles of the area this weekend.
2. Last week’s rain out of The Scorcher at Volunteer Speedway was a big disappointment for fans, especially since the race will probably not be rescheduled. It marks the first time of the event there was even a hint of rain, let alone an actual rain out.
3. The old saying in dirt racing is true: the cost of racing keeps going up and the purses stay the same. It does not help when tracks try to gouge drivers even more by charging them more money to go through the gate than anyone else. They already pay admission, entry fee, transponder fee, and some charge for 4-wheelers. The sad reality is drivers want to race bad enough they will pay the extra money and it encourages more tracks to do the same.
4. We may see one or two track ownership changes by the time 2016 rolls around.
5. The Duyane Hommel page on Facebook has brought back some great memories of a talented driver whose career was cut short. Hard to believe his accident happened almost 12 years ago.
6. One wonders if the same people winning at specific tracks is good for competition and attendance. Fans need a bad guy to root against. But in today’s era, are fans over that and would rather stay home instead of still going to the track in hopes of seeing the bad guy finally get beat?
