Ah, a hot, humid Friday night in late May here in southwest Ohio. What more do
you need than to be able to see the haze in the trees, the June Bugs pinging off
the track lights, the combined fragrance of 110 octane and scorching rubber?
Throw in a couple hundred intoxicated rednecks oozing Bud Light and Budweiser
from their pores, and I am in heaven.

Kil Kare Speedway, located in Xenia, Ohio has been a NASCAR "home track" for 19
years, but has existed since 1951. Then, a dirt fifth-mile oval, was renovated
in 1955 into the third-mile, D-shaped oval it is known for today. Next door,
the NHRA saw a golden opportunity in 1959 when the Green County Airport
relocated to establish a sanctioned drag strip, and has been a southwest central
Ohio icon of motor sports since. Occasionally, when my schedule permits, I will
attend the round track on Friday nights, and the quarter mile showdowns on
Saturdays. Running the NASCAR Whelen All American Series, Sports Stock,
Modified, and Compact Divisions weekly, May 22ND also offered fans a glimpse of
what it would be like if your school bus drivers lost their marbles and went on
a rampage. That's right folks, school bus racing, concluded by a subsequent
demolition derby of said vehicles. However, I digress...

Now, I am about to mention names that none of you will be familiar with, but
work just as hard, if not harder than the guys in the big leagues. They work a
regular job all week, sweat in their garages at night, and bleed petrol on the
weekends. These men and women are everyday folk like the rest of us, and as
such, are racers. Usually, it's the NASCAR Whelen All American Series that puts
on the best show, and Friday was no exception, and it is amazing to see the
amount of action in a mere 30-lap feature. Caution laps do not count, so on
occasion, the events can be a bit daunting, but not this night. On lap four, a
normally dominant Tony Brunke (29) was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and
ended up on the roll back after face planting the wall in turn two. A hard
enough hit to red flag the event for nearly 20 minutes. Not to be upstaged by
Tony, a five car pile-up ensued on lap 10, but most spectacularly landed Ricky
Bates (8) literally on top of Don Mahaffey (99) right in front of our
grandstand. All around got a true appreciation for what the underside of the
NASCAR Whelen All American Series cars look like from the bottom. Of course
this resulted in another red flag, but all drivers walked away from their
respective crashes unscathed. Virgil Powell (78), who had dominated the entire
feature, found himself racing a tad too hard into turn two on lap 27 and
discovered his rear trying to pass his front producing a tire smoke cloud so
thick that visibility was nil. This opened the door for Justin Alsip (28) to
take command and remain at the top of the point standings, taking the checkered
flag in one of the best feature events I had seen at this facility in quite some
time.

If you have never witnessed a modified race, you are missing out folks! Low to
the ground, sliding through turns, and rubbing tires for 30 laps kept me on the
edge of my wooden bleacher from green to checkered. My hometown favorite, and
firefighter, Ralph Harrod (28), from the Springfield Fire Division held the lead
going into the final laps of the feature. However, perhaps he was too hungry as
Jack Jones (20), was able to get a nose under him in the closing laps after
getting loose and drive away to the finish.

I don't want to take away from the Sports Stock and Compact Divisions, as Shawn
Stansell (40) and Tim Haerr (8) won their feature events respectively, but the
excitement isn't as great for the fans in these divisions as the cars are much
slower and the fans don't seem to respond as they do to the NWAAS and the NWMS.

However, racing for nothing but pure entertainment, laughs, and bragging rights,
many of these same drivers took to some retired school buses, strapped in, put
their balls to the wall to take on the infield figure eight configuration at Kil
Kare for some nail biting, tire rubbing, sheet metal grinding racing only to
conclude by a demolition derby of these same vehicles until there were none left
standing! Complete with vandalistic-style spray paint jobs, each bus
represented in its own, unique way, and if your wondering, a short bus won the
feature! A true exciting moment as the derby was winding down, was when one of
the buses (which are higher than the retaining wall) was backed into the
concrete resulting in about a ten foot, 3-D view of what a bus looks like coming
through a catch fence! Fortunately, no spectators were injured in the incident,
but I am sure it is something track owners will evaluate for next school bus
race in August. Let me assure those who have children riding school buses daily
that after witnessing this event, these are perhaps the most durable vehicles on
the road!

The lesson here? If you go to a hometown track, you may not know the drivers,
or be familiar with the different divisions, but you will be treated to racing
as it was in its infancy. Raw, aggressive, and emotionally charged like it was
meant to be. The drivers put it all out there for nothing more than a photo op,
a smile, a few hundred bucks, and us, the fans. I encourage you all to find
your closest NASCAR hometown track, and you will discover racing as it should
be.