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--Cannonball Motor Speedway--
Cannonball Motor Speedway located in St. Clairsville, Ohio
was our prime choice for Friday night racing when we first started out
in Modifieds. Cannonball is
a big 3/8 mile, slightly banked, clay oval track. The facilities, staff and
track are terrific! The track sits at the bottom of a 100-200 foot
hill and provides a great view for all spectators in the pit and general
admission areas.
Unfortunately, Cannonball will only open for "special events" in 2004.
Hopefully the track management can pull together some nice events to
include Modifieds, as it is still one of our favorite tracks.
Visit their web site for further information,
www.cannonballspeedway.com.
Click on the pictures below to see a larger image.
All pictures
were taken by Cindy Howe. |
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--Florence Speedway-- |
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Back in the Summer of
'99, Jay and I took a road trip to watch racing at Lawrenceburg, IN and
Florence, KY. This was the first time I had seen a Modified and it was
actually the trip that pushed us to further research the division.
After purchasing our first Modified in the Winter of '99, we had always
talked about returning to Florence to race. Special mufflers, UMP
rules, and the distance to the track kept us from going there until the
Spring of 2004. On a rainy, snowy, miserable weekend, Florence
Speedway was the only track we found to be open in a several state (and
Canada) sweep. We made the changes to both of our Modifieds, and
opened our 2004 race season at Florence Speedway.
As mentioned above,
Florence Speedway runs their Modifieds under UMP rules. There aren't
too many differences between UMP and AMRA. The biggest issue is no
spoiler and the addition of a panel across the back of the car. You
can see this panel in one of the pictures below. Florence also
requires all cars to run a coned Vortex Muffler. And yes, they do
check to make sure you have them.
The track typically
races on Saturday's. Their opening night was the night we raced there,
April 3rd. So their season starts pretty early. They have a HUGE
3-day show over the Fourth of July Weekend this year. It's actually 3 complete
shows with $1000 to win $100 to start on Friday, $2,000 to win $200 to start
Saturday, and $10,000 to win $500 to start on Sunday. There were 62 Modifieds signed in the day we were there, so I can imagine how many will
show up for a big-money weekend. The coolest part is that there is NO
ENTRY FEE and No Pre-Entry required. That's impressive.
Track specs:
4/10ths of a mile, Medium banked, clay. The Late Models qualified.
Everybody else drew pills. Divisions: Late Models, UMP Modifieds,
Super Dirt, and Pure Stocks. They also run a Figure 8 division, but
must not run them every weekend...unless it's dependent upon car count.
No figure 8's ran on opening night 2004.
Pits: There were
a lot of cars there and the pits were pretty packed. They seem pretty
organized though and actually had staff directing competitors into pit
spaces. I thought that was good. They have a field for an
overflow area that they ended up using the night we were there. I
wouldn't want to get down in the field because it's grassy and hilly, so
getting to the track early would be my recommendation as a competitor.
Website:
www.florencespeedway.com
I'm sure we'll be returning to
Florence Speedway to race. We had a nice time.
Click on the pictures below to see a larger image.
All pictures
were taken by Cindy Howe at Florence Speedway, April 2004. |
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-South
Buxton Raceway- |
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The Howe Extreme Racing Team spent several weekends
racing at South Buxton in the 2000 race season.
We really love racing at the Canadian track.
The drivers and track personnel welcome us and show us a nice
time. South Buxton hosts
the famous “Border Wars” for Modifieds.
The Border Wars event pits “Americans” versus
“Canadians”. The
Americans line up in one lane and the Canadians line up in the other
lane…then the race is on. At
the end of the race all the drivers points for the night are added up
and either the Americans win or the Canadians win.
Each driver on the winning team collects $500.
South Buxton Raceway is a 3/8-mile, “D” shaped,
18 degree banked track. It’s
a unique experience and exciting to watch.
At the top of the banks most tracks have a wall or guardrail, or
fence or something on that line. At
South Buxton there is only a drop off in store for a driver that loses
it or gets nudged over the edge by another racer.
So if you’re racing at South Buxton, be prepared to take a ride
on the wild side!
Five classes make up a typical Saturday evening
schedule at South Buxton; Great Lakes Late Models, UMP Modifieds,
Street Stocks, Econo Class, and the Comp 4.
Not only do they run the typical hot laps, heat race, and Feature
for all classes, the Canadians spice it up a bit more by tossing each
class in “Australian Pursuit” races.
This consists of the drivers lining up single file according to
your track point standing in reverse order.
So, whoever is leading the points at the track lines up on the
tail. The race consists of
10 laps. If you get passed,
you’re out of the race. Whoever
is leading the race at the end of the 10 laps, wins.
Another event that South Buxton runs is called
“Top Gun”, which pits the 1st and 2nd place
Late Model winners from the previous week against the 1st and
2nd place Modified winners from the previous week.
Each week it alternates on which group lines up on the inside and
outside. The race consists
of 4 laps. This race is
awesome to watch. Results
are about 50/50 on if the Late Models win or the Modifieds take the
checkered. One of the Howe Extreme Racing Team’s goals for the year is
to run Top Gun at least once. We’re
tentatively planning on racing South Buxton 6 times this season,
including Border Wars.
Even
with the added events each night, the track personnel keep things moving
quickly and things tend to wrap-up around 11pm.
South Buxton encourages the American racers to come up all season
long, and offer Americans discounted pit entrance and a guaranteed
payoff amount just for coming to race.
So, if you’re an American driver and want to find out more,
check out their website:
www.southbuxtonraceway.com
or call the track for further details, 888-272-2251.
2004 Update: AMRA no longer
sanctions South Buxton Raceway. SBR now races under UMP rules.
Click on the pictures below to see a larger image.
All pictures
were taken in 2000 by Cindy Howe.
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***We returned to South Buxton in 2004. Click here for new
pictures!*** |
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--West
Virginia Motor Speedway-- |
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WVMS is easily seen
off of I-77 near Mineral Wells, WV. The track is an extremely fast,
wide, 5/8's mile, medium banked, red clay track. The track has wide
sweeping turns and long straights. You can really lay down the power
at WVMS. Of course, the wrecks here are usually quite severe and if
you're involved in one, you can count on packing up your pieces and loading
what's left on the trailer...because you're night is probably finished.
One of the pictures below shows Jess Hartman's Modified on the tow truck
after he was involved in a crash on the back stretch at the AMRA Nationals
in 2003. Jess was okay after his roll on the back stretch, but the car
was most likely scrapped.
WVMS is home to
several special event Late Model and Modified shows each year. When
you come to WVMS you can expect the best of the best to be there. The
car counts are high and the fans pour in to watch the elite battle it out on
dirt.
General Admission
side: The general admission stands are cut into the hillside
overlooking the track. Spectators bring lawn chairs or blankets or
just pick an area to sit in. On a cool night, you'll often see camp
fires erupt along sections of the hillside. The concessions and
restrooms are nice and clean. Merchandise trailers set up along a path
between the pits and the general admission section. for fans to collect
merchandise on their favorite drivers.
Pit Side: Actual
grandstands extend down the back stretch for pitside spectators.
There's also a small section of grandstands off of turn 2 in the pits.
Many crews and drivers will just stand along the fence around turns 1 & 2 to
watch. There are restrooms and concessions setup in the pit area as
well. Due to the larger car count on some of the bigger races,
Modifieds are often pitted in the infield. There were 93 Modifieds at
the 2003 AMRA Nationals and close to that in Late Models. Throw in 30
some Street Stocks, and there isn't much room left in the complex.
Infield accommodations aren't quite as appealing, but they do their best to
take care of the competitors.
As you can see from
the pictures below, the entire facility is surrounded by grassy hills and a
remote atmosphere. It's a beautiful track set around a really pretty
landscape. Don't worry if you hear buzzing sounds overhead as local
ultra light's often fly over for an aerial view.
Check out their
website: www.wvspeedway.com
Click on pictures to
enlarge. All pictures taken
by Cindy Howe at the 2003 AMRA Nationals.
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Scott Bloomquist
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Scott Bloomquist
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Steve Francis
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Mod's Staged
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Jay Howe
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It Rained, It Poured
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Jess Hartman
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Jay Howe
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Ultra Lights overhead
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