Huset’s Speedway, July 24, 2005 2005 July 31
On Sunday night I went to Huset’s Speedway just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota for a regular show of racing. Before the races I went to a park and took a short (about 2 miles) hike around a small restored prairie in Sioux City.
The one thing that really astonished me during my trip was how little native vegetation exists in the places I visited. Every square foot that isn’t a house, tree, or road is farmed. Even the medians of the Interstates! People talk about the lack of open space in New Jersey, but I can see more un-altered land in Jersey then I did in the Dakotas and Nebraska. Of course, one of the things the plains have going for them is that the altered land has been turned into farms or ranch land which is much better then looking at condos, townhouses, and McMansions which are what we see in Jersey.
Huset’s is a nice track as far as the surface goes and I like that they make the trailers park outside of the track. The crews need to unload the trailers in the pits (which are located in the center of the track) before the races. This gives the fans the best of both worlds. They can see what is going on in the pits but they are not blocked from seeing the race track by haulers. The track seats a lot of people but the stands are showing there age. It is not that they are falling apart, but you can tell they are warn. The racing was OK, but the rains came before the sprint car feature which was a disappointment. I did get to see all of the scheduled hot races and a street stock feature so at least it wasn’t a total loss and I can add my first track in South Dakota to my list.
My 2005 racing stats after the July 24′th race at Huset’s:
Races: 28
Tracks: 18 (9 new)
States: 13 (3 new)