Elkins Speedway, Elkins WV, June 23, 3007 2007 June 25
If there has been one state that has been on my list to get to sometime soon for a race the longest, it would be West Virgina, The main reason is it is one of the closest states, if not the closest, I haven’t seen a race in, and they also have some good dirt super late model racing – one of my favorite divisions. Well, I finally rectified the situation on Saturday, June 23 and made West Virgina the 42′nd state for me to see a race in. The track I went to was Elikins Speedway. They were have a rare (for them) Saturday evening show. The occasion was the 7th Annual Chuck Gear Memorial – a 75 lap super late model race. The ride to the track down US 219 from I-68 in Maryland was pretty nice, although you could tell that the income levels in this area where not very high. Still, a huge crowd paid $15 each for the race and fireworks show that was to follow. The race I saw before this at New Egypt was dusty, but I think Elkins had New Egypt beat in the dust category. Luckily there was no wind or we would have been unable to see the track. The track itself was very nice and fast for a 3/8′th mile dirt track thank to the banking. The late models time-trialed which I normally don’t like but is still understandable for a bigger show ($5000 to win, $500 to start).
The lights were pretty good except an additional light might have been nice in the infield pointing towards the backstretch but it was fine without it. The grand stands are basically a grassy hill and most fans had lawn chairs. There where a few benches, but I wish I had my lawn chair in my car (I forgot to put it back in last time I cleaned out the trunk). If you go to the track, remember to bring a lawn chair. The food lines seemed to be a mile long, but I still managed to grab a couple of tasty chili dogs for only $1.75 a piece. I assume the lower prices are a sign of the economy in the area. The late model race was a a good one with the #12 of Ricky Williams taking the win. The highlight though, was the charge from 9′th to 4′th by Robbie Scott in the last 12 laps after a restart. If Scott had another couple of laps he might have made it into second, but without a caution I don’t think he would have caught Williams, let alone past him. Scott actually started up front, but had to go to the rear as a result of contact with another car that caused an early race caution.
I skipped the fireworks and left after the race, getting out of the parking lot around 10:30 PM (after all, I had a 6.5 hour ride home ahead of me). A reasonable time which may have been one of the factors in the huge crowd. Although the dust was pretty bad, I still had a great time and would like to go to the track again in the future.
My 2007 race stats after finally making it to a race in West Virginia on June 23 are:
Races: 20
Tracks: 15 (11 new) (161 lifetime)
States: 13 (7 new) (42 lifetime)