The 2010 race season was another fun-filled year for me. My race total was down from the previous two years obviously, but that doesn't mean it was any less exciting.
So here we go with some good hard stats. haha. I attended 91 shows this season, with the first being the March 13th USMTS opener at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kansas. As it turns out, that would be the first of 19 USMTS events I viewed over the course of the year. My final race of the year was only a couple weeks ago when I ventured south to the Turkey Classic held at the Springfield Raceway on November 27th.
I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't make it to any new tracks for most of the year, but that changed late in the season. I called up a racing friend, Bob Litton, and asked if I could tag along to Peoria, Illinois in October to see a race. That is only the third track in Illinois in which I've seen races. The other new track came in late October, when PR's Jeff Broeg called and asked if I would like to ride with him to Butler, Missouri for a special late model and modified show. So just two new tracks for me this year.
Despite my scaled-back numbers this year, I was surprised when I saw that I had been to 27 different tracks. I spent 39 nights at weekly races at various tracks, thus a majority of my time was at special events. Most of those specials came in the second half of the season, when I made a conscious effort to attend them rather then the weekly shows. Below is a listing of the different tracks I attended this year:
1) Humboldt Speedway - Humboldt, KS (2)
2) Junction Motor Speedway - McCool Junction, NE (1)
3) Algona Raceway - Algona, IA (6)
4) I-35 Speedway - Mason City, IA (12)
5) Marshalltown Speedway - Marshalltown, IA (13)
6) 34 Raceway - Burlington, IA (1)
7) Lee County Speedway - Donnellson, IA (2)
8) Hamilton County Speedway - Webster City, IA (9)
9) Buena Vista Raceway - Alta, IA (6)
10) Independence Motor Speedway - Independence, IA (2)
11) Mineral City Speedway - Fort Dodge, IA (5)
12) Southern Iowa Speedway - Oskaloosa, IA (5)
13) Highway 3 Raceway - Allison, IA (1)
14) Deer Creek Speedway - Spring Valley, MN (3)
15) Benton County Speedway - Vinton, IA (1)
16) Scotland County Speedway - Memphis, MO (2)
17) Fairmont Raceway - Fairmont, MN (1)
18) Knoxville Raceway - Knoxville, IA (4)
19) Fayette County Speedway - West Union, IA (1)
20) Boone Speedway - Boone, IA (6)
21) Hancock County Speedway - Britt, IA (2)
22) Adams County Speedway - Corning, IA (1)
23) Clay County Speedway - Spencer, IA (1)
24) Calhoun County Speedway - Rockwell City, IA (1)
25) Peoria Speedway - Peoria, IL (1)
26) Butler Motor Speedway - Butler, MO (1)
27) Springfield Raceway - Springfield, MO (1)
With the two new tracks, I creep a little closer to the 100-track plateau. I'm currently sitting at 96, so hopefully next year I can achieve that personal milestone.
I racked up 17,371 miles traveling to races this year, considerably down from the previous two years. In the four years that I've been keeping track of my mileage, this year was the lowest average mileage per race. However, that number was still 190 round trip.
Well, that puts a wrap on my 2010 race season. I've been looking up driver stats over the past couple of months, and am getting closer by the day to completing that "project". I have finished the Gustin's, Smith's, and USMTS stats. However, I noticed I need to update the Smith and Gustin ones as I found a couple races that I missed recently. So look for those stories to appear in the coming weeks.
In case I don't write anything before now and then, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
