Off the Wahl
by: Jerry Wahl

Dayton, OH (August 24, 2010) - Yes I know this is old news but what a whirlwind week-end it was two weeks ago, three race tracks, one picnic, one birthday party, and some 200 miles round trip. First we started on Friday with our usual stomping grounds, Kil-Kare Speedway and The Whelen/EMT Firefighters night and then on Saturday afternoon it was the annual Dayton Auto racing Fan Club picnic at Shady Bowl Speedway.From there it was a stop to celebrate a friends 80th birthday party, and then capped the night with Family Fun Night at Eldora Speedway. Racing and friends are great and we enjoyed visiting with many of them along the way.

Hard to believe the season is rapidly drawing to a close at some of the area tracks, where has the summer gone, much too quick that is for sure.

Limaland Motorsports Park appears to be the first to drop the curtain with August 27 being their last program which is their 13th annual season points championships night and Kil-Kare has only two more nights of action after this Friday with their door closer on Sept. 10.

But alas, there are plenty of action still available and some really great event coming up that we will be mentioning soon as long as our computers hold up. Two of them died within the last two weeks and this is our worst season so to speak in writing a column. Way far behind in doing so due to too many other activity's.

Friday night we played AWOL from our usual Friday night stint at Kil-Kare to attend the Ike Moler Memorial $5,000 to win late model event. Why attend this event, well the Moler family have been special to me since I met them when they started to build their track four years ago but my memory of Moler goes way back before that.Many year ago, and I mean many there use to be a weekly paper called the Columbus Star that carried race ads and results of just about every racing facility in the state of Ohio and the cost was a whole ten cents.Some of our local drivers use to run at Ike Moler's Moler Speedway that was located off of state route 68 near Mt.Orab so the Moler name has stuck in my mind for quite a number of years.

Plus I was the proud recipient of the Victor "Ike" Moler Pioneer of Racing award at their annual banquet in 2008 which is prominently displayed in my office and very much appreciated. Receiving an award is very special and I have been mighty lucky throughout the years to have received quite a few but the Pioneer of Racing sorta says it all.

And what a show it was Friday, 32 of the best late models, 25 modifieds, and around 20 Chevettes and the track was great with the fans treated to a full racing program with a fast car dash and heats for the late models, heats and b-mains for the mods, and heats for the Chevettes and of course he features. Unfortunately some tracks are lacking heats and that has cost them some fans as they feel short changed without them.

Of course we were leaning toward third generation driver Wayne Chinn of our neighborhood in the 50 lapper as he had started the night off by winning the fast car dash which put him on the pole. He didn't let us down as he quickly shot into the lead and did a great job weeding his way through traffic in what looked like a win might be in sight. But slowly sneaking up on him was Greg Johnson and with about ten laps to go Johnson stole the front spot to capture the event with Chinn a respectful second. Not only did Johnson receive the $5,000 check but also an eight foot trophy donated by race director Mike Jewell.
It was a good clean 50 lap feature that should and could have gone all 50 laps without a caution if it wasn't for the fact the flagman threw the yellow for a car that was heading off the track.
The other divisions were very competitive but the mod feature, wow, I don't believe or can recall seeing so many caution flags thrown in one feature. I think I lost track after twelve.

Yes, if you like bullring dirt track racing Moler Raceway Park is well worth the visit and they still have a very exciting schedule for the remainder of the season so check them out at www.molerracewaypark.com. And the popcorn, very good which is making it real tough for me to declare who has the best this year as most of the tracks we have visited have excellent popcorn. And by the way my wife Nancy like the caramel corn even though it is not popped on site it is worth the one buck charge Moler has a vast menu of food with something for everyone.

Also promoters Kevin and Kim Moler have been very generous to the members of the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club as they have offered the members five nights of free admission by just showing a current membership card. Not a bad deal at all considering a DARF membership is just $15 for a single or $20 per couple for a 12 month membership.

And mentioning DARF, this Friday just happens to be DARF night at Moler and Saturday night at Tony Boetcher's fifth-mile dirt 35 Raceway Park just south of Frankfort, Ohio with free DARF admission at both facility's.

Kil-Kare only has three more nights on the schedule with IKO Mini Cups this week and then two regular shows follow to close the season.

Support your local speedway as we are loosing tracks every season and so far this year Union County Speedway pulled the plus several weeks ago and another is on the verge of doing the same.
Until next time your comments welcome at fire75ball@hotmail.com.