Awakened from Hibernation

Cedar Lake Speedway

The news that the Sandbox Arena on the grounds of the Cedar Lake Speedway would be hosting their first indoor Midget even in our area was not a surprise but it proved to be a wakeup call. I realized that once the holidays (and I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season) are over the racing season kicks off shortly thereafter. NASCAR will be testing at Daytona, racing in the southern hemisphere will be wrapping up and there will be Chili Bowl parties all over the country. If you're one of those lucky folks who gets to attend the Chili Bowl or one of the frostbusting events leading up to Florida Speedweeks I salute you.

Hopefully the Midgets will be a success at Sandbox Arena and this will become an annual event. This should be a good time of the year to host an indoor Midget race, there's nothing else going on in this part of the country to compete against. Badger Midget teams will be prepared for their opener and I expect to see the best from USAC. The thing that sets this race apart from indoor Midget races we saw at the St. Paul Civic Center (the predecessor to Exel Energy Center for those of you too young to remember) was that those races were run on the concrete with a special (slick) sealer covering the floor. The races at the Sandbox Arena will be on a 1/4 mile clay oval patterned after the Tulsa Expo Center track design. Some say the Chili Bowl is the best racing of the season and I expect the same type of action at Sandbox Arena.

Even many Late Model fans throw aside their prejudices against open wheel racing and attend the Chili Bowl. I encourage our local fans to give the Badger Midget race at Sandbox Arena a try. I'm expecting a good crowd and many of the Midget fans from southeast Wisconsin to make the 3 1/2 - 4 hour drive up to New Richmond for this event.

In other news, be sure to make your plans to do your homework for the annual GRP racing trivia contest coming up in a few short weeks. More about the contest to be posted soon.

What are your plans for the 2008 racing season? I'm going to do pretty much the same thing that I've been doing, base my schedule on the big specials and fill in with weekly racing. Big dates on my schedule include the Badger Midgets at CLS, the CLS opener, Masters, Firecracker, WoO Sprints, BA Memorial, USA Nationals, Richert Memorial and DTRA 100. I'm planning on taking vacation the week of the 100 so that I can attend all four nights. Other tracks/events will include a couple races at North Central, Red Cedar, Rice Lake, Princeton, Superior and Jackson. I'm also planning on filling in with a lot more weekly racing at Cedar Lake and Kopellah this season than I have in the past.

I'll write more about my 2008 plans and why these races are my favorites in the upcoming February MRC Online.