Stan Meissner photo, USAC Midgets, May 16, 2008
Saturday morning May 17. I went to the La Crosse Fairgrounds half mile last night for my first visit to the track and my first pavement race in quite a few years. The Ranger did it's job and I got a good report when I checked the mileage, 27mpg on the way down. I suspect the trip back might have been more in the 24.5 mpg range like I normally get because I pushed it and it was rainy/breezy. My brother-in-law did a tuneup on it a few months ago and I kept the speed at 65mph on the way down. It seems to have a low gear in it and the 4 cylinder is underpowered. I kept the windows rolled most of the way up and used the vent to reduce drag and keep my tires inflated properly. Overall I am pleased with the result.
It's after 10am and I'm charging my batteries for tonight's trip to CLS. The weather looks good although a chance of the dreaded "R" word has creeped into the forecast. Last night the start of the Midget Feature was briefly delayed by a light shower but they were able to run the entire race after a brief delay. The rains finally did come with about 10 laps to go in the Mid American Stock Car Feature. Overall it was a good show at a nice facility. It took me 2:35 to drive home to Forest Lake with a quick stop at the rest area just before Rochester.
I broke down my camera during the rain delay and decided not to shoot the Features. There were other photographers in and I was kind of out of my element at an unfamiliar place so it wasn't essential that I shoot the entire program. When the race was over I tried to get the Ranger out of the infield so I could beat the caravan of USAC haulers but I didn't quite make it. Consequently, I had to sit there half way up the banking and watch about 30 tractor trailer rigs go by. That was kind of interesting, the fuel has got to be tough on these guys. The crowd wasn't as good as it could have been, probably because it's Stock Car country and this was the first Midget show in decades. I hear reports that all of racing is suffering from short fields and soft crowds but haven't personally experienced that yet.
Like I said in a recent blog entry, I have never put up big numbers. I think the most shows I did in a season was about 40 one year. Normally it's more in the 25-30 range and in spite of the high fuel costs I'll be able to do that again this year. I estimated $4 per gallon when I wrote my schedule so as long as we stay around that range I'll be able to get all the shows in. We lost a month of the season but that didn't save much money, I spent what would have been my racing budget taking family out to dinner and doing other things.
I got a 100% commitment for the Cedar Lake Firecracker, nine adults and three grandkids. I'm looking forward to it.
By Stan Meissner
Well, better get busy with that lawn so I can go to CLS.
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