Speedway 95 in Hermon is gradually rebounding from a slow start with last week’s Wacky Wednesday entry-level Roadrunner class’s 37-car field highlighting the season to date.
Racetrack office manager and head scorer Kim Baker Allen said that was the largest field for one class in several years.
“That’s pretty decent,” owner Del Merritt said. “I think we’ll have 45 to 50 before the year is over.”
Merritt said it is a low-cost class, and owners aren’t getting the money for the cars they used to receive from buyers, who would use them for parts and crush them.
Roadrunners can be four-, six- or eight-cylinder cars. Drivers take the glass and headlights out of them and have to dress accordingly with a long sleeve shirt, pants and a helmet. They also must have a fire extinguisher.
“They aren’t crushing as many cars now. You can buy a car for $100 to $200, use it and then have it crushed,” Merritt said. “People in the division are having fun and they can afford it.
“It’s cheap and it’s fun and there aren’t a lot of tech rules. The rules are primarily concerned with safety,” said Allen.
“The more expensive it is [to race], the less people you have,” added Merritt. “There are drivers out there with race cars who can’t afford to run them.”
Bradley’s Sam Betts has won the first two Roadrunner features, coming all the way from 19th to win last weekend’s race.
The Saturday night Late Model class, the track’s top class, struggled out of the gate with four cars in each of the first two races.
Merritt was concerned with the class but said it has made a modest comeback.
“It’s starting to come back some. We’ve been getting nine or 10,” he said.
The other classes on Saturday and Wednesday nights have had their ups and downs.
There will be more racing at 7 p.m. Wednesday for Wacky Wednesday, but there won’t be any racing this July 4 weekend.
There has been a special stunt race on every Wacky Wednesday card. A ramp race will be held on Wednesday night as cars must go up a ramp on two tires and then do another ramp with the other two tires.
Fans attending the track can now also listen to music playing during breaks in the action. Merritt said he “just wanted to come into modern times.”
It cost more than $1,300 to do so, as Merritt has purchased 11 speakers at $89 apiece over the past two years and had to pay licensing fee in excess of $300 to Broadcast Music Inc.
Merritt also purchased a limited-range FM transmitter for $80 so fans can listen to the music and public address announcer George Thomas in the pits or while sitting in their vehicles nearby. They can pick it up on 95.1 FM, which is a frequency but not a radio station.
“We needed to do something to fill the dead time,” explained Merritt. “If people are going to spend money, it’s got to be fun for them. We’re trying new things to see how it works out.”
Allen said Shawn Ryder and Jordan Harnish installed the speakers and the music has been playing the last couple of weeks.