After a rain soaked night and an “iffy” morning and afternoon Kamp Motor Speedway cars took to the track for some long awaited racing excitement. There were 54 Modifieds, 12 Late Models, 24 Sportsman, 24 Street Stocks and 10 Modified Lites in the house to make the racing awesome. I would like to take this time to congratulate the winners of those classes.

In the Late Models it was the #25 of Dan Walden who reached the checkers first to take the first trophy and win of the 2008 season. Dan did a great job out there and a win for him was long over due. What a great way to start the season congratulations Dan on your feature win.

The Modified race which was a Wolfpack Special was won by the #7R of Kent Robinson. It is always a pleasure to have Kent and his family in the house and Saturday was no different. Congratulations Kent on your feature win.

Wow!!!! did you see all of the Sportsman drivers? We had more than a full field Saturday and leading the way to the checker flags was the #46 of Scott Buchanan. Scott is the “tall quiet one” out there racing and he is always a pleasure to have at Kamp Motor Speedway. Congratulations Scott on your feature win.

The Street Stock feature was won by the #85 of Nate Alexander. Nate lead the 100 lap feature last year until problems arose with his car. I know that was a disappointment to him, but he made up for that loss on Saturday. Congratulations Nate on your feature win.

In the Modified Lites it was the #22 of Brian Menefee who was giving the victory interview and accepting the trophy. The Modlites are always a pleasure to have racing with us and we want to congratulate Brian on his feature win.

Modified driver Chuck Haga broke or should I say shattered the Modified record that was held by Chad Kinder. Chuck turned a qualifying lap time of 14.344. Congratulations Chuck on your record lap.

Racing wasn’t so great for Late Model driver V77 Gut Volk who hit the wall at the track exit. Luckily Guy walked away sore but unscathed, the new car wasn’t so lucky. We are glad your ok Guy and hopefully the car isn’t as bad as it looked.

We had other winners at the track on Saturday night and they were 50/50 winner RT Trinkle from Lafayette, IN. RT won $298.50 with ticket # 245202. The winner of the kids drawing for the trophy in the winners circle was Haylee Adams of Lafayette. Haylee is 4 years old . Congratulations to both RT and Haylee on their wins. No one hit the Kamp Lucky 5 drawing and the pot will rollover to $200 for this Saturdays drawing.

Not everything went as smooth as silk Saturday and we have a few incidents that need to be corrected. We did have a small confrontation between Street Stock drivers. The incident was resolved but we won’t tolerate this kind of behavior from our drivers. The matter will be turned over to UMP. We also had an oil dump in the pits, this also will not be tolerated. We keep a container for used oil in the pits, anyone caught dumping oil or leaving tires will be fined. Another thing is the announcer and scoring booth, only track personnel is allowed in the booth. If you have a gripe you need to find Bob or myself you are not to go to the announcers booth. The driver will be the one to get the penalty from crews and family complaints in the announcers booth. There was also a problem of drivers not making their heat. Bob calls the heats to the lanes once, then gives a last call. Because of it being the first night the flagman also allowed two extra parade laps to give them time to get out there. They did not arrive in time. It is our obligation to get the line-up board posted, it is not our duty to make sure you get to where you need to be when you need to be there. You need to be on your toes and know what heat is running. When one heat is on the track the next should be lined up and ready to go. This is how it has always been and these were not new drivers to KMS.

Back to more pleasant words, I was very pleased with our new announcer Rob Goodman. Rob did an awesome job Saturday and we are pleased to have him aboard.

We want to thank Lane Automotive and Holley for having the Lane/Holley Challenge Night. Lane representative John Berglund was on hand all evening with certificates for the winners and tossing out hats in the grandstands. Thanks John for being here and helping out the drivers with certificates. We also want to thank Bob Applget from Dirt Late Model and Dirt Modified Magazine. Bob is putting together an article for Dirt Modified on Kamp Motor Speedway.

We would like to send our condolences out to Heather Thomas whose grandmother passed away this week. We are saddened by your loss.

In closing I would again ask you to keep our armed forces serving at home and abroad to keep this country free of terrorism. They keep a watch so we can enjoy life as we all know it. With all that said until next time be happy and be safe.

Gayle

April has arrived and the weather has been up and down like a Duncan Yo-Yo, sunny and warm one day and rainy and chilly the next day. How exactly do you predict what’s coming next? Saturday April 5th was a good prediction with sunny skies and warm wind because of this we were able to get our scheduled practice in. We had 50 plus cars show up for practice and we had a little of everything, Late Models, Street Stocks, Sportsman, Modifieds, Modlites, Crate Late Models and a 4-cylinder. The practice went great and the cars and their new bodies and graphic designs also looked great. We had several Sportsman there so maybe that means the Sportsman class will be bigger this year, let’s hope anyway.

We were able to meet Rob Goodman our new announcer on practice day. I took Rob on a tour of the speedway and then he mingled out in the pits for quite a while. Rob is verrrry knowledgeable on racing and the drivers (he is also the new promoter at Hartford Speedway in Michigan) and we are very excited to have him aboard. I do promise that the flies have been removed from the announcers booth Rob.

Although this past Saturday was beautiful it doesn’t mean this Saturday will be. In fact the weatherman is predicting rain this week and colder temperatures for this weekend. It’s already colder today than yesterday was. Hopefully we will be able to start the season out on the scheduled date. I guess we need to start our non-rain dances and warm weather chants now (not that I believe in that stuff I am more into psychics and mediums).

As I was writing this I got a phone call from Sportsman driver Jaret Lueck on the birth of their new son. Cale Graham Lueck was born at 11:10 a.m. (EDT) today Tuesday April 8th. Cale weighed in at 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 and 1/4 inches long. Both Cale and mother (Dani) are doing fine. Cale has a 5 year old brother Zeke at home. Congratulations to the whole Leuck family on their new family addition.

If your a driver don’t forget to pick up your membership papers on Saturday. Kamp Motor Speedway has a mandatory membership and requires all members to have the K-Motion Valve Springs decal on both sides of the car. K-Motion sponsors the point fund at Kamp Motor Speedway. We also require each driver to be a member of UMP. We require this not only because we are a UMP track but also because the membership carries a great insurance policy for the drivers. Those forms as well as the K-Motion and UMP Dirt Car decals can be obtained at the pit office. If you fill your UMP forms out and turn in the fee to Kamp Motor Speedway we will send it in for you. That will save you a stamp anyway.

In closing I would again like to congratulate Jaret and Dani Leuck on the birth of their son. I would also like to ask all of you to keep our armed forces in your thoughts and prayers as they wage the war against terrorism. They do their job so you can freely do yours. With all that said until next time be happy and be safe.

Gayle

I know spring is getting close, I spotted three robins today, my tulips are popping through the ground and Corey is working at the track. That definitely means spring is close. Oh yeah and my gift day is only six days away (25th) and I know my gift day is in the spring. I truly believe it is time for spring, this winter has drug on way to long, I even painted my office yellow last week thinking it would give the appearance of sunshine. I don’t know know if it is sunshine bright or if it is just definitely bright yellow but it gives me the feeling of sunshine and that’s what counts. Last week Hayden said to me “Grandma, I am really sick of this cold sunshine, I’m ready for some warm sunshine.” I replied to him “me to Hayden, me to.”

I also know spring is close because some tracks are trying to practice and some tracks are trying to race and “Mother Nature” is interfering the way she does in the springtime in the Midwest. Hopefully she will start backing off and let the racing begin.

We did have very sad news last week with the passing of former Vermilion County Speedway promoter Bill Nelson. Bill passed away Monday March 10th while in heart bypass surgery. Bill was also a big part of the Northern Allstar Late Model Series (NALMS). Bill was fifty years old and will be sadly missed by his family, his friends and his colleagues. Kamp Motor Speedway and K-Motion would like to send our thoughts and prayers out to Bill’s family at this time of sorrow.

I noticed a post on the message board about our announcers Jeff and Harv leaving. This is indeed true, the guys have decided to spend the summer with their children. Jeff will be coaching his son’s Little League team and Harv will be spending more quality time with his son doing father and son activities. We have however hired Rob Goodman to announce and we are excited about him coming aboard at KMS. Rob has been announcing at Hartford Speedway in Michigan and is actually the new promoter there. Rob comes with very high recommendations and is very knowledgeable on racing and the drivers. As we all know when one door closes another one opens and Rob is our new open door of announcing at KMS.

This Saturday March 22nd is the Easter Egg Hunt that is put on every year by 93.5 KHY. The hunt will be at Shueman Field at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana. As usual Kamp Motor Speedway drivers will have cars on hand for the youngsters to see. Those drivers are; Michael Kettnich, Dave Huff, Mike Brown, Justin Gregory and Martin Racing. I want to thank these drivers for bringing their cars out to display. I believe the festivities begin at 9:00 a.m. EDST.

Not only is Kamp Motor Speedway gearing up for the race season so is K-Motion Racing. K-Motion has a new shipment of Hoosier Tires and Aero race wheels in stock. We are also starting to add more Allstar Performance products to our inventory. The new coffee chat room is also ready to go for some racing conversation. So stop by K-Motion racing in Lafayette, Indiana and support the business that supports your home track.

In closing I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and if you are out on the roads please drive carefully that Easter Bunny has a lot of roads to cross. I would also like to continue to wish luck to Amanda Overmyer who is still in the running on American Idol, Amanda is from Mullberry, Indiana which is only six miles out of Lafayette. I would also again ask you to keep our armed forces in your thoughts and prayers as they fight the war on terrorism. With all that said until next time be happy and be safe.

Gayle

March has finally arrived and Sunday was a beautiful day. Bob and I swept out the sand and pebbles in our garage that had been dragged in by our tires from the roads. You know the stuff they spread because of snow and ice. Hayden was there with his big wheel that he found under our Christmas tree and he rode all over the garage. Hayden spent the night and we awoke to rain hitting the windows, now the weather station is saying rain turning to ice, a possible two inches of the frozen stuff. Now don’t get me wrong I love ice just not on the roads. It’s great in margarita’s and daiquiri’s while sitting in the sun on a white sand beach in the Dutch Caribbean. It’s just not good on the ROADS. Hayden and I both agreed that we were sick of the cold weather and the snow and ice. We are ready to see sunshine and green trees and play in a swimming pool or we might even be ready to play around on a big red oval in the middle of a pasture, but we are definitely sick of snow and ice.

There has been some race related things going on in the area, this past weekend Danville had their car show at the Danville Mall. I did hear that they had ten cars and the Toyota Tundra truck out there. Unfortunately we were not able to make it out but we did hear that the cars looked great. Brownstown canceled their car show and practice until this coming weekend. The first of March in any part of Indiana is a wee bit early. We settled for a Sunday afternoon of NASCAR.

It appears that Kankakee will open this year. I have spoken with the new promoters and I think they will do a fine job. Right now the plan is to open in May and run about a fifteen-race season for this year. I wish both individuals involved the best of luck this season. I will let them be the ones to announce their names as well as any other racing they have planned.

We have had some personnel changes this year. Our announcers Jeff and Harv who have been with us for five years have decided to spend time with their families this summer. This left us in search of a new announcer, the search went rather quickly and Rob Goodman who announces and promotes on Friday night at Hartford Speedway in Michigan has agreed to come aboard as our announcer. I have heard only good things about him and we look forward to him joining our racing family at Kamp Motor Speedway. This could prove to be a good thing for both Kamp Motor Speedway and Hartford.

K-Motion has been gearing up for the racing, the new break area is done and we have just brought in a new shipment of Hoosier tires and Aero wheels. K-Motion is the business that supports the points and the track. We are looking to you for support for K-Motion. Come on in shop around have a cup of coffee watch a race video, shoot the breeze and support the business that supports your home track.

In closing I would again ask you to keep our armed forces in your thoughts and prayers as they wage the war against terrorism. They do their job so you are free to go to yours everyday. I would also like to welcome Tressie Potts home from her recent surgery and stay in the hospital.

With all that said until next time be happy and be safe.

Gayle

Will this winter and all this snow ever quit? (It is snowing as I write) I don’t know about any of you but I am terribly sick of this cold wet weather. I am ready to put the hot chocolate away and break out the mint juleps. Actually I have been drinking hot tea and cough syrup for the past two weeks. I am finally on the mend but Bob is still feeling the effects of the cold and flu virus. Hayden has been here with us all day and we have had four pretend drivers meetings so far this afternoon so I guess he’s ready for winter to be gone and racing to get started too.

This has been a sad week with the death of our good friend Dallas Montgomery of Hoosier Tire Midwest Indy and the loss of little Braxton Peters. I will certainly miss Dallas and his wit. There are no words that I or anyone can say to bring the kind of comfort Jesse and Destiny Peters need at this time. I just hope they both know how very much Bob and I along with the whole Kamp Motor Speedway racing family care about them. You will both stay in our prayers.

We will be at the Rensselaer fairgrounds tomorrow February 23rd for the Racers Trade Show and Swap put on by Scott Madison and Stan Larson. The show runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (CST). Come out and see us, see your fellow racers and look for a bargain or two. We will have schedules, rules, Kamp Motor Speedway memberships as well as UMP memberships available for you to fill out or pick up.

Have you checked out the Kamp Motor Speedway myspace page yet? If you haven’t please do so, the link is listed in the link category of the website. We are looking for a different background but we haven’t gotten one on yet.

Racing is only about six weeks away if Mother Nature stops this winter nonsense so we can race. We have a lot to get done in a very short six weeks. We can’t clean and get ready to open in this cold weather. We can’t turn the water back on for fear of the lines freezing and the track I am sure is really good and wet with all the snow and rain that has fallen this past month. The winter doldrums definitely puts a toll on things but we will get it done hopefully before April 5th for opening practice.

We will be looking for a few cars for the annual Easter Egg Hunt that KHY 93.5 puts on each year at Schueman Field at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana. I will post more when I find out about the actual date and the times. It’s a nice event for the kids. Contact me if you are interested, we can have up to six cars for the event.

There has been quite a buzz in the Lafayette area the past couple of weeks. American Idol has three people competing for a shot at the next American Idol title and recording contract. All three have close ties to the Lafayette area. Luke Menard is from Crawfordsville, Indiana, Amy Davis who is a Purdue graduate is from Lowell, Indiana and Amanda Overmyer is from Mulberry ,Indiana (six miles out of Lafayette) and works in Lafayette. Sadly Amy Davis was eliminated last night. Don’t forget to watch and text in your votes for their support.

In closing I would again ask you to keep the Montgomery and Peters families in your thoughts and prayers as they struggle with the loss of their loved ones. I would also ask you to keep our armed forces in your thoughts and prayers as they worked tirelessly to keep us and our great country out of harms way. With all that said until next time be happy and be safe.

Gayle