Albion Is Always Pure Americana

Matt and I took our annual trip to Boone County Raceway in Albion, NE yesterday.  Before I talk about racing I have to thank my son for not incurring the wrath of local law officials for the first time in three years.  I won’t mention what he did the past two years-OK, I will too, he ran a stop sign and tried to drive through a parade.  Anyway, not having to listen to local cops give Matt a lecture was definitely a good thing.

 

Actually, the only policeman I saw was sitting beside me, Ernie Reiss of Beatrice.  Ernie rode his motorcycle the 150 miles or so between Beatrice and Albion.  That was the first time I had met Ernie, a frequent commentator on my blog, and as I said once before, Ernie would have to be the good cop in good cop/bad cop.

 

A night at the race track in Albion, especially during the Boone County Fair, is simply small town Americana at its best.  No NASCAR.  No TV pontificators. However, with over 2,000 people in the grandstands, and hundreds more walking the fair, there are far more people on the fairgrounds than in the rest of the town.  The fans in Albion are knowledgeable and they always have a good time.  Farmers wearing seed corn company hats and racing t-shirts are everywhere.  There are more nice looking young ladies per capita than any other track we visit (I don’t notice, Matt tells me this). I love the atmosphere and the racing is just a bonus.

 

Good thing it is just a bonus, because the numbers last night were disappointing.  There were only 24 late models on hand, 15 that could be called WDRL regulars or at least invaders, and 9 cars with local drivers. The 15 invaders were quality drivers, and do put on a good show.  The big disappoint to me was the number of IMCA modified drivers on hand.

 

The only other area track to run IMCA modifieds last night was I-80 Speedway.  That should not have affected more than 10 drivers.  The Albion race offered national points and $1,000 to win the event.  The pay back was not bad either.  However, only 13 mods were on hand to race, 12 locals and Kyle Berck.  The only reason I can figure why so few mods raced were that drivers figured Berck would show up and they would be running for second place.  That was certainly the case as Berck seemed content to run in 3^rd place for most of the race.  With four laps to go he made several moves and went to 2^nd, and then took the lead and won going away.  As always with Berck in the mod is a racing clinic.

 

My favorite clown-well, other than the clowns in the Sunday Night Irregulars, Pork Chop, was on hand.  This is the third time I have been able to watch the rodeo/racing clown in action.  The first time was also at Albion, and I did not like much of his early show.  Then, he decided to take on the Albion fire department armed with only water balloons, and topped it off with riding a bicycle down the steps of the grandstand-heck, I have a difficult time walking them.  I didn’t like UNL mascot Lil Red until he pounded his head into the turf, so you can see my kind of humor. Anyway, Pork Chop does put on a good show and certainly filled in the down time that would have resulted in an evening that featured only 37 racers.

 

With Carl Edwards night at I-80 Speedway, I was surprised to see I-80 part owner Joe Kosiski pull into the WDRL pits.  Kosiski finished 10^th in the feature.

 

Al Purkey led all 50 laps of the WDRL event.  Chad Simpson ran second for most of the race, but John Anderson was able to pass him in the last 10 laps to claim second.  Simpson finished 3^rd.  Tim Isenberg finished 4^th followed by Dave Eckrich, Kyle Berck, and Denny Eckrich.  Although Purkey was never seriously challenged, I wouldn’t call his win easy.  Lapped traffic came into play within a few laps of each green and Purkey did an excellent job picking where and when to pass. 

 

The races were over by 9:50 p.m., and we were home by 11:30 p.m.  That happened to be two hours earlier than we got home from the Midwest Trifecta at I-80 Speedway on July 3^rd.  Tonight we are going to Mineral City Speedway near Ft. Dodge, IA for another WDRL show.  I suspect a much better WDRL car count as many Iowa drivers who did not make the trip to Albion will show at Ft. Dodge, including Brian Birkhofer.  It is always a pleasure to see the 15B in action.

 

Finally, to the driver of The Mystery Machine-I can’t mention his name because he is already demanding royalties for simply mentioning his van-I have decided that I will in fact pay you reasonable royalties WHEN I am allowed to ride in the Mystery Machine as you pack the track.  Until then, no way.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

~ by Ron Meyer on July 13, 2009.