Something pretty cool

[DeputyDog]

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway built a 1/4 mile dirt track inside turn 3 of the regular oval and they are hosting a USAC midget race there in honor of the late Bryan Clausen who was a USAC champion and three time Indy 500 starter who was killed a couple of years ago in a racing accident.

His family donated his organs upon his death and this race is to raise awareness for organ donation and a program called Driven 2 Save Lives that started in the Indy car community after the death of driver Justin Wilson, also an organ donor, in 2015.

Here is an pic at the start of construction to.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180906/807a99efab0b70e557aeaafd90e54680.jpg

Here is another pic that demonstrates the sheer size of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180906/87d8cd8e7cf50b4f020243b82894319a.jpg

While that’s cool in itself, the first race got 118 entrants. They are having two days of heat races to set the field for the main race tonight.

A kid from my town is going to hit the big time in racing. I’ve know his dad for years and it’s a great family and he’s a really good kid as well. Earlier this year he became the youngest winner in the history of USAC to win a national feature. Well, he finished second in his heat race last night at this new dirt track and he won the pursuit race. This race was a 20 lap race where there is a competition caution every 4 laps and if you have been passed, you are eliminated.

http://www.usacracing.com/news/midget/item/7532-wise-wins-pursuit-bright-high-point-man-in-bc39-opener

[Thumper]

That's cool and sounds like a lot of fun! Good luck to the boy!

We campaigned a car throughout my early years, but raced only asphalt at two different tracks every Fri. & Saturday night. (We ran the drags on Sunday) It seemed dirt was mostly a "northern" or "mid-western" thing in those days. I'll never forget my first dirt track race (as a spectator). I went to a local dirt track in West Memphis, Arkansas and when I hit the parking lot, it was pretty darn crowded. I remember driving around the track until I found an area with plenty of parking and picked an easy spot to find (after the races), then parked and headed for the entrance. After the night of racing, I went over to the pit area and crossed the track to get there. I couldn't believe how sticky that Mississippi River "gumbo" was. It would practically suck the shoes off my feet as I walked across it! After visiting the pits and looking the cars over, I headed for the lot to get my car and head home. WTF?? There were STILL very few cars parked in that area, but they all looked exactly the same ... nothing but MUD COVERED HUMPS in the parking lot! I learned the hard way, you do NOT park close to the track between the turns! I was between turns 3 & 4 and it probably took me 30-40 mins. just to get the windshield clean enough to see to drive!

Just one of those little life's lessons that takes only ONCE to sink in! :crazy