Farley Speedway - Tornado Tuesday (June 16)

Billy Moyer Jr. drove this Moyer Victory Circle-prepared car at Farley Speedway on June 16 during Tornado Tuesday. This car was driven by NASCAR star Denny Hamlin at the Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway. - Dennis Krieger Imagery

Farley, Iowa - Getting up Tuesday morning and looking outside at the cloudy sky and the rain falling, I thought to myself that Tornado Tuesday could very well have been changed to Thunderstorm Tuesday if not for a little luck. With the radar green across the whole state, I think everyone had reason to believe that the 10,000 to win open late model show would be canceled.

With one eye on the radar and another on the Simmons Promotions Inc., website, all of that green kept going around Farley and updates kept saying, "The sun is out, we have had no rain here. The races are on for tonight!". Somehow Farley was being spared.

We arrived early and got the opportunity to chat with Keith Simmons for 30 to 45 minutes. Like every other promoter and their track, Simmons mentioned that figures are down this season but they're managing. While talking to him, I reaffirmed one thing and learned another about Keith.

He's a very smart business man, who knows every aspect of what goes on; his tracks, the drivers, the fans, what it costs to operate, everything. He threw a fact at us that surprised us both; the average age of his fan coming through the gate at Farley is 48 years old.

Keith Simmons ponders what the Internet assassins and wombats will say about him next - Dennis Krieger Imagery

He also talked about the Internet, specifically forums and how much it's hurt racing, which I agree with. Promoters get shit on daily in these forums and Simmons is no exception. Being the promoter of multiple tracks, the target on his back is three times bigger than most promoters. He takes it in stride though and even smiled when he talked about the "Internet assassins and wombats" (You chickenshit assholes know who you are).

Despite a few raindrops here and there, the show went on. Obviously with the threat of rain, some drivers and quite a fans that had probably plan to attend stayed away. Well over 40 drivers had confirmed that they would be there but when the pit gate swung close, 28 late models were in attendance, far below expectations.

Still, no matter if it's a weekly show or a special event such as this, with 28 late models, you have a show and the fans that were there, myself included, got just that. The track's surface was in excellent condition. As it turned out, it was almost too good of condition (I'll explain later).

Chris Simpson of Mt. Vernon, Iowa stands on the pedal during the Tornado Tuesday open late model shootout at Farley Speedway - Dennis Krieger Imagery

After some group qualifying (which was a smart move), four heat races and a B-main that was totally unnecessary, the field was set. I, along with most of the crowd assumed the winner was coming from the second row, which consisted of Brian Birkhofer and Billy Moyer. Ahhhh....but that's why they race the race.

Chad Simpson started on the pole and jumped out to the early lead. Wil Vaught of Crane, Mo., settled into second with Birkhofer third. A few laps later, Birkhofer moved past Vaught for second and you assumed that Simpson would be the next victim. I'm sure you've been told, "Never assume.....it makes an ass out of you and me". This is where that theory applied.

What proceeded to happen in the next five laps would've made for a great "Ripley's Believe it or Not" show. Birkhofer breaks on lap 14 sending him to the pits for the evening much to the amazement (and disappointment to some) of the fans. With Birky being pulled off the track, you could sense that the drivers, seeing this, all of sudden felt that they're not running for second anymore and that it's anybody's ballgame. When the green dropped, Simpson once again sped into the lead with Vaugt and now a determined Billy Moyer jumping into the mix. Two laps later, second-place Vaught broke sending him to the infield. Moyer inherited second place and proceeded to pressure Simpson and was just getting on Chad's doorstep when Moyer goes down for the count on lap 19.

Second place was not the place to be tonight.This is where the race took an interesting turn. For the first 20 laps Chad Simpson was comfortably out front of the field. On the lap 20 restart however, Andy Eckrich, who started 8th, made a wise move and jumped to the bottom, shooting past Simpson. A lap later, the "second place blues" hit Chad as he went down with a flat tire.

As I mentioned earlier, the track was in excellent condition and was very racy, both high and low. But as I also said, it was almost too good. The track was heavy and had plenty of bite, however that meant that the drivers and their machines really had to get on the horses to get around it. The over time they were put through took a toll on quite a few drivers early. On the lap 20 re-start, I counted 13 cars on the field of play; they started 24.Wil Vaught, who had dropped out earlier, managed to get back into the race and because of the small field managed to shoot past both Jeremiah Hurst and Chris Simpson on the re-start to claim back the second position. This time his luck would hold out there.

Chad Simpson, who had a flat tire earlier, also proved to be quick as he moved back through the shrunken field to slip by his brother Chris to take over third. And that's how they would finish. Despite a valiant effort by Vaught, Andy held strong and held on to take the win with Vaught, Chad Simpson, Jeff Larson and Jake Meier rounding out the top-five.

In victory lane, an elated Eckrich was asked if this was the biggest check he ever won. He looked at the cardboard check with all of those zero's on it, soaked it in for a few seconds and smiled, "Yes it is". Enough said...Congratulations to Mr. Eckrich on driving a smart race and a great win.

Andy Eckrich hoists his $10,000 check high in victory lane after winning the Tornado Tuesday open late model shootout at Farley Speedway on June 16. - Dennis Krieger Imagery

That evening of racing at Farley Speedway was good except for one thing that I feel needs to be brought up. I've mentioned this in columns I've written before and I'll bring it up again. Everybody who works at a track is a reflection of that track. EVERYBODY!!! From the concession worker to the person taking tickets to the track officials to the promoter himself.

As I mentioned previously, we had a nice talk with Keith Simmons before the races. When we went to check in at the pit shack, scorer Kevin Feller and track announcer Eric Huenefeld waved and said hello. When we checked in, the lady in the pit shack greeted us with a smile and got us checked in, even saying, "Thanks for coming tonight guys".

When we pulled into the pits, we tried to find a spot that wasn't in the way. A gentleman (that's putting it nicely) drives by and says in a gruff voice, "Are you saving that spot for someone?" We stated that we were media. "Well you can't park there, you're in the way". We asked where we could park where we weren't in the way. "He pointed out a spot where we promptly moved to.

I thought we had the situation solved but Adolph the Hitler decided to throw his weight around a little more. "How do I know you're not trying to scam me out of $35?" he huffed (pit passes were $35). "If you're media, where are your newspapers?" Because in his eyes, all media personnel carry a bundle of newspapers with them. I had mine cleverly hidden up my ass but I wasn't going to tell him. We explained to him that we now cover racing on this wonderful thing called the Internet. I didn't feel the need to get into the whole "print media is slowly dying...blah, blah, blah" thing with him. We stated who we were, what are intentions for being there that night were and told him that the SPI secretary had all of our information. He grunted, mumbled something and walked off.

A gentleman standing close by stated, "He could've handled that a little better". I agree.....much, much better.

It's been said many times before but bears being brought up again. Talking across to people and not down to them will get you along farther along in life. Just because you have a name tag or can bark orders on a infield microphone doesn't give you an all-access pass to being a shithead to anyone and everyone. Everybody else went out of their way to say hello and make us feel at home. However, it was the one negative person who left us with the biggest impression and not a favorable one at that.

For every racetrack in today's economy, you're constantly fighting an uphill battle to stay afloat. Getting race fans and drivers to come to your track is on the top of the priority list. Once you get them there, then it's your job to keep them coming back. That means everyone (EVERYONE!) needs to present their best side at all times no matter who they're dealing with on whatever issue, whether it's a driver, race fan or even us low-life media people who are out in full force trying our damnedest to scam promoters.

Thanks to Keith Simmons and most of his staff for a great night of racing.

Thanks for reading. See you at the races...