I LOVE THIS TRACK! - MADISON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

As I start this new mini series this season I think back to why I started this group last year.  I have always been the kind of person who beats to the tune of his own drum and although it has at times prevented me from having many long lasting relationships or weekly thursday night poker games, I also feel that I have always been true to myself, who I am, and what I love.  For those who have no interest in the things that I love I have accepted going from close friends to acquaintances. However, for those few close friends I do have they enjoy me for who I am and what I am about, whether they are interested or not, they make the effort to stay in touch and if anything just listen and encourage me to pursuit my passions in life.  I would much rather surround myself with those people even when I may only see them a few times a year versus spending time with “friends” that I have nothing in common with because it is convenient to have thursday night poker night.  I tried for many years to introduce the people around me to the sport, but eventually I had to accept that there are opportunities to do my part to keep short track racing alive and that trying to push the sport on those that have no interest in it was not one of them.  In my first blog I spoke about finding my connection to the sport and out came United Race Fans of Wisconsin.  I have now learned to encourage others to support the things that they love including racing, but have also learned that when you talk about why you love something people are more likely to give it a chance.  The friendships I have and memories gained through United Race Fans of Wisconsin through social media and more importantly AT THE TRACK, although young, have personally become very important to me and that alone has already paid itself back tenfold from all the time and effort I have put in this idea.  I look forward to meeting all of our members at some point in the coming seasons, but most importantly thank you for helping this guy find his connection to the sport.

I LOVE THIS TRACK! - Madison International Speedway

One of my favorite parts of of going to any racetrack is pulling off the highway onto a short country road before turning into the parking lot.   Not all tracks give you that same feeling, but Madison is right up there as one of the best.  A 60 minute drive, hang a left on to Sunrise Drive and as the adrenaline and memories begin to flow, before you realize it, the sounds of practice hit you followed by the sight of one more left turn just ahead.  Pull into the lot and find a spot to park, open the doors, and the smell punches you right in the nose as you take a deep breathe to soak in the smell of a race track.  Close your eyes, open them again, accept the euphoric sense from knowing this is exactly where you should be and head to the front gate for what will be another amazing night of racing.

BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE

Madison International Speedway holds a close place to my heart for many reasons, some old, some new.  It was the second short track I had ever attended as a child as Wayne Erickson bought the track in the early nineties and brought it back to where it all started, asphalt.  Seeing my weekly hero’s not only on Sunday nights at Slinger Speedway, but now on Friday nights as well, I was hooked from that first trip on.  Watching the most successful NASCAR driver to come out of Wisconsin week in week out, how lucky I was to witness greatness in the making.  I think sometimes that is what keeps me at the track every possible opportunity is the fear of missing a great one pass by and not being there to see it.  I have now started a new chapter in my connection to Madison this season.  Attending the track clean-up day on April 18th, I painted the start finish line.  As that unconnected but die-hard fan in the stands, there couldn’t be a better way for me to feel as a part of something than sitting in the stands and seeing your contribution to it.  As well, I got to meet with track owner Gregg McKarns and we stenciled out the new look for turns 3 and 4, diagonal lines.  When I ran into Gregg after the first weekly show of the year and he asked me about the diagonals all I could get out was “awesome, just awesome”.  But really, that is the best way to describe it.  The intent of the diagonals is to make the cars look faster in the turns, and I can with 100% certainty say that at night with sparks flying as the cars bottom out mid-way through the turns, there are going to be some “awesome” photos of racecars in those turns and a great way to put a stamp on a race track.


THE FACILITIES

Madison has very long straightaways and the grandstands and concessions are spread out in a way that allows for easy traffic flow.  Lines at the concessions move quickly as there are multiple beer & food stands and restrooms located at both east and west sides of the track.  The staff this year has worked very efficiently and even when lines start to backup, you may hear a nice lady call you over to help you as to keep the lines moving smoothly.  In a day when it’s impossible at times to get people to look up from their phones for 2 seconds, I love hearing “I can help you over here!”.  Concrete grandstands with wood bench seating, the track is always clean due to trash cans located at the top and bottom of each section.  For some reason my kids love throwing their hot dog wrappers and soda bottles in the trash immediately after they are done using them regardless of what is happening on track.  I’ll give mom the credit there, but having those trash cans visible everywhere you look makes it a lot easier to toss it in a can and a much more enjoyable experience sitting in cleaner grandstands then sitting in a pile of your own overconsumption for 3 hours.  It also gives the kids a chance to burn off some of that seemingly endless energy source running up and down the stairs.  For those of you sitting near us, yes I already know, my kids do not sit still.  However, there is also an upper and lower grandstand.  The lower grandstand is just concrete and a great spot for the kids to let loose and burn off some of that excess energy when the lower divisions take to the tricky ¼ mile inside the half mile racing surface.  There is also a nice grass hill in turn 1 where kids are often seen being what used to be common entertainment, rolling down a grass hill and running back up again and again.  

THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Madison has great viewpoints from just about every seat in the facility due to the amount and height of the grandstands.  Spread out across the entire frontstretch sitting halfway up or higher allows a view without obstructions to most of the track.  A tree lined backstretch helps build a visible enclosure giving it that sports arena feel and keeping it from feeling like you are “out in the cornfields” which in my opinion adds to the comfort of sitting in the stands.  Look up to turns 1 and 2 and spotters and crewmen line the entire fence during the main event letting you know this is an important race to watch.  The tower is tall, well kept, and looks to be newly painted with sponsor banners giving it a real racetrack feel.  NASCAR caution lights around the entire ½ mile and ¼ mile add a nice updated touch to the lighting.  The sounds created by the racecars let you know that it’s a bigger, faster short track and without much echoing you can hear when a driver is on his game or having motor issues.  Even with minimal echoing, I still suggest hearing protection for little ones for Super Late Model specials and features over 50 laps.  

THE SHOW

Madison’s long straightaways and tight but deceptively high banked turns make it the fastest ½ mile in the state.  Many times when watching a limited or super late model race it seems the cars are playing follow the leader rather than catch the leader and ½ mile tracks are many times spread out and somewhat boring races.  Not at Madison.  The high speeds at Madison and competitive fields typically seen there are very conducive to excitement in every race.  Its very visible to every fan who are the cars to watch and picking up a spot here or there every few laps or so.  From my view in the stands, those cars that get off turn 2 the best are the ones to watch and I would suggest looking there to see who the cars to beat will be.  The weekly show is very fast paced and intermission only lasted a few minutes with entertainment at the entry gate to keep the kids entertained and get them out of their seats.  The dice roll for starting position in the feature and fast dash of each division before the national anthem allowed for great picture taking opportunities and a chance to see the drivers before the show.  As well, it did not drag out as long as I thought it would and the announcer did a nice job getting the drivers through it quickly.  Since the drivers were already out of their cars we all turned toward the flag and enjoyed a local band playing our national anthem.  Fast dashes and heats moved quickly, but were still entertaining and there were hard fought side by side battles in most of the heats.  The late model main event was just the right amount of laps as it felt like a 30-lap fast dash and had 2 or 3 lead changes in a matter of a few laps.  The top 6-8 cars all ran the majority of the race in tight quarters with side by side battles for most of the 30 laps. The Sportsman division continues to impress everywhere I go.  A competitive group of cars, every race was exciting and prone to close battles lap in and lap out and I expect that to continue for the rest of the season.   Moving to the tricky ¼ mile there aren’t many tracks that can offer enough room to have bandits go 4+ wide down the front stretch then back down to 2 wide in turn 1.  We saw that a few times in the feature.  Visually you can really see who is going for it and who has some work to do.  Overall its one of the best weekly shows I have been to in a long time as Friday being a work day for most, the last thing you want to do is go sit in bleachers for 3-4 or more hours.  The show timed out right around 2 hours and 15 minutes give or take a few minutes which left time for our favorite experience, a lap around the pits to visit with drivers, get autographs and hero cards, take pictures, and yes, those 2 little boys still full of energy approaching 10 o’clock sat in a few race cars as well.  And shhhh, don’t tell anyone, there may have been a walk/jog around the track as well.

As I look forward to the rest of my race season I look forward to all the upcoming experiences and although I can’t make it to Madison every week I will definitely be back again.  I encourage everyone to check it out this season and in the seasons to come.  We will see you AT THE TRACK!