As most of the Midwest and some fans, drivers, and others in the dirt track racing community knew, Farmer City Raceway was in serious jeopardy of closing the doors, possibly for good. In under a month, JK Promotions, made up of Central Illinois Late Model Driver Kyle Logue, as well as local businessman Jeff Hammer, along with many volunteers and others, whipped the quarter mile oval quickly into shape. As a fan, I was eagerly excited to see the changes in person, even though thanks to social media, I had seen some pictures and videos of the track and the facilities.
Opening night was slated for Friday, April 8, 2011, and the forecast coming in was supposed to be fantastic. The entire week leading up to the event, I went about promoting the event on various pages on Facebook, including those of local television stations, radio stations, and newspapers. Thursday night I seen rain was coming through, and I was quite nervous, although nowhere as nervous as those involved with the track were. When Friday rolled around, it was nice out, but not as nice as it was supposed to be. I, along with my grandpa, left for Farmer City around 12. After having a good meal at Imo's Cafe, we headed to the track to see how things looked. Needless to say, it was an absolutely amazing sight. There were many new boards on seats, the wall was painted and looked quite good, the ratty billboards were down, the concession stands had been revamped, the restrooms were as clean as I could EVER remember them being, and lots of things were painted. The improvements were much needed, and it was definitely something that put a smile to my face. Seeing the pits, it was a bit concerning. It was evident they had a hefty overnight rainfall. I knew they would bust their asses to get the pits worked in so there could be racing. They had the track looking good already. The banking in 1 and 2 had been built up some, but there's still more to go to get it to where it was pre Don Hammer.
After toiling endlessly, they got the pits worked down, and cars started arriving around 3. When it was all said and done, the 2 big classes, UMP Late Models and UMP Modifieds, had 33 and 25 cars respectively. The other classes, all but one of which will be running weekly, had turnouts of less than 15 each, which was disappointing to see. When late model hot laps rolled out, I had a chill run up my spine. It was a feeling of joy and relief. Racing was back at Farmer City Raceway. The track was very smooth, tacky, and fast. Early, it was nerve racking looking around and not seeing many people in the stands. The weather there at the track was cloudy and cooler than forecasted, and outside of there, it was sunny and warmer. I knew fans like myself and other "diehards" would be there, even if it were in the 30's. I was hoping others who aren't as crazy as us diehards would come out. As the night went along, the crowd kept growing. Eventually, the stands all around had few seats open, which was absolutely awesome. The show was ran in a timely manner, even with timing light issues. They kept the show rolling along and were well organized, which was quite impressive.
The racing itself, was old school Farmer City. The cars were fast in their heats, and the track widened out as the night went along. One race that was absolutely amazing, and in my eyes the race of the night, was the 2nd Late Model semi. Jason Feger and Brandon Thirlby ran well over half the race side by side with almost no room whatsoever between them and never touched. The crowd was cheering loudly, some for or against the drivers. I was just cheering because the track was delivering the kind of racing that has made it a popular track among fans, and why it's one of the best in Illinois. The Street Stocks set the bar early with a great feature featuring side by side racing between Lance Johnson and Brian Cassell, with Johnson prevailing. The UMP Modifieds were next, and they were married to the top side. There was some passing deeper in the field, but overall not as much as I would have hoped for. Justin McCoy took a horrible ride as he hit a disabled McKay Wenger who wasn't able to get off the track. Thankfully, both drivers were okay. In the end, Jay Ledford scored the UMP Modified feature win.
The Late Model feature was a good one, and it was somewhat a blast from the past. The names and faces may have changed some, but the racing was similar. Every groove was being utilized on the track, and drivers in the field kept moving around to see what worked for them. After a near disaster, Brian Shirley held on over a fast charging Frank Heckenast Jr. to win the $1,500 feature.
The Sportsman were next, and it was a 3 car race between Dave Crawley Jr., Nick Macklin, and Allen Crowder. After 15 laps of intense racing, Crawley Jr. prevailed. The minisprint feature was a runaway, with Ryan Guyett scoring the dominating win. The final feature, the Hornet feature, featured the finish of the night. Fast Joe Reed led all of the feature, but the K-2 of Casey Gernantz reeled Joe in and passed him off of Turn 4 on the final lap, and won by little over a nose. It was a thrilling finish to a great evening of racing. After going around and talking with many friends (drivers, fans, etc.), it was time to head home. It was a much more successful opening night than I could have ever envisioned for the track. It is great to say that Farmer City Raceway is BACK in 2011!!
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