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First Practice at Ocala A Huge Success
by BJ Cavin
After a delay of a week thanks to rain, Ocala Speedway threw open the pit
gate and allowed race cars onto the new clay 3/8ths mile D-shaped oval on
Saturday afternoon and evening. And as the racers and their machines
arrived, it became obvious that the staff at Ocala Speedway has some work to
do before the next practice. Number one on that "to do" list is expand the pits!
Cramped conditions were only a minor setback, and everyone in attendance
seemed in agreement that the practice was a rousing success.
In all a total of 153 cars made their way to Ocala Speedway for the first crack
at breaking in the new clay. Tracks that have never been raced on are
notorious for being nasty to get under control, but the general consensus
among the drivers at Ocala was that after an initial break in period the track
became wickedly fast and exciting to drive. At the end of practice there were a
couple of holes which were to be expected, but the clay was extremely tacky
and the overall surface was quite smooth. The comment that was heard over
and over in the pits after practice was that the clay was excellent and the grip
was phenomenal. Some drivers even reported that the grip was so good that
it almost scared them. Ocala Speedway owner Michael Peters said later that
the work would continue on the racing surface in order to make it even better.
Virtually all of the racers who commented about the practice were happy with
the facility and the track, and the only complaints were about the cramped
quarters in the pits. A huge number of dirt racing fans also made their way to
Ocala Speedway to watch the practice, and they were equally impressed.
Race fan Dick Snyder from Belleview, who grew up watching racing on
pavement, said that racing on dirt was going to be 10 times more exciting for
him than watching racing on asphalt had been. Snyder added that watching
the dirt fly and left front wheels hardly touching the track made him hungry for
more, and that he would be excitedly anticipating the next practice, as well as
opening night on February 29th.
The last open practice session before the opening night at Ocala Speedway
will be on Saturday, February 16th. The pit gate will open at 1PM with a
drivers meeting and practice beginning at 4PM. That gives Michael Peters
and the staff from Ocala Speedway just under two weeks to adapt to the
exceptional number of cars and fans arriving at the first practice, and eliminate
the minor inconveniences that were born of overcrowding. Peters says he is
up to the task, and everyone will be ready to do it all again on the 16th.
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