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A Good Bet at Boyd's
Late Model Mark
PINSON, Ala. (August 12) - Hello from Dirt Late Model heaven, this round of the Red Clay Report will be a review of my trip up North to Boyds Speedway in Ringgold, Georgia. Boyds was hosting the Southern Regional Racing Series this past Friday night, a nice $3-Grander that was sure to draw a nice field of talent laden drivers and teams. So plans were made, times were set, all that needed to happen was for raceday to show up.
My plan was to leave at 2:30pm. so I would have plenty of time to get there, check out the track, and smooze with all involved. You know what they say sometimes about well laid out plans, sometimes they just go awry. Due to unforseen circumstances, I got off to a very late start, three hours late had the ole Dodge on the interstate. Shortly after getting up to speed on I-59 and realizing how late I would get to the track, I darn near exited at the next exit after figuring out that I would not get to Boyds until 8:30pm. When you cross into Georgia you lose one hour as it is in the Eastern Time zone. Would it be worth it if all I saw was maybe a B-Main and the feature? At that point I was full steam ahead, I was going to see my beloved Late Models no matter how much racing I saw, it was well worth it!!
Not exactly following the posted speed limit I flew thru Northeast Alabama, Northwest Georgia, and then into Tennessee. I arrived near the track right at 8:25pm. I found the track easily, and low and behold the racing gods shined on me. Found a terrific parking spot and in rapid fire order, collected my gear, got my race credential, and was in the pits huffin' and puffin' from the frantic drive right at 8:30pm. Thinking I missed most of the program, I asked Ronnie Johnson what I missed, he said, all you missed was hot laps, yahoo!!! The track crew had heavily watered the surface to provide a good track for the night so they were running late. How lucky was I on a night that started late but would end up with a giant smile? The fast 146 mile drive had payed off large.
The track has had many ups and downs in past history, many owners and names. Started as Boyds Speedway, then called Tennessee-Georgia and Stateline Speedways, and now back to the original name of Boyds. Owned now by the Harveys with promotional duties in control of Steve Hixson and fine announcing by Steve Milling. The track is 3/8mi. in size, a small 3/8mi. track in my view with very wide corners and somewhat of a D-shape. Wide straights, very good lighting gives drivers a clean view. The pits have plenty of room even for the biggest of shows, the infield has plenty of room as well with a scale to weigh the cars. Nice grandstands are close to the action that makes every seat a good one. A very nice modern tower with separate rooms for the announcers, officials and guests. The concession stands are under the tower with a fresh looking concrete concourse making walking around easy. Check this out, they have air-conditioned restrooms that are spotless!! Air-conditioning in the cans, outstanding!! Everything was clean for the spectators and easy. The fans were all respectfull and friendly. The staff also was very nice and willing to help at any time. I really like the feel of this track.
Interesting about this place, the track is in Georgia while the pits are in Tennessee. The local zoning commission hovers over this track with a bat. Demanding racing cease at 11:30pm and requiring all cars to run mufflers. Steve Hixson said early that they would not make curfew and would pay the fine! This night a loaded field of 45 Late Models started to time in at 8:45pm. The S.R.R.S. locks in the top 8 while the rest would run 4 heat races to fill the field. Heats started at 10:10pm. The heats were decent, one heat was marred by a nasty flip by Carnell Parker, the Boyds safety team did a superb job in handling the wreck, they did a great job all night as well. The main event started at 11:30pm. The race had been changed from 50 laps to 40 laps due to the hour and the "bat" of the zoning commission waving in the breeze. What a feature!! A last lap, last corner pass of Ronnie Johnson by a coming out of nowhere Randy Weaver to win by inches. It was so exciting, it had the big crowd up on their feet!! The race ended at 11:47pm.
Was it worth it, no doubt. Would I go back to Boyds for a show, you bet. This track does things right. I would highly advise that if you in Northwest Georgia, go see a race at Boyds Speedway, you will find that it is a good bet at Boyds for a good time. Till next time,go see a Dirt Late Model race at a track near you, it's the best racing on dirt!
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