4/23/2017
Billy Blair
Racing season delayed because of rain
Gillette Thunder Speedway’s plan to open its racing season Sunday will have to wait until Saturday. Track promoter Ed Kirchoff spent eight hours trying to prepare the track for Sunday’s opening race, but it was too wet.
Saturday’s car show, followed by a test and tune for the drivers, was cut short because of the track conditions and announcer Gary Rose informing the drivers in attendance that the season would begin Saturday.
The car show had just 14 total cars and the track never did get dry enough for cars to get on it even as Kirchoff had been caring for it the past three days.
It was a poor turnout Saturday, but something Kirchoff and Rose expected.
Billy Blair, last season’s mini-bomber champion, competed last year just to see if he could do it. The 43-year-old Gillette man is excited to get another racing season underway and enter a new class.
Blair, who hasn’t run his No. 42B thunderstock car more than loading it on the trailer for Saturday’s car show at Cam-plex’s Central Pavilion, purchased a different car to move up in class. He’s unsure how his equipment will work.
He is trying to temper expectations for the new season with the unknowns of being in a different class in a car he has never raced. Regardless, Blair said he is “living his dream on a 3/8-mile dirt track.”
The driver who will unexpectedly take over his mini-bomber car is wife Jennifer Blair. Although her feelings alternate from excitement to being terrified, she hopes to have a strong first season.
“It really shocked everybody when I said I would drive it,” Jennifer said. “I think I could have pushed Billy over with a feather.”
The first show of the season highlights a big schedule for the Speedway, which will hold the final race of the IMCA Tour in Gillette. The tour is part of a series that includes five tracks in three states, coming to Gillette for the first time.
June 13 and 17 are the two IMCA modified division races in Gillette, with a portion of the proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The final race will declare a champion of the tour, crowned at the Speedway.
July 5 is the night of the Late Models Tour with a portion of proceeds going to Shriners Hospital.
Another highlight of the racing in Gillette is May 13, a pack-the-stands night that is free admission and includes a demolition derby of electric cars for kids.
A new feature added to the Speedway this season is a race pass that makes it easier for drivers to enter their races by a special card that is swiped at the time of entrance.
It is also a benefit for fans to check times of their favorite drivers throughout the season. It is a system that is used all throughout the Midwest and was just activated at the Speedway.
The Frontier Region assures a full field of cars in Gillette for the Sprint Car Division, same as last season. The sprint cars will be in Gillette twice this season, June 3 for the Bighorn Beverage Race and July 29 in the Metz Beverage Race.
Capping the season is the largest motor event in the state — the three-day East-West Clash that runs Sept. 1-3.
Schedule
April 23: 2 p.m. Opening Race (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
April 29: Regular Race (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
May 6: K&K Import’s Thunder Stock Bash (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks)
May13: Pack The Stands : Free Spectator Admission (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
May 20: Race Of Champions (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
May 27: Twin 20 B-Mods / Mod 4’s Blackjack Special (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks)
June 3: Bighorn Beverage ASCS Sprint Car Race No A-Mods(B-Mods, Mod-4s,Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
June 10: CLOSED
June 13: IMCA Tour- GTS (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Thunder Stocks) Portion of proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital
June 17: IMCA Tour GTS (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks) portion of proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital
June 24: Regular Race (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
July 1: CLOSED
July 5: Late Models Tour (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks) portion of proceeds go to Shriners Hospital
July 8: Regular Race (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
July 15: CLOSED
July 22: CLOSED
July 29: Metz Beverage ASCS Sprint Car Race (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
August 5: CLOSED
August 12: Mac’s Gun Works 38 Mod Special (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
August 19: Regular Race (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
August 26: GTS Season Championship (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
September 1: East-West Clash (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
September 2: East-West Clash (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
September 3: East-West Clash (IMCA Mods, B-Mods, Mod-4s, Late Models, Thunder Stocks, Street Stocks)
Article Credit: Jason Kort
Submitted By: Billy Blair