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Button Buck Speedway - Spring Valley, MN

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New Years Race January 1, 2010

Friday was New Years Day and no better time to start the race season than the first day of the year. I left the bitter cold of the north and started south on Thursday so I could arrive just after noon at the Possum Kingdom Super Speedway in Belton South Carolina. There had been rain in this area yesterday so the 9AM practice start was delayed and about 2:30PM 5 karts took to the muddy track and all became stuck. After less than an hour to pack the track with a car they were finally able to start the two rounds of practice. The quarter mile banked dirt track is big for karts but was still smooth and has a wide runoff area all around that is banked also with two rows of tires before another 6 feet of grass and the chain link fencing. The infield is clear and the inside of the track is a graded berm all around and because the track is lower than the viewing area visibility is excellent. The facility is very nice with a cement block building for the restaurant (with about a dozen tables) and some permanent rest rooms that even included a shower. There were 4 small sets of 5-row aluminum bleachers and good lights and several speakers for hearing the excellent announcer who described the racing action and even gave qualifying results as each group timed in. With the wet grounds causing a cancellation at Conway SC and a big purse here there were lots of karts with my count showing 246 karts in 16 classes. They had only one kid kart and 2 unlimited all stars but there were 10 senior champ lite and 12 senior champ heavy and the high count of 43 in the Pro Box Stocks. The program was features only and all were 15 laps except for the big money 30-lap Pro Box Stock race. The races went fast once they got going with the first 4 features going all green. There were a couple of spins but if no one was stuck they kept racing. The races were started single file which eliminated the majority of crashes and spins as the field tries to get into line in the fast inside groove. (Maybe NASCAR should try this!) Daniel Armstrong started second and won the stock lite feature then came from 5th to capture the stock medium class too. Nick Long won in a side by side photo finish in the blue lite class and not to be outdone Daniel Simmons did the same as the computer declared him the winner in Box Stock Heavy competition. Zack Burrow took the champ lite feature from the pole ahead of 4th starter Greg Tinsley in a race slowed only once for a spin on lap 12. The champ heavy class was the 11th feature of the night and was off to a slow start as there were two spins in the first 4 laps involving the leaders. But after Burrow and Derrick Rice who started first and second restarted in the back on the 4th lap the race was on. As the white flag flew it was these two in the top spots but as they entered the third turn karts went all directions and Burrow flipped while Tinsley was shaken up in a hard hit. Rice came across the line the winner and Jason Scruggs second. I headed out at this point to start the drive back north.

Saturday afternoon I stopped at the Muhlenberg County Agricultural Center in Greenville Kentucky to see what was racing at this indoor event. They had a small 1/12-mile dirt oval set up with some slight banking in the turns and about 50 karts in some 10 classes running. There were no champ karts of any kind so this race would not count in the Track Chasing statistics and I arrived late so I only saw the last 6 features as they hurried through the program to get ready for the evening show of moto cross racing. I saw a few motorcycles coming in the pits as the karts were loading up and I headed back to the warm car for a drive home. With temperatures dipping below zero I continued home and arrived just before midnight and decided to stay in the warm house for Sunday and not try and find an ice race today.