Well here it is, almost mid-season and we are even with ole Mother Nature in the way of rain-outs. Six for her and six for us. Hardly seems fair but one certainly can not fight the elements of the weather.

  Before I go any further many thanks to Dayton Daily News motor sports writer Greg Billing for the fine story on two of racing favorite people, Earl and Peggy Isaacs in last Sunday's DDN. Next time you cross paths with either Earl or Peggy give them a big thank-you for the support they have given this sport and especially to Kil-Kare as Earl has been the official track photographer well over thirty five years. That is dedication, something that is hard to find these days with the younger generation.

  And to Greg, thanks for being with us most Friday nights and for the publicity you give the area local tracks. To you participants if you have a story to tell let Greg know about it and if you don't know him just have an official contact the tower and we'll put you in contact with him.

  Racing, yea, that is why we go to the track isn't it. To see guys and gals turn left lap after lap. We all know the economy isn't the best and going to the grocery store and filling up at the gas station hits all of us real hard in the old pocketbook. We know some of our competitors are faced with the same, just not enough sponsorship and cash in the pocket to field the race car like they use to and unfortunately some of them have become spectators. On the other hand a big Thank You to the teams that are showing up on Friday night's to keep the action lively on the track. And to you fans, how about bringing a friend with you the next time to see what great competitors we have at KK.

    So far our late models have seen four different drivers take the checker first in their features which isn't bad as they have only ran five times. Track record holder (13.568) John Vallo in search of 300 feature wins is the only repeat winner with two to his credit which made 298 wins. Defending champ Tim Allensworth has one win, many time track champ Dick Dunlevy Jr. one, and Justin Alsip has one win.

  The modified division has seen each feature hotly contested with five different winners out of the six times they have run. Chad Pool is the only repeat winner with one each belonging to Caleb Rescher, Greg Stapleton, Mike Stacy, and Shawn Stroble.

    Twice the old track record was broken first by Dick Dunlevy Jr. who had held the record of 13.744 since May of '05 with a clocking of 13.743 and then Greg Stapleton came back the following week and dropped it down to 13.677.

    Sport stocks, well their field has been on the short side but here again the cost of living has affected several of them. None the less out of six nights of racing five different drivers have claimed features. Defending champ Tom Williams with two and one each to Shawn Stansell, Justin Miller, Mike Miller (yes, they are brothers), and Mike South Jr.

    The compact division has picked up in the number of cars and the drivers and fans seem to like the fact they are running heat events this year in their division. Bo Hoelscher seems to have the hot set-up this year with three wins while Aaron Harshbarger has two and defending champ Tim Haerr only has one so far.

    Yes the season has been very interesting so far this season. Former Florida resident Caleb Rescher claimed his first ever modified feature win on opening night. Mike Stacy came from the tail-end to pass everybody in his new creation to take the modified win on June 6. Holli Eaton, Gary's wife became the first female compact driver to score a heat win last Friday and try hard as he has, Ivin Fugate finally scored his first heat win on the same night.

 THOSE GOLDEN YEARS - I didn't think too many people would be interested in the years gone by but by golly I received more responses than I ever imagined saying they enjoyed reading what happened in the past....so here goes again....This time we'll look at the July 4, 1986 night at Kil-Kare according to the Tri-Track News.

 Kil-Kare Kapers - Local favorites Bobby Jacks and Lee Raymond were the stars of the night in the first appearance of the ARCA Permatex Super Car Series at the Kil-Kare Speedway Friday night. Raymond started the evening off by setting fast time at 14.025 in the Riverside Auto Parts Monte Carlo that was powered by a V-6 for the event. Raymond also captured the first heat as he took the lead from Jacks who placed second in the Apex Auto Parts Cutlass. Bill Green of Covington, Kentucky captured the second heat and Bob Dotter of Chicago, Illinois won the third heat. A fine field of 27 cars started the century grind on the third-mile asphalt oval with fast timer Raymond on the pole and second fast Jacks on the outside pole. Raymond took the lead at the drop of starter Jim Clark's green flag with Jacks almost glued to his rear bumper lap after lap. The two did a superb job of driving as they darted in and out of traffic in an event that saw the yellow displayed nine times. Raymond continued to lead as he sought his second win of the year, but on about lap 94 as they came upon traffic, Jacks darted to the inside of the track as Raymond got blocked by slower cars. Jacks continued to lead in the Mike Redfern owned Cutlass to take the win, his first in two years on the ARCA circuit with Raymond a close second. Coincidentally, both drivers started their career at Kil-Kare, Jacks in the Figure-8 class and Raymond in the Hobby Stocks. Bob Strait was third followed by Bill Venturini, Bob Schacht, Bill Green, Bob Brevak, Roger Blackstock, Dave Simko, and Ed Hage....In the Mini Stock feature Miamisburg's Gary Estes in the D'Burg Pinto won his first feature. Second was fast timer Pat Jones (15.92)  followed by Eddie Flora and Larry Beddies....Estes also won the dash with Flora and John Matthews the heats....Jerry Johns won his second Street Stock feature followed by Joe Hill, Scott Lozan, and Steve Rickard.

NOTE: Two gals were in competition that night, Patty Simko placed 21st in the ARCA event and Kim Young was 14th in the Mini Stocks.

   On the same week-end Shady Bowl on and Columbus both had Firecracker Championships. At the Bowl on Saturday night Wes Wilson won the Late Model feature, Carl Stapleton the Limited Late Model feature, Pat Jones the Mini Stock, and Joe Hill the Street Stocks....At CMS on Sunday night John Vallo captured the Late Model feature, Ken Sword the Limited Late Model, Jack Weethee the Super Compacts, and Craig Osborne the Street Stocks.

   Yes those were the Golden Years, Kil-Kare on Friday, the Bowl on Saturday, and Columbus on Sunday making up the Tri-Track triangle.

   Remember, grab a friend and come on out to the track. Comments appreciated at jlwahl1@hotmail.com.