POSTED November 26, 2001

Wow! What a fantastic end to the 2001 season! Saturday it rained all day and hard at times but stopped raining just as we were opening and then stayed dry until just after the races were over! I had hoped for 18 cars but we had 30! Just unreal for the rain and November 24 and a 4pm start time!

It was certainly fitting that it rained on the final night of racing since we raced so many times in the rain this season and the track never did get totally dry!

The racing was one of our best shows of the year!  Paul Scott scored his 4^th feature win of the season and 2^nd in a row in the SS 35 lapper! Terry Baldwin, who had won a heat, led after 17 laps when the caution came out. Following several laps under caution the race restarted and Coming out of turn 2 Baldwin’s engine caught on fire! He was done for the night but showed his car can run with anyone! From then to the end it was a battle between Scott, season points champion Randy Morley and Rookie of the Year Donald Hunley! Scott took  it by inches over Morley and Hunley! Earlier Morley had bumped Baldwin while battling for the lead and the hood flew off his car and by the time he was done he looked like an open wheel modified! Bob Grice, Jr. recorded a season high 4^th while Johnathon Long, son of Mike, coming home 5^th! Grice won the 2^nd heat and Hunley took the dash.

The 20 lap TC feature was also super  close with Bill Crapo just staying ahead of Fred Collins! It was Crapo’s 5^th feature win of the season! Season points champion Eric Root was in a battle with Crapo and Collins for the win until he spun on the next to last lap and had to settle for 4^th, behind Rookie of the Year Cindy Grinnell. Richard Allbee was in contention until the cars reversed direction for the final 10 laps and he fell back to 5^th. Tom Waddell won the heat but crashed hard into the front stretch wall during the feature! Grinnell won another dash!

MTC action was fast and furious! Darren Slone won the heat but was dqed when his one tire was protested and it turned out to be the same tire that Tom Holle had used a few nights ago and was dqed! That gave season points champ Fred Garrett the heat win! Travis Juillerat won the dash with Slone a close 2^nd!

Ray Butler looked great going the wrong way around the track for the final 10 laps of the 20 lap MTC feature! He won his 2^nd  feature of the season over a close Garrett!  Slone was 3^rd and I have never seen the 38 car run better! In the heat Michael Laskey, from Nappanee, ran his first race ever!

David Fugate was simply awesome in MS and won the heat and his 15^th feature of the season! Rookie of the Year Jason Schaefer was 2^nd and season points champion Merle Yoder 3^rd.

Kart season points champion, 10 year old Andrew Behlke, won his 19^th feature of the season over his grandfather Tom Koehler and father, Tod Behlke! Andrew also won the heat.

George Roulette, the last announcer at the former Raceway Park near Chicago, donated $10 each heat winner and we thank him!

We sold a bunch of banquet tickets and registered some cars for 2002 including the TC 99 for Richard Allbee. Randy Morley also came up with two sponsors for his many plaques!

Sunday Tom Pearson and myself “put the track to bed” for the winter, draining and blowing out the water lines and putting rv anti-freeze in the drains along with the final clean-up and I can say the place has never entered the winter cleaner! Bill Crapo had the grass well mowed and we are ready for March 2!

The final race of the season is always a sad time for me but this final night was the best final night we have ever had! A year ago we had 17 cars and we almost doubled it!

In the next few weeks I will be reviewing what went right and what went wrong during 2001 and looking at what we want to do in 2002. But as for now I can say that the bottom line for 2001 was virtually identical to 2000 which was good considering the economy, especially after Sept 11! October was way down from 2000 but November was way ahead of 2000 which bodes well for 2002!

Now for a few words about our track champions! To win a track championship at Mottville really requires a great deal of dedication! 75 nights is a long, long season! Along the way most fall out of contention! You have to be really devoted to win a championship!

Merle Yoder raced all 75 nights! This is extremely rare and he really deserves his championship plaque and the nice check he will be getting February 9! Merle picked up a few of Randy Morley’s bad habits along the way but he decided early in the season he was going for the track championship and he stuck to it!

As for Morley, well he won his 3^rd track championship and 2^nd in a row! Along the way he won 38 features! What is really interesting is that he set a goal of 38 feature wins for the season and that is exactly what he did! Despite his temper and getting upset easily Randy has really helped us at the track many times and is deserving of another championship! Not only has he helped us at the track but he always willing to pitch in and help another driver! Will he try for 3 in a row with a Pro Stock in 2002???

Eric Root has raced on and off at Mottville for several years and crashed a ton and had  horrible luck with his cars but he sure developed a “stick to it ness” this season! Once he started he was there every night and crash or not he had the car fixed and ready to go! His 2^nd car of the season lasted longer than any car he has ever had I am certain!

Fred Garrett started strong and finished strong and won 18 MTC features in our newest class. He actually started the season in a TC but switched to MTC and was really successful! His job kept him away most of September but he came back strong and was there when the big points were on the line!

Andrew Behlke was back for his 2^nd season in karts, having done very well in 1999. He raced more nights than any other karter and had what it takes to be a champion! I think this young man has no idea what fear is! Dry or wet track he races and races hard!

Donald Hunley started racing just before mid-season and really improved as the season went on! He never quite won a feature but finished 3^rd more than anyone else and was there every night at the end and finished 2^nd in SS points and won the Rookie of the Year award! Look for him to contend for season points champion next  season and many years thereafter! A nicer person at the race track you will never meet and he had great support from his wife and two sons who where at the track every night cheering him on!

Jason Schaefer is our MS Rookie of the Year and I just had the feeling early on he would be! From night one he raced hard! He would spin a lot but you knew he would soon get over that and be tough to beat and he certainly was! He had some car trouble late in the year which hurt him badly in points but he still finished 3^rd!

Cindy Grinnell started after mid-season in TC and her improvement from week to week was really rapid! She was winning the dash regularly by season’s end and is most deserving of our TC Rookie of the Year! I can never remember one word of complaint from her this season!

Well we now take 3 months off and then its back to another season starting March 2! This coming season will be my 12^th at Mottville and the 52^nd for the track! I past 11 years have really flown by! Each year presents all new challenges but they are all exciting! Many frustrations and disappointments, of course, but that goes with the job!

I will be doing some more reviewing in the coming weeks in this space and looking ahead to 2002 and one of these weeks give some free advice to any and all considering buying a track or becoming a track official! Also want to say something about our very good track officials at Mottville of which I am most proud!