Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wednesday Night At The Grand

The Grand is located in the City of Industry and I measured the trip back last night on the VW's odometer with a distance of 43 miles on the return leg. The drive back is never a problem but getting there is a giant pain as I must go west, then north, then west and every freeway change is another jammed interchange and the trip can take up to 90 minutes in the afternoon.





The race program starts at 7 PM and the schedule runs through September 30th with 19 race nights. The RACING HOTLINE IS (949) 640-0455 and the web site is http://www.industryspeedway.com/





My neighbor asked if I leave early to get some practice time on the track but I leave early so I can get there. Speedway racing does not have practice before the races and the track changes with the weather and the watering but the Grand is under a roof which is very nice for everybody, racer and fans.






For those not familiar with Southern California The Grand is on a hill in The City of Industry and you could probably see downtown Los Angeles if there wasn't any smog blocking the view. The seating does not completely surround the race track and although the Grand is covered the area between turns two and three is open to the outside. There is also a huge TV screen that can replay the races, close finishes, and the crashes that happen. Last night one rider went down in turn 4 and the following rider was unable to avoid him. He hit the prone bike and launched him self and bike into the top of the crash fence.

Although I am old and quite rusty I avoided the ground and the wall and all my fenders are still intact and there isn't any rips in my jersey. My bike ran fine and the fuel petcocks always got turned on before the start of each race. I had a couple of second place finishes which moved me to the main event in my division but as I wear glasses and goggles too my brain forgot to function and I was unable to get my goggles on without upsetting my glasses and since I can't reset them with one wrist on a short kill switch leash and the other constantly revving the throttle to keep it running my seeing sucked.

It was a fun night and a full one considering I left the house at 3:30 and got back at 11:30 which is past my bed time and if all goes well I will be back next week.

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