Last week, we reported that Lincoln Speedway scheduled a Thursday-night show with less than a week’s notice. What were the results? Packed stands. A 26-car field of 410 sprints led by Freddie Rahmer to the win. The gamble paid off at the Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, dirt oval.
(For the backstory on the schedule, read “Lincoln Speedway: Taking Advantage of the Weather”.)
“The stands were filled plentifully,” said office manager Marcia Beard. “It surprised many people because the race was on a Thursday. It may have been a bigger crowd than we normally experience on opening day. The weather brought in more people.”
What was that weather like? A typical winter day — blustery cold with snow?
Far from it.
Try temperatures in the high 60s throughout the evening, with fair conditions.
The perfect day for a race, despite the last-minute scheduling and being in the middle of the week.
“[I’m] thankful Lincoln Speedway put on this show tonight — it feels like May or June,” Thursday-night winner Freddie Rahmer said after the race.
They originally scheduled the Ice Breaker weekend for Saturday and Sunday. Lincoln Speedway cancelled the first day due to the weather forecast, but they kept the second day.
The high only reached 57 degrees on Sunday, but the event still drew a crowd and a field of 29 sprint cars.
This time, Justin Peck, who hauled all the way from Monrovia, Indiana, scored the first-place prize of $6,000.
“The sun came out and warmed everything up on Sunday,” Beard said. “Again, we had great, competitive racing and a big crowd. Both the Thursday and Sunday programs went off flawlessly, and they were quick and action-packed.”
Who says you can only hold races on Saturdays? By going with what the wind brought in, Lincoln Speedway didn’t have only one successful show, but two, all the while avoiding the most popular day of the week to host a race.
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Corrected Sunday’s car count (2023-02-28). Added city and state that Lincoln Speedway is located in (2023-02-28).
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
