Grandview Speedway rolled back the clock to bring Back to the 90s Night. That included 1990s pricing, with $10 general admission. This year’s special brought out the largest crowd in the event’s three-year history.
“The ‘Back to the 90s idea came about in a winter meeting of the Rogers family — Kenny, Tina and her son Brad Missimer,” said Jeff Ahlum, announcer and publicist at Grandview Speedway. “This year the event truly felt like it was in the ’90s. There were lines to get into the track at the ticket windows, people flooded the midway to get to the concession stands at intermission. It was just like back in the day.”
To promote the event, the track turned to some old-school marketing tactics. They placed advertisements in the local newspaper. The track also used modern-day methods, such as promotion on Facebook. The campaign resulted in some new fans coming out. Among those newcomers included a large group of Mennonites, clad in their traditional style of clothing rather than retro 1990s T-shirts.
Speaking of which, many fans dug out their old T-shirts to honor their favorite drivers of the era. Those who could still fit into a 30 -year-old shirt, proudly wore it. Those who couldn’t fit in that garb, handed the shirt down to a child or grandchild. Those shirts often honored the modified champs of the day. Those legendary racers included Craig Von Dohren (’90, ’92), Tom Mayberry (’91), Duane Howard (’93, ’96, ’97), Davey Wenger (’94), Ray Swinehart (’95, ’98), and Terry Meitzler (’99). In fact, Howard finished fifth on Back to the 90s Night. Ryan Watt won the modified feature.
“The event turned out to be everything we wanted it to be,” Ahlum said. “We are very fortunate to have the support of our outstanding field of drivers. They put on a fantastic show every week.”
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.
