By T.J. Buffenbarger
Ohio Sprint Speedweek holds a special place in my heart. Personally I wasn’t crazy about the shift away from the week of July 4th, but it seems appropriate that its held over Father’s Day weekend. For most of my teenage years Dad and I would set out in a truck camper with no air condition to swelter in the heat and take in some great sprint car racing.
Over the years I’ve witnessed some of the most memorable moments of what I consider the most formative years of my development in the love of the sport. I saw Tom Bassinger score his upset win at Fremont Speedway, I witnessed Lee Brewer, Jr. win the night before Speedweek officially started during the Anniversary Show at Eldora Speedway with his steel block engine and open trailer, and countless other memories while motoring up and down the roads of the Buckeye State chasing races.
It was trips in that camper that involved things like leaving every window open at Wayne County Speedway and having to miss the next night to sweep out the camper, a rather ugly food poisoning incident, and even an errant projectile at Avilla Raceway when we got cute and tried to go racing two nights before Speedweek that tried to derail our adventures. Yet we persevered and went up and down the road in that camper.
It wasn’t just the races that was fun. I made friendships on those trips that remain intact until this day with people from Pennsyvania to California. I got turned onto Mid-American Racing News and several columnists like Lee Booze, Rick LeJeune, and others that helped broaden my knowledge. I remember begging my Dad to buy the Mid-American edition to read at the track on Wednesday of Ohio Speedweek event though it would be waiting in the mail when we got home just so I could be up to date on everything that was going on in the racing world.
It’s safe to say without that Ohio Speedweek influence this site wouldn’t exist.
For me the night before Ohio Speedweek starts will always be special. The excitement on who might show up to run the week, who can pull off an upset win, and which team will survive the week and end up the overall champion. There is no week of racing quite like it, and should be an addition to every sprint car fans bucket list.