Saturday, this new promod series will debut, culminating a lot of hard work by racer Paul Gibbs and the folks at Brainerd Optimist Dragstrip, just outside Chattanooga. As detailed in the previous post, Paul is recuperating from a broken back suffered in a workplace fall and won't be able to race the Cuda Beast, but he is planning to be there with the Beast to welcome fans and racers, and maybe do a burnout (my .02: I'd forgo that).
A big hurdle for this series has been sponsorship. One sponsor has apparently bailed on the series, and most other possible sponsors have already committed what sponsorship dollars they have to other races. So this series, at least for now, is launching without sponsors, but the track says it will increase the payout if spectator support enables that. It's a bit of a Catch-22, but if you like good promod racing, this should be a good show. Paul said he had a tough decision on the payout -- whether to make the purse levels as big as possible, or guarantee $500 for qualifying for the 8-car field. The qualifying guarantee won out.
It has been awhile since these cars have run at Brainerd, so it should be a treat for fans. The track has new management, and has made a series of improvements, as shown in the before/after pics below to the racing surface, guardrails (that old one had seen too much use), and shutoff area (they are real low-res screenshots, but will give you the idea). The weather is looking good, just a slight chance of precip Saturday night, but it looks like, at this writing, the only thunder should be on the track.
The Fantastic Brian C from promodifieds.us will be in the house, providing his usual peerless race coverage. Here's hoping for a harmonic convergence of fans and racers for a fast, fun, safe event.
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