Deerfield - A Fun Time

With all I have going on it's hard to keep this blog going, but we had such a great experience at this place that I just had to take time out to write about it:

The Northern Ohio Legends Series was off a few weeks ago, so Dave Spotton and I decided to go to Deerfield Raceway, in Deerfield, OH. We had heard some good things about the place, and after all, several classes of little race cars were right up our alley.

Dave and I decided to sit in the stands and act like spectators for once. This was the first time I had sat in the stands as a spectator outside the pits since I began racing in 1996. The first thing that caught our eye was how well the place was maintained. Then, we saw kids climbing all over Little Tikes toys just inside the entrance. In fact, there were kids everywhere. It was Kids' Bike Race #3 Night, and there were bicycles everywhere as well.

The car counts were good, too. We were entertained - yes, entertained (I will get to that in a minute) by several classes of little race cars, including Mini-Sprints, Mini-Mods, Dwarfs and one of our favorites, the "Kids' Karts," which are go-karts that look like little sprint cars. The competition was amazing in that class, and because the cars were so quiet, you could hear everyone cheering the kids on. And, to see the kids walking around in those little drivers' suits, well, it was just cool. The other classes simply fly around that track, and entertained us with some great racing.

It's no coincidence that I keep using the word "entertainment." For those of you who know me, you know that I feel like racing is just as much as show as it is a race, and Deerfield "entertains." At one point Dave said, "This is like a Captains game!" For any of you who have attended a Captains game, you know what I am talking about. The announcer, Tim Phillips, of WQMX Radio, entertained the crowd. He has a great sense of humor and kept us laughing all night. And, when every feature winner pulled up to the flag stand, he was down on the track before the car stopped and made each winner sound like they were the greatest thing on wheels. Then, he handed them the mic and let them talk as long as they wanted. Tim "gets it."

The Millers were class acts as racers, and their track is a class act as well. While I'm not suggesting you pass up one of the upcoming Northern Ohio Legends races, check out Deerfield Speedway the next time we have an off week. I bet you'll have a much fun as we did.