South Sound Auto Racing
Elma track to host national race in 2006
Thursday, February 17, 2005
CRAIG MURPHY
FOR THE OLYMPIAN
The big race may be happening this weekend on the 2 1/2-mile Daytona International Speedway, but a local club is thrilled about a race happening on a local 1/20-mile track next summer.
Last week Ted Hartman, president of the I-5 Quarter Midget Club, made it official the Grays Harbor Mini Raceway in Elma will be hosting the 2006 Quarter Midgets of America Dirt Grand Nationals.
While the Daytona 500 may have the big money and exposure, the Dirt Grand Nationals handily trumps the big NASCAR season-opening race in at least one area. While around 60 cars typically show up at Daytona, upwards of 500 cars have participated in recent Dirt Grand events.
The 2006 running of the Dirt Grand will mark the first time the event, started in 1993, has been held on the West Coast. Previously, the event alternated between Indiana and Maryland.
Hartman and his club constructed their dirt track behind the larger Grays Harbor Raceway prior to the 2004 season, with the hopes of being able to land a Dirt Grand date.
"It was part of our goal," Hartman said. "When we moved to Grays Harbor County, we had two objectives. One was to bring a national event to our club. The other was to make this club part of the community. The two are tied together, no question. That played a major part."
Simply building a new track and forming a strong partnership with the local community wasn't enough to snag the date.
"It required a rule change proposal at the national organization," Hartman said. "The rule book stated the Dirt Grand Nationals would alternate between Regions 2 and 5 (Indiana and Maryland)."
A rule change proposal was submitted last fall and was approved this month. At the same time, a bid was submitted to hold the 2006 event in Elma. Letters of support from community leaders were part of the bid.
The Dirt Grand Nationals is a week-long event in the first week of August. Even though fewer teams would likely be able to make the trek to the Northwest, Hartman is still expecting a strong turnout.
"We're going to set a realistic goal of about 300 cars coming," said Hartman, whose club had a previous high turnout of 137 cars for a regional event last fall. "That probably equates to a couple hundred families, and probably 1,000 people."
Landing the biggest quarter midget event continues the growth of the I-5 Quarter Midget Club.
"Remarkable is a very accurate word to describe it," Hartman agreed. "It just keeps climbing. It all keeps happening very fast. We've been very fortunate that everything continues to fall into place for us. It all seems to be happening very smoothly. I would contribute that to the commitment of the people in the club and the community."
Those in the club and community should be impressed with the event, Hartman said. "For club members, it is going to offer them and the community a chance to see what the impact of one of these events is," he said. "A lot of members have never traveled outside of the region to see what the event is.
"It will do two things," he added. "It will raise the bar for all the club members since they will see the commitment it takes, and it will help the local kids tremendously with their level of abilities by competing at a national level event."
The Hartman family has traveled to the Dirt Grand Nationals before, with Ted's son TJ winning twice in his division.
"The biggest thing that jumped out for me in past trips was the community support at Terre Haute Indiana," Hartman said. "A lot of the ideas we used in building our facility were taken from other tracks, but the idea of building the club into the community was modeled after what I saw in Terre Haute. They have the community 100 percent behind them."
Olympia's Marshall Schlenz, vice president of the I-5 Quarter Midget Club, said he believes the same type of community support could be seen here next year.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised to see our local people step up and be a bigger part of it in terms of providing sponsorship," said Schlenz, whose daughter races in the club.
Schlenz, who races at Elma's bigger track, has seen the I-5 club grow since his family joined last year.
"I think the growth has been real positive for the group not only because it provides greater potential for influence with our region, but also because it relieves other members from having to double up on positions and duties," he said.
Grays Harbor Raceway promoter Fred Brownfield has worked with Hartman on the quarter midget track.
"Ted and his whole staff have worked really hard on that track," said Brownfield, who has two grandsons racing in quarter midgets. "It's a tribute to everyone who has worked on it. I'm thrilled for them.
"It's certainly going to be a huge boon for Grays Harbor County," Brownfield added. "It wouldn't surprise me to see 200 or 300 cars show up."