Fans and drivers alike lament Memphis curtain

Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Memphis Motorsports Park thundered to life one last time Saturday, and many of the 200 fans who showed for the King's Ransom 300 ASA Late Model series race were still in shock that the track is closing.

Shawn Given of Germantown and Jamie Dye of Memphis are longtime track season ticket-holders who made it a point to show for the final race.

They had their cameras and MMP seat cushions in tow as they patrolled the track's front stretch during a pre-race autograph session.

''I was shocked and disappointed for Memphis," Given said. "This is one heck of a facility. I like to have died when I saw the ticker roll across the screen that they were closing the track. We knew we were coming to this event if just to say good-bye."

On Oct. 30 the track's parent company, Dover Motorsports, announced it was ceasing operations at the facility and that Saturday's late-model event would be the track's last.

''It's the best racing there is; I can't believe they closed it," Dye said. "Memphis has nothing now, absolutely nothing.

''When you're a race fan, you're a race fan, and there was always excitement here."

Reminders of last month's Nationwide race were still peppered around the track, from an MMP "Enjoy the Race" sign at the front gate to the Victory Lane confetti sparkling in the browning infield grass.

Driver Willie Allen, who finished 43rd in that Nationwide and also raced Saturday, said he was shocked at the announcement and upset that another short track has fallen off the NASCAR schedule.

''I loved coming here and always thought they had a decent turnout," Allen said. "There are already enough speedways on the NASCAR circuit. There needs to be more short tracks, but we're losing another one.

''Everyone I know in the (Nationwide) series loves coming to Memphis. There's so much history and places to go, that people talk about it for weeks afterward. You don't get that at many of the places you go to."

Driver Cale Gale, who finished 11th in last year's Memphis Nationwide race, said he's going to miss racing at the venue and what it means to up-and-coming drivers.

''It's a great race track; I've always enjoyed coming here in a Nationwide car," Gale said. "It's a sign of the times: Another track that's gone. Rockingham was gone for a few years, and maybe this one will come back too.

''I'm sad to see it go. There is where I made my first race with Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2006. This was always a racetrack where young guys could get an opportunity."

Todd Ballard and Dave Long of Memphis have been watching races at the facility for years, and they took their spots in the front-stretch grandstands one last time.

''We're race fans and we started coming to the drag races before the oval was built," Ballard said. "It's a shame they can't keep this place going."

Long said he hopes the track finds a buyer soon.

''I know it was a money issue," Long said. "But people here aren't going to realize what they're missing until it's gone."

Oliver wins finale

Dillon Oliver, a 20-year old from Bowling Green, Ky., won the King's Ramsom 300 ASA Late Model Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park. Oliver took the lead at lap 236 of 300 and hung on from there.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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