by BJ Cavin

ZUBER, FL- For the second week in a row, daytime downpours have left Ocala Speedway in no condition for racing this Friday night, July 17th. So far there has been no racing at Ocala in the month of July, and speedway owner Mike Peters says that he is just as frustrated as everyone else about it. As Peters explains it, when no racing happens it means no money comes in, and yet the bills continue to arrive in the mail whether racing happens or not. He also says he understands that the racers want to race, and that the fans want to see the action, but Florida weather in the summer can be a race track’s worst enemy.

Peters has not gone down to nature without a fight. Peters worked on the track on Thursday until a mid day downpour made the surface too muddy. He was at the track Friday morning, turning over the surface at 7 AM in the hope of packing it in and getting it ready for racing, but was hit by another downpour at around 11 AM. That rain storm soaked the surface, but Peters made a valiant attempt at packing it down again, making great progress until the rains returned at around 1:30PM.

Still Peters refused to give in and made an effort to save the surface. His first attempt using a water truck resulted in the truck sliding into the infield and getting stuck on the muddy grass. His second attempt was a reverse direction packing run with one of the two packer cars, which also went awry. Peters says that the packer car dug in on the front stretch and became mired to the springs in muck, and the tractor had to be used to free it. That was all Peters needed to convince him that there would be no racing at Ocala this weekend. Still more showers and storms are out there, and the likelihood of Ocala Speedway getting wet again before nightfall looks fairly good.

Racing will attempt to return to Ocala Speedway on Friday, July 24th, as the Late Models hit the clay. The Amsoil V8 Thunder Stocks will also return along with the Mini Stocks and the Gladiators.