One of the biggest races of the year will be the 40-lap Modified car race, Day after the Duel this Sunday. This will be the third consecutive year the race has been run and this year, according to track promoter Jerry Buesig, could be the best ever.
“We have restructured the pay system,” Buesig said. “The last couple of years, if you placed second or third, you got very little and this was not worth it to the drivers. This year, first will get $1,000, second $500 and third $300. The response to this payout has been good. I have been on the phone to countless racers that said they were now interested in racing. We even reached out to NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace.”
Wallace said he will be racing at the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas from Nov. 11-14. The International Motor Contest Association said 225 racers have pre-entered for the race. The payout for that race is $7,777.
Promoters of the Pahrump Valley Speedway hope to capitalize on the 40-lap Duel In the Desert and get racers to come to Pahrump after that race.
“I have basically just been calling people on the phone to see if they would be interested in coming to Pahrump’s race,” Buesig said. “I even put a call into Kenny Wallace, but have not heard back from him. We should have 13-15 local racers out here plus the people we talked to on the phone. I think more racers are interested now since we restructured the pay.”
Buesig said there could be 60 racers for that race, of that 30 could be Modified cars.
The weather has been a factor lately with one race being canceled at the speedway due to flooding but this should not be a factor this weekend.
“The track conditions are just phenomenal,” Buesig said. “It’s a lot better than after the recent rains because during the rains it just totally flooded out and we couldn’t even come out onto the track.”
Some changes may be coming to the speedway:
Buesig said some changes are coming to the track. Some of the things being discussed are the return of the IMCA sanction for the Modified Division, a shorter season, off-road racing at the track and the track might get rid of two classes that don’t have a lot of racers.
“I think narrowing of the season is a big thing,” he said. “We have some racers who think the season is way too long. If we cut it short, the last two months will be special events, like the off-road racing. There are several parties interested in that.”
Tickets for the races can be bought for $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children. For more pricing on the tickets see Pahrumpvalleyspeedway.com.
-Contact sports editor Vern Hee vhee@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @vernheepvt