By: Ron Burt
This week we are going to meet Oakshade Raceway Dominator Super Stock Driver, Derrick Roseman. Like his father, grandfather and uncles racing is in Derricks blood. Oakshade Raceway has always been the family’s home racetrack. Derrick is in his 4th year of racing. He started out in the compact class, also known as mini stocks at other racetracks. After he got a comfortable feeling for the dirt surface it was just natural to move up in class and follow in his family’s racing footsteps. For many years Derrick saw his old Swartz leaf race car frame sitting on the jig waiting to be updated and built. He was finally able to convince his grandfather to let him finish out the stockcar and race it. You can see Derrick every Saturday night at Oakshade Raceway getting sideways in the turns in this very competitive class. At Oakshade it’s the Dominator Stocks, other tracks it might be a Steet Stock or Thunder Stock but no matter the name it’s a very competitive class with a devoted following at every track around the country. Once a year Derrick takes his car to Montpelier Motor Speedway in Indiana and mixes it up on the clay with the Hoosiers at the Monster Mash Race in the fall. Derrick has set his personal goals high for 2023. He wants to finish every race, finish Top 5 in points and he wants to win the most improved in his class. We wish him all the best in 2023.
Rumors are coming out of western Indiana about the fate of the historic Terre Haute Speedway, “The Action Track”. According to reports, last fall this great track was going to close, no one wanted to run it. This week racing promoter Travis Norris has stepped in to run the track. Once the ink is dry on the contract this week, things should start to move forward between the fair board that owns the racetrack and Travis. A very reliable source informed me a limited schedule is being put together for this summer that would include dates for USAC Silver Crown and Sprints. The news regarding racing this year should be released shortly.
Galesburg Speedway in Galesburg Michigan released their 2023 schedule this week. The asphalt track is a quarter-mile semi-banked asphalt oval with a figure-eight race track inside. They normally run Saturday nights and the big class is Template Late Models. They also run Street Stocks, Front Wheel Drives and Figure 8 School Buses on the nights of destruction. April 29th is opening night. Their payout isn’t as big as other Midwest tracks, but the drivers are loyal and support the speedway. Weekly large car counts prove this.
The Burg has several big races during the summer. Saturday, May 6th is the annual Victory 110 Todd Foote Memorial paying $5,010.00 to win for the Template Late Models. May 27th the Street Stocks compete in the Grandpa Ray Street Stock Spectacular. June 24th the track hosts the Front Wheel Drive A. B. C. Nationals with big payouts to the winners of the A. B. and C. Features. Altogether the Template Late Models have 4 big money races, Street Stocks 3 and Front Wheel Drives 1. The track also has several nights of destruction and the Tuesday, July 4th fireworks show, is billed as one of the biggest in Michigan. Until next week, keep your wheels down! Ron out! ohiosportsblitz@yahoo.com
