Sprints at 34 Raceway weekly? A possibility
By Dana Royer/34 Raceway

MEDIAPOLIS, IA (Dec. 20, 2006) - 34 Raceway's new owners, Jeff and Amy Laue, along with Director of Competition, Bud Wollum and IMCA represented, Brett Root hosted a drivers/rules meeting at the Turn 2 Restaurant in Mediapolis on Wednesday, Dec. 20. It was a full house as racers, car owners and crews came to see what was in store for the 2007 season. Following the 7:00 meeting area sprint car drivers and owners were invited to come at 8:00 and discuss the possibility of bringing a sprint car class back to 34 Raceway. The rules for each class will see few if any changes for the coming season. Laue said he would like to see the hobby stock class return to a more affordable class. The IMCA Modifieds, following a year of phase out will run 100% IMCA rules. (A complete list of rules can be obtained by contacting Jeff or Amy at 319-754-1897 or emailing at jacal45l@msn.com.

The announcement of new personnel included Bud Wollum as Director of Competition, Donnie Williams, Flagman, and Bill Mullen, Doug Miller and Nick Parish doing tech. Assisting the flagman will be Rodney Bliesener and Kenny Dixon will continue as scorer.

New this year for the racers will be how the lineups are handled on restarts. Cars will be stopped on the backstretch to get the correct line up . Wollum also noted, for safety reasons, cars will pit in the specified locations according to class. Also this year it is planned to have spotters in each corner. A complete list of updated general track rules will be available at a later date.

Following the meeting for hobby stocks, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Late Models a large group of sprint car drivers, owners and crews were on hand to answer questions for the Laues on the possibility of bringing sprint cars back to 34 Raceway. The new owners have received many requests on that topic and are considering the option. But the question remains on whether a weekly show can draw enough cars. Several options were thrown about that also include 305 sprints. With a pay structure, based on 15-20 cars, the Laues will offer a $600 to win prize with $100 to start. Running under Sprint Invaders rules the Laues made special note that they are in no way intending to compete with the Invaders. They just want to give area 360 sprint racers a place to race on Saturday nights close to home. On Saturdays that the Sprint Invaders race, they would not be scheduled to compete at Burlington. The possibility of adding some 305 sprint shows is being looked at.

When the evening completed the possibility of sprints is still up in the air. Of the fifteen drivers/owners present, nine said they would commit to racing on Saturday nights at Burlington. The remaining four were uncommitted. Leaving a question on the Laue¹s mind, would it be feasible for them to bring back the sprints. With no decision made, Jeff and Amy agreed to give it more thought and hope to have a decision by the end of the year. They would encourage any 360 sprint racer to contact them if they would be interested in racing at 34 Raceway, weekly or bi-weekly.