Great weather, great people, great racing and hard to believe I am saying that! But it is true. From the time I arrived at the track to the moment I left it was a perfect day and a wonderful facility.
First off the track personnel were wonderful, polite and accommodating. The facility was beautiful, the support class was enthusiastic and the atmosphere was family friendly. I spent all day looking for something to complain about. And you know what? The only thing I could find that was less than perfect was the bathroom. But it was better than many tracks, and a big plus, the toilets flushed ;) To be honest I don’t go to a track for the restroom. I have those at home; I normally go to a track for other reasons, such as racing. And the racing at Madera was awesome.
I spoke to this wonderful lady at the track and told her how great the track was and she was genuinely concerned that the haulers were having to park on wet grass. But how can you blame a track for what Mother Nature does? Oh sure, I am certain there are politics that go on at the track, I have never been to a track where there were not politics, either real or imagined, but for a day at the races, for the chance to watch the Tour, this was certainly one remarkable place.
They did the Barbeque thing, somewhat like Mesa Marin, the fans were in love with the local drivers and the stands were well filled.
If you don’t live in the area and have ever had second thoughts about going to a Tour race there, don’t let the distance stop you. It was worth the drive and I certainly am looking forward to going back, maybe even to take in the local racers.
It was also a blast seeing old friends and meeting new people like Travis Bennett and Exit Smith, but the person I was most tickled to see was Peter John and PJ was delighted to see Butch Gilliland, whom PJ's mom said was the first driver PJ ever met.
I am very delighted Madera is on the Tour schedule. Hopefully I will never miss another one of their races.
OK. So this was a lot of writing and just about the only thing said was, “Thank You Madera”. But hey, they deserved it. If you saw the race you know it was a great show and worth whatever time and drive you put into getting there.
Thanks Madera Staff. Looking forward to the next race!
