After rainouts the previous two Saturdays, Independence Day was the first full Saturday of the year for racing at the Fairbury Speedway.
The fun-filled night included more than 120 cars for the FALS Cup and a full fireworks show was presented later in the evening. Owner and promoter Matt Curl was happy to bring the fireworks back to Fairbury for the occasion.
“What better way to start the year off than the Fourth of July?”
Race car driver Rich Dawson from Indiana makes a regular appearance at Fairbury and was getting his car ready Saturday morning.
“We always like coming here because the fans come out and it is a great atmosphere.”
Dawson travels around quite a bit and also runs in Farmer City on Friday nights. He considers Fairbury the best race track he has been to.
“They take really good care of the place and the track is always in great condition,” Dawson said.
This has been a whirlwind year for everyone – including those at the Fairbury Speedway who put on the big Prairie Dirt Classic race each summer. The PDC has been postponed to 2021 after working with local health officials on the best course of action moving forward and guidelines.
“Honestly, in this time where we really don’t know what’s going to happen 30 days from now, we needed to protect what we still have here,” observed Curl. “It was definitely disappointing for a lot of the businesses and fans but we’ll get through this.”
The speedway has released the schedule for the rest of the season which includes the Summernationals next Saturday, July 11 with a good crowd expected.
“We’ll have some of the best drivers in the country come into Fairbury and we’ll do our camping and reservations,” Curl added.
Race fans won’t be totally disappointed during what was supposed to be Prairie Dirt Classic weekend as a World of Outlaw race will run in Indiana, with Curl and others from Fairbury helping out.
Curl is excited to jump back in after a delayed start to the season.
“We have a lot of racing here at the Fairbury Speedway throughout the rest of the year so I’m really excited for that.”
Racing information and reserved ticket details can be found at www.fairburyspeedway.com.
