BLUE RIBBON AWARD PRESENTED TO:
HAROLD SMITH & SON, STADELHOFER CONSTRUCTION, & DENNIS E. WATSON
We have a dirt track. And as many of you are aware the dirt doesn't always stay on the
track. And over time, that loss of dirt takes its toll on the quality of the racing
experience here.
The Board of Directors and other local racing enthusiasts have spent many meetings talking
about how to fix the problem. We've talked about scraping the pits, scraping the infield,
anything that might help get some more clay back on the surface.
And then a call came.
Local contractor Harold Smith & Son was removing a clay liner from a vineyard pond in
Oakville. The place they were taking the clay to refused it, too much water content. And
then VP John Raybould remembered a conversation he had with local sprint car supporter
Mike Griffin. A quick trip down the valley by Director Mark Porter and we were suddenly
the recipients of a very generous donation of over 5,000 yards of clay, including the
hauling.
The residents of Calistoga endured two weeks of rumbling as truck after truck after truck
made its way up the trail and to the speedway, beginning just three days before the last
race of the 2010 season.
So we had to stockpile it. You can't put new clay on the track and race on it days later.
It has to be worked into the old stuff and then allowed to season through the winter. We
piled it at the pit entrance. We piled it in the pits. Anywhere we could pile it, we did.
Volunteers such as Mike Griffin and Ron Schlegel were here every day to keep pushing the
loads into the big piles.
We finally had the clay!! The cost of which was not something we could have afforded in a
single season, and here was a local contractor gifting it to us. The sounds of the trucks
rumbling up the trail were the racing world's equivalent to Santa's reindeers pulling his
sleigh full of presents.
The next challenge was to work the track, to get the clay onto the surface, and to do it
right.
So the next wave of volunteers arrived. Another local contractor, Dennis E. Watson, spent
days with our grader operator, Augie Grube, shooting the grades, calculating where the
clay needed to be applied, balancing the racing surface to make it fan-friendly!
And then another wave of volunteers came forward, Stadelhofer Construction, with equipment
and manpower to "get 'er done." They spent evenings and weekends trying to beat
the weather. Ripping the track, dumping the new clay on it, and working it in. Big boys
with even bigger toys!
The volunteer efforts of Mike Griffin, Ron Schlegel, Augie Grube, Phil Seavey,
Kyle Vella, and Mike Stadelhofer, combined with the generous
donations of Harold Smith & Son, Stadelhofer Construction, and Dennis E.
Watson has resulted in over $300,000 worth of track improvements, all for the
cost of fuel for the equipment.
Please join us in honoring John & Pam Raybould of Harold Smith & Son,
Rich Stadelhofer of Stadelhofer Construction, and Dennis Watson
of Dennis E. Watson throughout the 2011 season as recipients of the Blue Ribbon
Award for their unsurpassed support of the Calistoga Speedway. Through their generous
donations of material, time, and equipment, the 2011 racing season is sure to be a crowd
pleaser!
Home of Louie Vermeil
The famous Calistoga Speedway is located at the northern end of the Napa Valley, in the
town of Calistoga, on the Napa County Fairgrounds.
Calistoga Speedway is not only a picturesque dirt track, it is one of the oldest,
continuously operated racetracks in the nation.
The half-mile oval known as the Calistoga Speedway is fondly referred to as the fastest
dirt track in the western United States!
1435 North Oak Street • Calistoga, CA 94515 • (707) 942-5111
Taken from:
Northern
California Sprint Cars Message Board
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