At Farley Speedway, ‘If it don’t rain, we race’

FARLEY — The worst-case scenario for a racetrack — maybe even worse than not getting to race at all — is a weather situation that is in flux.

Conflicting weather reports, rain in different parts of the state and uncertainty hurts car counts and attendance in the grandstand in a hurry. If tracks try to race and rain out, criticism comes. If tracks call a race early and it doesn't rain, criticism comes.

Friday in Iowa saw all but three racetracks that run weekly cancel their scheduled programs midday, thinking rain was on the way, in an effort to save racers a pointless trip.

But Farley Speedway, Marshalltown Speedway and Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway in Des Moines all raced — with car counts less than normal. In Farley's case, it rained in all outward directions during the day, but not a single drop fell at the track until 9:45 p.m. as the IMCA Late Models were taking the green flag. As a result, 73 cars arrived at Farley Speedway for racing action Friday night. The frustration of that no-win situation was evident for promoter Keith Simmons.

'It's pretty simple. If it don't rain, we race. It's been that way three nights a week for 15 years. It never rained. When it don't rain, we race,' Simmons said. 'It's a different world now. People are different. Racing ain't for (people who are scared) and that's about what we've got left.'

Nick Marolf (IMCA Late Models), Zach Less (IMCA Modifieds), Chris Luloff (IMCA Stock Cars), Tyler Soppe (IMCA Sport Mods), Quinton Miller (IMCA Hobby Stock) and Cole McNeal (MicroMod) were all winners in the A-main events at Farley on Friday night.

They and the rest of the racers who pulled the trigger on risking a trip with an iffy weather forecast felt for Simmons and the track because, in several drivers' estimation, the track did everything it could. At a certain point, racers are either going to come or they aren't.

'We were sitting there watching the radar all day, waiting to hear anything,' said Tyler Bruening, who finished third in IMCA Late Models. 'We got down to the wire there and we just had to load up and come. You get to that point, and if they're not going to call them you've got to load up and come.'

With Davenport Speedway canceling early in the day, it was expected a few drivers would audible and make the trip north to race Farley instead. But only two drivers did so.

And while Simmons had some harsh words, other racers understood the no-win situation many racers are in. Often the perceived choice is either sit at home and don't race, or drive an hour or more and get rained out.

'It was our plan to come the whole time. We always head no matter what because you can't count on the rain or the weatherman,' said J.D. Auringer, who finished second in the IMCA Modified A-main. 'It's a tough one for some of those guys who have a real long haul. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.'

In the end, those who did go racing Friday night — whether at Farley, Marshalltown or in Des Moines — were treated to the usual competitive racing seen at those tracks every week.

Even with a trip from Moscow being 60 miles and about a 90-minute drive, Marolf said he wasn't worried much by the weather. After all the rainouts he's been through compared to parts and pieces he's put into his racecars, miles on the hauler and a receipt from a gas station is the least of his worries financially.

'We just kind of watched the weather ourselves and talked to a guy we knew here who said it hadn't rained all day, so we just loaded up and came,' Marolf said. 'If you're going to race, you've just got to go do it. If the worst thing you do is buy diesel fuel, it's the cheapest thing you did all night.'

But a win certainly made the risk — however big or small — worth it for everyone who ended up in Victory Lane.

For Marolf, it was hard to tell in Victory Lane whether it was riskier to make the trip with the forecast what it was or to run the race itself. The Late Models took five tries to get the race started among light rain drops with cars wrecking on both ends of the track four different times.

In the end, Marolf got the winner's check he wanted (and needed) by way of a dominant victory and left Farley with a clean car.

'We needed the win — we needed the check more than anything. We've had motor troubles, so any check we can bring in is good right now,' Marolf said. 'I started getting water in between my tearoffs and I could tell it was raining.

'It's not a full moon, so I don't know what I got into those guys. They were trying to win the dang thing in the first corner. You've got to finish the race, you can't tear your stuff up.'

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