Wade set to begin first season at Elma track
Busy Wade ready for start of 2007 racing season in Elma
Since taking over as Grays Harbor Raceway's promoter in late February, George Wade has had to get up to speed in a hurry.
The 2007 season at the Elma track kicks off today and Saturday, as the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series - formerly the Northern Sprint Tour - begins its inaugural season. The series is joined today by Modifieds and on Saturday by Hobby Stocks and Midgets. Front gates open at 5 p.m. both nights, with racing around 7.
The Elma track has garnered national praise since former promoter Fred Brownfield renovated the track in 2004. Brownfield, who had started the Northern Sprint Tour in 1996, was killed on the track last June.
The final domino to fall into place after Brownfield's death was Wade and his new Great Northwest Promotions taking over operations of the track from Debbie Brownfield, Fred's widow.
In the span of about a month, Wade has not only had to start up a promotions company, he's also learned about how the track operates.
And he still runs Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson, Calif., some 550 miles away. He'll split his time this season between the two tracks, but a bulk of his time will be at the Elma track simply due to the newness.
"It's not overwhelming, it's humbling," Wade said this week of the task of running the Elma track. "You kind of have to crawl before you can walk. That's the way I look at it.
"I don't think anybody can ever, ever fill Fred Brownfield's shoes," added Wade, who was asked by Brownfield last year before the promoter's death to help run the track. "I just hope that we can do a good enough job that we can do him proud. It's the house that Fred built. It's got to go on. Am I intimidated by the place? No."
Wade, who lives in Montesano 10 miles west of the Elma track, points to previous stints at tracks like South Sound Speedway near Tenino and Evergreen Speedway near Monroe for helping prepare him.
"I've run Evergreen, and it was a pretty high profile place," he said. "We had TV races there. It's just that the vision that Fred had was uncanny. If he wanted to do something, he could make it happen. He could decide he was going to build something, and draw it on a napkin. He would take the napkin to his manufacturing plant and build it."
Wade recognizes he's got a lot going on, especially with two tracks to run in two states.
"I'm going absolutely crazy," he said as he tended to business at Shasta. "I'm trying to get everything taken care of. I left (California) last Friday night at 8, and got home Saturday at 4:30 a.m. to watch it rain."
Wade admitted his emotions are a bit all over the board.
"I'm fine," he said. "You're nervous, you're excited, it's all of the above. You'd be a liar if you said you weren't."
On the one hand, it might seem that taking over the Elma track wouldn't be that big of a deal. After all, most of the upgrades to the facility have been completed, and a dedicated staff is still on board.
"There's no problem with running the race track," Wade said. "There's great, great people there. The biggest burden is trying to start a new business in such a short period, and just everything that goes along with that. There are the things that people don't realize, all the behind-the-scenes things like novelties, t-shirts and advertising. It's not overwhelming at first, but it is overwhelming when you get into it."
Wade points to how things run at Shasta as a comparison.
"For Shasta, I had the stuff done in January because that's how you do it at a track," he said. "I list the dates I want to run my radio spots, and send that to the guy who does my radio commercials. I give him TV dates, and it's done for the whole year. I don't have to worry about it. It's easy because it's my fourth year here, and I know everybody.
"Well, you go into a deal where you start February 25th or whatever it was, that's when we took possession. There's so much to do in such a short period of time."
Dick Wilskey, the longtime Brownfield family friend who ran the track on race nights last year, feels Wade has been doing a good job.
"He's been around this business, so he knows the ins and outs of the racing game," said Wilskey, who started the NSCS along with daughter Shawna. "The fact the track was in really good shape with personnel will help him. He's had his hands full, and he will have his hands full. He has some big shoes to fill.
"I think he'll do just fine," Wilskey added. "I'm impressed with what he's done so far. He's had a lot to do in a very short amount of time."
That work comes to fruition this weekend as the NSCS makes its debut.
"I am really excited for the weekend," said Shawna Wilskey, who takes care of administrative duties with the NSCS. "We have a lot of members, fan support, and people that are behind the series to get it off the ground. As much as it was a transfer of something already being done, it's still all new."
Based on the Brownfield connection with both the Elma track and the old Northern Sprint Tour, it's no coincidence the new NSCS kicks off in Elma.
"It's about as appropriate as you could get," Dick Wilskey said. "The NST is the foundation on which the NSCS was built, and the foundation was built by Fred. The fact it starts at the track he built is very, very appropriate. You couldn't ask for anything more."
Or, as Shawna Wilskey put it simply, "It's the perfect way to open the series."
Super Stocks at Tenino: The Super Stocks return this weekend at South Sound Speedway for their second race of the season. Defending track champion Dan Rhodes won the opener on April 14. Super Stocks will be joined Saturday night by the Washington Midget Racing Association, Super 4's and Mini Stocks.
Gates open Saturday at 4:45 p.m., with qualifying at 5 and racing at 6:30.
Racing at Tenino was rained out last Saturday, allowing track officials to utilize the new policy of running rained out races Sunday. Phil Willis won in Limited Late Models, Cody Erskine won in Street Stocks, Scott Johnson won in Pure Stocks, Kayla Roberts won in Future Stars and Steven Roberts won in Baby Grands.
n WHERE'S KASEY? Last year Enumclaw native Kasey Kahne spent the first part of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season racking up wins and contending for the points lead. This year, things have been far different as Kasey Kahne is struggling just to stay in the top-35 in points.
After last Saturday's 31st place in Phoenix, Kasey Kahne finds himself 33rd in points. Worse, Kasey Kahne's seventh place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 - he picked up the good finish by dodging trouble on the last lap - is his only top-10 of the year so far in eight races.
Vancouver, Wash. native Greg Biffle is faring better. Following a 17th place run Saturday night, the 2005 Nextel Cup runner-up sits 14th in points with two top-10
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