It was a nearly indescribable race.
You really needed to be there to see it.
It might never be repeated.
If you were at the Shawano Speedway on Saturday, I hope you stayed for the very last race. If you weren’t in attendance, or if you left early, you missed one of the most talked-about races in recent memory.
Yes, the video can be found online, and it’s pretty entertaining. Mike Thorne did a great job as always promoting local racing through this video. As of Monday night, more than 100,000 people had viewed it, and it was shared over 1,100 times by people in 42 states. By the time you read this the numbers will be even more impressive.
The Spectator Eliminators have long been a fan favorite at the Shawano Speedway. The fact that anyone with a car and a helmet can have a shot on the historic half mile is an attractive proposition to many people.
Through the years the Spectator Eliminator drivers and cars have produced some characters. Leo Frank and the “Two Ton Terror,” Willard Raddant in his Volkswagen, Mel Westphall, the “Grumpy Gremlin,” and Jeff “Land Shark” Schroeder are just a few of the fan favorites throughout the years.
The two drivers in the aforementioned race are both former dirt track racing regulars, ”Dr. Gear” Dave Stoffer and “The Mayor of Mattoon” Scott Williams.
The race itself came down to a side-by-side, full contact, battle royal to the finish line.
The two cars got together in turn three and both spun and came to a stop. It briefly looked as though both cars had stalled. They both were able to re-fire though.
Stoffer put the block on Williams, but he still needed to get his car turned around. In a move Luke and Bo Duke would be proud of, Stoffer lit up the rear tires and swung the car back around to the right direction.
Both drivers hammered the gas and Stoffer was able to beat Williams to the checkered flag.
Needless to say, the crowd loved it and went wild.
Part of the attraction to racing is the fact that anything can happen at any time. There is no script. It is literally fly by the seat of your pants action from one lap to the next, all the way to the end of the night.
Last Saturday’s race might never happen again, but you know what maybe it will, and you can tell everybody you were there for it.
See you at the races.
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