After season, HMS will still be busy

By: Tom Gillispie | Hickory Daily Record
Published: October 27, 2011

Kevin Piercy, the promoter for Hickory Motor Speedway, says this likely will be the track’s final weekend of the season. HMS will host the PASS South series and other series Saturday.

He said that he’s talked to another group about a race program in November, but that’s still just talk.

“Saturday will probably be our last weekend of the season,” Piercy said, “but when the last checkered flag falls, it's not over for us. We’ll look to next year.

“Today, I’m getting ready for the PASS (South) event on Saturday. Next week, I’ll put the finishing touches on the banquet, and I’ll begin getting the schedule ready for next year.

“I’ll try to contact people about them marketing their products and businesses at Hickory Speedway. I want to contact them early, but sometimes it’s too early. If I wait too long, their 2012 budget may be already gone.”

• SCHEDULE: On Saturday, gates will open at noon, with practice from 2 to 4, time trials at 4:30 and racing at 6. There will be a Bandolero heat race (length TBA), a 15-lap PASS South last-chance race (if needed), and features for Legends (25 laps), Allison Legacy (50 laps), Bandoleros (20 laps), CCS Sportsman (35 laps) and PASS South (150 laps).

• BANQUET: The track’s banquet is set for Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Newton Expo at the Pin Station in Newton. Tickets will be on sale at the speedway office weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., beginning Nov. 4. The office number is 828-464-3655.

• LODEN WATCH: Andy Loden, the three-time Late Model track champion at Hickory, will be among the PASS South drivers racing Saturday. Loden has been off since the PASS South series ran two months ago.

Loden, who ran sixth in the Easter Bunny 150 in April, is still looking for his first PASS South victory at HMS. He says he hasn’t been bad at Hickory; he just hasn’t won.

“I’m hoping some of the stuff learned at a recent test session will work when we unload the car this weekend,” said Loden, third in series points. “If it does we should have a better car in the final thirty laps or so than we’ve had in the past which traditionally has been when our car started to fade.”

Loden says he plans to run the World Crown 300 at Gresham Motorsports Park near Jefferson, Ga., and he may skip the final PASS South race on Thanksgiving weekend at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont.

“It’s not 100 percent that we won’t run Orange County,” he said. “I mean, if we have a real close shot at winning the championship, we’ll be there. Put it this way, I’ll be able to tell you one way or another after this weekend’s race at Hickory.”

• 2011 IN CAPSULE: Piercy says it’s been a tough year at HMS, particularly weather-wise. He says they’ve only had four rainouts this year, but people often stay home when rain is even suspected. They still race, but the crowd is down.

He says the worst thing for him is to have showers between 5 and 7, with racing at 7:30. The competitors are already there and have spent their money and bought pit passes. They want to race.

“If we think we can get the event in and break even or lose only a little bit, we’ll do everything we can to get it in,” he said. “We owe it to competitors and the fans.”

• CONTACT: Tom Gillispie, the author of “Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.,” can be reached at nc3022@yahoo.com.