SoutheasternOhioPreps.com

Rocky Top Raceway set for Opening Night April 17th
By: T. J. Layne

COAL GROVE, OH-After a long offseason, the Rocky Top Raceway will officially roar back to life on Friday, April 17th for the sixth annual Opening Night races. On the card will be a complete racing program of Late Models-$2,000 to win, Modifieds-$650 to win, Bombers-$350 to win, and Mod Lites-$200 to win.

One of the biggest storylines going into the 2009 Opening Night is that of the Conley Motorsports teams in the Late Model division. A member of the Conley Motorsports team has won the past three Opening Night's with R. J. Conley winning in 2006 and 2008 and Rod Conley winning in 2007. A stout field of Late Models is expected to be in attendance as they will be going for the $2,000 Opening Night win and be preparing for the $4,000 to win Buckeye Nationals on April 24th.

There are also many storylines going into Opening Night in the Modified division. The Modified Opening Night winner has gone on to win the track championship in four out of five seasons. Todd Robinson has accomplished this feat in 2004, 2007, and 2008 and Dave McWilliams accomplished it in 2005. Opening Night will also feature the return of two of Lawrence County's most successful drivers Eddie Harmon and Shawn Holliday to the Modified division.

Race fans can also expect another great show in the always exciting Bomber division. Past Opening Night winners in the Bomber division include Wayne Hughes, Brett Carey, David Skaggs, and Jeremie Bretz, the only multiple time winner of the season opening race. Many drivers have built new cars over the offseason as the 2009 opener should be a close battle between several drivers.

Opening Night will be one of the most crucial races of the season for the Mod Lite class. This will be the only race the Mod Lites will have to prepare for one of the largest races held in the entire country for that class on April 24th in the $1,000 to win Buckeye Nationals at Rocky Top. Drivers from as far as Canada are expected to be in attendance for the Late Model and Mod Lite Buckeye Nationals on the 24th.

Adult general admission for the Opening Night races is only $12. General admission for kids 7-12 is $2 while kids 6 and under are admitted in free. Pit Admission is $25. Gates will open at 4:00 pm with Hot Laps starting the nights racing at 7:30 pm. RTR features grandstand seating along with many areas for lawn chairs and watching the race from your vehicle. For more information visit www.rockytopraceway.net.

I've never been there.

Who won? Was the track in good shape?

racenut70 wrote:Who won? Was the track in good shape?

RJ Conley wins,Jackie Boggs 2nd.......Only 2 cars left on track when the checkered flag fell!!! 8 Late Models on hand.Very dissapointing car count for a $2,000 to win show.Dont know what happened.

My cousin went up there friday. He said he'd wished his late model was done since he could have gotten top 4 pay by just running a few laps.

tony181stewart wrote:

beaverlover wrote:

racenut70 wrote:Who won? Was the track in good shape?

RJ Conley wins,Jackie Boggs 2nd.......Only 2 cars left on track when the checkered flag fell!!! 8 Late Models on hand.Very dissapointing car count for a $2,000 to win show.Dont know what happened.

Probally because people think very poorly of that place. Maybe they should actually hire people who know what they are doing to run this racetrack.. And it also might help to spend a little more money and promote for a race like this.

What's so bad about the track to have people think poorly of it? The track has it's high and low points, but so does every other track. I can promise you the track is ran as good as any other track. $2,000 to win is our weekly payout. We had a great crowd by the way.

The reason for the low car count of 9 Late Models is because of drivers not having their cars ready yet. Many of our local drivers did not have their car ready to race. I talked to several people Saturday and found out about all the local cars not ready yet, but will be good to go in the next few weeks. Besides 2007 when we had 18 Late Models, our Opening Night car count has always been low. Had 5 in 2004, 11 in 2005, 10 in 2006, and 13 in 2007. It's always picked back up though by the second race and maintains pretty good throughout the year.

We are paying $4,000 to win this Friday, April 24th so expect a great car count this Friday!

tony181stewart wrote:I wasn't saying that the actual track was bad, I meant that it just seems like they like to hire people(kids) who have no clue of what they are doing. and we all know that it isn't ran as good as for say Portsmouth Raceway

Dont try to back down now. You were putting the track down and it was obvious. And I believe, and you can correct me if I am wrong, that Rockytop the past few years has averaged more late models and modifieds during their regular race schedule than Portsmouth on a nightly count.

You think Portsmouth is ran good? Haha ha. Get out your trolling motor cause that place is under water most of the time.

Let me tell you this. You arent a driver, you havent been on a track. You just repeat what you hear without thinking twice about it. A repeater you might say.

My inlaws own Rockytop, and I assure you that the track is in good shape and 99% of the drivers love the track. How do I know? I have been on it, and I know most of the drivers, and they like the track.

And to dive into your business management thesis on spending more money to promote the races: They had a nice turnout in the stands, they didnt have a great car count because alot of the cars are not back together and ready to race yet. Spending more money on promotions would have been a complete waste as it was not going to get cars back together in time to run them.

I thought they had a pretty good setup. I was there one time early last year and seen a good race. The only thing I didnt like was the seating, but there was some good three wide racing.

Let me make this very clear!! I have no problems with Rocky Top! I like the place, 8 out of 10 times you are going to see an excellent show there! I also think Layne and the rest of the crew there do a outstanding job!


But I do not agree with the car count being low because of people not having there cars ready...Maybe 1 or 2 teams(ex:Bocooks)but I am not buying that is why they only had 9 Lates.Skyline had 36 Lates the same night and KC had 35 the following night.I do not know why, and do not claim to know why there was a dissapointing car count.If you look at what Layne said about the opening night in recent years,it just seems to be the norm.Im sure everything will be well Friday Night for the 4K to win show.I expect atleast 30 Lates including a couple bigger names.Good luck to Rocky Top,like I said,I love the racing there and have nothing bad to say about the place.

I really like PRP's facilities and track. They do open later and close earlier than the other tracks though and will cancel at the first hint of rain. I ended up going to other tracks a lot last year simply because PRP wasn't racing. I really don't know why they just don't build a newer track somewhere that doesn't constantly flood, if they were open more often they would bring in the money to cover it easily.