United Mideastern Promotors Summernationals

It becomes a grueling test of endurance. Racing two or three nights a week is expected, but the concept of racing every night for three weeks straight? What kind of iron man can do something like that? The answer lies in the backs of the haulers that frequent the annual Summernationals, sanctioned by the Evansville, Indiana-based United Midwestern Promoters. The series, which travels from town to town, racing at a different track each night, has received a lot of attention in the past few years.

For the '99 campaign, the series started in late June. As the schedule wound through the country, going south, then northwest, and criss-crossing states like Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, drivers and crews either picked their events or made the commitment to chase the whole series--as long as the money would hold out. The idea for this long trek through Late Model land came from UMP head Bob Memmer in 1987. It stemmed from a phone call from promoters at a Minnesota track, which only runs special events. The Blooming Prairie Jaycees, charter members of the UMP organization, stage the Gopher 50 race at the Steele County Fairgrounds. They had hoped to get more cars for this special and planted the idea of having race events leading up to the Gopher. To this day, the Gopher 50 is the final event of the UMP Summernationals schedule (rainouts are often rescheduled after the Gopher--when you're racing every night, there's no place to reschedule a rain date).

Review 100 at Macon Speedway in Illinois, as another brick in the foundation. Soon, race dates were filling up in between. The schedule just continued to grow. "We'd like to have 17 dates," says Memmer, "but it's difficult to say no to a track that wants to support you. We look at this geographically and see how it can best benefit. We try to reward the weekly racers by bringing in the outsiders so they can race against these big names on their own turf with their own rules. They don't have to travel and they don't have to change their cars to go racing. We use UMP rules at UMP tracks. Why should our guys have to go out and change things when they can race right at home? The weekly track can make a little money, too, by having a special show for the fans."

For the most part, the tracks on the schedule are places where a good field of weekly racers can supplement those from other UMP tracks or the independents trying their hand at bigger paying events. Each Summernationals race pays a minimum of $5,000 to win. Near the end of the schedule, the ante is upped to $10,000 and there is a point fund for the top drivers who accumulate points along the series. One of the tracks on the series with an infrequent Late Model history is the bastion of Sprint Car racing, Iowa's Knoxville Speedway. The track hosted a Tuesday night event late in the schedule. In addition to drawing NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader to the Tuesday night race, it also opened the eyes of many Late Model regulars.

The Knoxville date was one of the reasons Texas racer (now residing in Mississippi) Robbie Starnes decided to follow the circuit. "I had seen they were going to Knoxville," says Starnes. "While we were at Cedar Lake (for the Masters), I looked at the last part of the schedule and saw there were four tracks that were half-mile, flat tracks. They were all 10s (thousand to win) and the last one was 20. I hadn’t been able to come out before, so I thought I’d try it." While Starnes was attracted to the 1/2-miles, he had to endure other sizes in the meantime. When you run the Summernationals, you get anything from the big, wide 1/2-mile to the tiny 1/4-mile.

Macon Speedway has been a stalwart on the UMP Summernationals schedule. Some drivers like it, while some hate it because it is one of the smallest tracks where you will ever see Late Models racing. Once a host of weekly Late Model racing, the track dropped the division as its headliner, but the racers came calling in 1999 to try their luck. Macon is under the direction of Ron and Helen Tapp. The track has a long-standing open wheel history, but the turnout on July 8 indicated Late Model fans know the directions to the front gate. Early arrivals on this date included Starnes, UMP traveller Kris Patterson from Michigan, and Rick Aukland. As the afternoon wore on the locals began to arrive, along with the companion Modifieds on the program.

The way the drivers attack the track at Macon is interesting. It was obvious through qualifying that some drivers prefer to use the outside concrete to straighten them off the corners. As a result, some of the regulars simply prepared to replace the right rear after the show. Local favorite Shannon Babb proved to be fast qualifier, but Billy Drake won the main event. In an incredible turn of events, 20 cars started, 16 were running at the end, and there were no caution flags--on a 1/4-mile track for 100 laps. While Macon represents one extreme of the racing surfaces faced by drivers on the trail, visits to Farmer City the next night and Fairbury American Legion brought the challenge to a different perspective. While listed as a 1/4-mile, Bob Sargent's Farmer City track had run off areas to give the drivers an escape if needed. The action was fast and furious, but the end result of this show was a familiar one. Billy Moyer of Batesville, Arkansas, picked up his sixth win of the series. Moyer is one of the better known racers in dirt Late Model action. Having won titles in many major organizations, Moyer definitely had his sights set on the Summernationals title and with good reason.

This year a new twist was thrown into the Summernationals experience. In hopes of generating excitement, more series support, and a carrot for travelers to look at the series, Memmer and UMP were offering a $100,000 bonus for any driver who could win more than half the races contended between June 20 and July 14. Moyer's win at Farmer City was number six, after a five-in-a-row run a week before. Because of rainouts, Moyer would need a few more victories to claim the bonus. "Heck, if I could win it, it would be super," said Moyer after the Farmer City event. "We're definitely gonna try to get it, but if we don't, it's not the end of the world." To tell the ending of a story before the story has run its course, Moyer did get the required wins to earn the $100,000 bonus. He helped his cause by winning the next night at the Fairbury American Legion Speedway and then again at Davenport (IA) Speedway in the Kerrianne Izzo-promoted event.

He finally clinched with his next win. For Moyer, the key to success came in a combination of equipment and knowledge. "Having the right car at the right track helps," he says. "The challenge comes in matching up what you have with what the track is like, what it’s going to be like. We have different chassis and some of the drivers don’t, but a lot of the guys will watch what’s working and try to follow suit. One of the biggest challenges we have with having different cars is the different parts. We have to carry more parts and that’s a lot of work for the guys." That statement emphasizes the commitment that is necessary for the Summernationals.

Many of the weekly racers have responsibilities to their employers-the ones who put food on the table since their racing is just a hobby. Moyer and Starnes are some who don’t have the concern about a 40-hour work schedule, but that doesn’t mean this Summernationals grind is easy. "If we weren’t staying in this rig, I couldn’t handle it," admits Starnes. "In and out of a motel every night would be too much in expense alone. We’re saving time and money by doing it this way, and this is the only way we could do it. When you have to get a motel, you have to round up all the guys, you have to check out, then eat, then unload the car. When we stay in the rig, a lot of places will let us stay until morning or we can get up the road a bit and stop. When you park at the track, you can get right with it when you need to get the work done."

"It's a lot of work," says Moyer. "This is hard on the crew guys and on the equipment. When it's all over, you basically have to go home and then start all over. You really will learn about your crew and about your cars, but this can be a tough grind." Memmer doesn't want to make the situation any worse and tries to schedule races within a decent range from the night before. A span of Macon to Farmer City to Fairbury saw these tracks within 100 miles of each other. While not all situations are that optimum, Memmer has to try to keep the travelers fresh at each stop to put on the best show. At first, it took some convincing to entice a promoter to book a show for a Tuesday or any day not normally associated with racing. As noted earlier, though, there are more promoters than days available and the Tuesdays and Thursdays fill up quickly. It's a delicate mix to get the shows close together because, with this schedule, there are no travel days. When the races came to tracks like Fairbury and Farmer City, places with weekly Late Model racing, drivers in the pit area looked forward to the challenge of the traveling group and the prospect of a big payday. On the other side of the fence, these shows gave drivers like Starnes a chance to put a new experience into the books.

"When I first started running out, I did a year with the NCRA. I was not prepared for that because I didn't have set-ups and wasn't making shows. It was an expensive education, but I could go back to some of those places and be more confident. Now, I'm coming to places like this. I try to compare them to the tracks I've run on. Surface-wise, there's a lot more sand than what we run. With these tracks, you've got one shot at it and then you go on to the next one." While Moyer was having his successes, Starnes was falling short in making programs. "I know I'm gonna get there, but I don't know when. We're a long way from home and these local guys are tough." At Farmer City, Starnes also had to deal with the news that his daughter had been rushed to the hospital the night before. It led to questioning whether he should have been home or on the road. He resolved the issue only through the unending support of his family and sponsors. His fortunes turned a bit at Davenport, where he made the show and charged from near the rear of the field as one of the fastest three cars on the track until sidelined by a broken bolt. The success story of Moyer grabbed the headlines of the '99 UMP Summernationals, but there were dozens of other accomplishments throughout that three weeks. Drivers moved their programs ahead to the next level. Some tried the travelling life and may try it again. Some got a chance to compete with top talent. Many learned about new tracks, gaining knowledge that will take them a step closer the next time.

The UMP Summernationals give fans a chance to see top talent. As these special events come to town, the excitement that builds is reminiscent of the spirit of the past, when barnstorming racers descended upon fairground ovals, cheating death and thrilling paying customers. For three weeks in the summer, it becomes the place to gather for racing excitement. As Memmer points out, "We get a lot of calls in the winter from people wanting to know the Summernationals schedule. They plan their vacation so they can see as many shows as they can." Premium dates are hard to come by and the competition for the big shows is intense. The Summernationals have established their position in the grand scheme of things when it comes to dirt Late Model racing.