John And Linda Mccormick's Determination Has Been The Lifeblood Of A Dirt Track Located In The Hills Of Colorado
writer: Jerry F. Boone
photographer: Linda McCormick
At 7,600 feet elevation in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, John McCormick says his track is the highest in the nation.
John and Linda McCormick are making a success of Thunder Valley Speedway the old-fashioned way-they work at it. Before they bought it in 2000, what may be the most remote oval track in the nation had gone through five promoters in the previous four years, says John.
"The last promoter just padlocked the gate and walked away," he says. "Linda and I were determined that wasn't going to happen to us." The track was run down and suffering from a combination of abuse and neglect.
Thunder Valley is in Mosca, Colorado. Chances are you've never heard of it. How remote is Thunder Valley? The nearest oval is 150 miles away in any direction, and getting to any of them requires towing over at least one mountain pass.
Built in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, with the 14,000-foot Mt. Blanca dominating the horizon, the track sits at 7,600 feet elevation, making it the highest circuit in the nation, John says.
John, in the No. 11, has curtailed his Modified racing to concentrate on managing the track.
"It also gives us about the shortest racing season in the country," adds John. "We begin late and end early, and in the summer we have lots of competition from fairs and rodeos. This is real cowboy country, and the horse is pretty much king here." But horsepower ranks close behind.
Racing's Roots
On a good race night, Thunder Valley will draw 80 cars, some teams towing 270 miles round-trip just to compete on the 3/8-mile clay oval. It also draws about 850 spectators. That's not a huge number by many promoters' standards, but it is about 10 percent of the local population.
The track features a weekly program made up of Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks, and Stock Trucks. It also hosts the Rocky Mountain Dwarf Cars and Outlaw Mini Sprints touring shows. Its Modified program is aligned with the United Midwest Promoters Association, so visiting Modified drivers know they can unload at Thunder Valley and be legal to run.
The McCormicks, Linda and John, bought Thunder Valley in 2000.
Because the track is so remote and doesn't have an affiliation with NASCAR, ASA, or any other large sanctioning organization, few of the drivers feel that success at the oval will launch them on a career in the big leagues. "This is racing the way it began," says John. "We're out here to have fun and put on a good show. There's really not a lot of pressure to do anything other than to try to win the track championship."
And then there's the fun factor. The track keeps close links to its farming-culture fan base. Its version of soft walls are 1,000-pound bales of straw. Once a year it hosts a shootout for old, single-axle potato trucks. Another feature is putting local clergy behind the wheel for the "faster pastor" shootout. Heaven help the slow guy.
"We've made a huge effort at making the track more than just a track," John says. "We are trying to make it a community center where families feel comfortable coming to spend an evening with us. There's not an awful lot to do in the area, so we try to fill the need for wholesome entertainment."