Funfest 2006 At Lawrenceburg Speedway

The event was Funfest 2006 at Lawrenceburg (Indiana) Speedway, and there were more race-oriented activities than can be imagined. It was definitely a funfest for the fan of dirt racing.

There was a combination of oval track racing with about 10 different classes of stock cars, in addition to Powder Puff racing, drag racing, Enduro racing, a rollover stock car contest, open wheel racing, music concerts, a pizza party, hog roast, flea market, swap meet, trade show, racing memorabilia auction, and so on. One of the most popular parts of Funfest was the food offered after racing competition throughout the weekend. Ribs were offered on the first night, followed by pizza on the second night, and finally, a hog roast on night three.

It all occurred on the same October weekend, and there's really nothing like it. Imagine about 40 hours of competition and craziness on a quarter-mile dirt track, with 14 or more hours coming on the third night. Keeping the track in condition for the various events required a monumental effort from the track crew.

The event was the brainstorm of Dirt Late Model driver/track owner/promoter Terry Eaglin, who pulled off the original Funfest at Tri Cities Speedway in southern Indiana.

"I got the idea from an event at Crystal Speedway in Michigan," says Eaglin. "I liked what I saw, with many classes of stock cars, music, and the like. It was like a big racing reunion, with some families bringing their living room couches to relax on. It was a neat atmosphere where racing families got to relax and forget about the problems of the day.

"When I came back home to Indiana, I thought that the concept would work well at my track at the time, Tri Cities Speedway. I wanted to make it possible for as many stock cars as possible to race, so I made the rules very liberal, encompassing the rules of area tracks. I also made a lot of car classes, and believe me, the cars came in droves. Frankly, it came down to the situation that if you had almost any kind of stock car, they would find a class where it could compete."

As a promoter of fairs and motorsports events, Eaglin realized that he'd have to add other attractions to bring in more paying customers. It's something he's done to a greater extent each year with the 11 Funfests he's promoted.

The first three Funfests were held at the Tri Cities track.

"But with only 44 acres at that site, there was just not enough space for all the fans to park their trailers and RVs," Eaglin says. "I knew for it to continue to grow, I had to look elsewhere. The Lawrenceburg Speedway was the ideal location.

"First of all, in addition to the larger area at the Dearborn County Fairgrounds location, where the track is located, there was also the fact that it's a larger population center, being very near Cincinnati with its motels and gambling casinos for additional fan entertainment."

One of the major sponsors was one of those casinos, the nearby Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun, Indiana.

"Another important advantage of Lawrenceburg is that it's only a quarter-mile track, as compared to the faster three-eighth mile at Tri Cities," says Eaglin. "That shorter track is more suited to the low-budget race cars, which are the majority of the stock cars that come to this event."

The track was prepared for only the first night of racing. "But after that, we just let it get black and slick," Eaglin says. "And you better believe that track was as black as coal when the racing was completed. After all, we had about 150 races, which amounted to well over 1,500 laps run. In all, there were about 745 cars of all types and about 600 drivers. Just think about those figures at a quarter-mile track. It took a long time, with racing lasting to almost 3 a.m. on the third night."

With those numbers, it has to be the largest or certainly one of the top three events of this type in the country.

Eaglin says that for many of the low-budget racers, the Funfest was the highlight of their season.

"For that reason, we wanted to give out as much hardware as possible. In all, there were about 225 trophies and plaques that were handed out. We even gave trophies for the heat races."