Jackson Prairie Speedway - Keeping It Simple

Jamie Guenther leans on the chain-link fence, in a spot where he could watch both the cars and the crowd.

"It took us 12 years to get it to this point," he says. "We did it all ourselves. Never borrowed a dime. We don't owe a penny on it.

"And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing."

But working full-time jobs for the county and running a dirt oval became too much for them.

"He'd spend 16 hours a week just grooming the track," says Judy.

They had to either sell it or pave it. A potential buyer did make an offer on the place and negotiations were underway about two years ago, but when they fell through, the couple decided that converting to a hard surface was the only way they could keep the track open.

There was a backlash. Some of the dirt drivers refused to come back. Car counts and spectators are still down from a couple of years ago, but maintenance costs and the amount of time involved in running the track are also reduced.

"It was hard for some guys to change," says Randy Wingfield, who tows his car behind a wrecker he runs in nearby Mossy Rock. He's one of the drivers who switched from dirt to pavement.

"In some ways it is a lot easier," Wingfield adds. "It took us some time to figure out what we needed to do to the car, but on a Stinger there really isn't all that much you can do.

"The cars are a lot faster on pavement, and you aren't chasing the track all the time. You set the car up and you know the surface will pretty much be the same during the main as it is during hot laps."

Bob Fulmer, who drives one of the vintage Modifieds, figures the change from dirt to pavement was a good idea, if for no other reason than it allows the Guenthers to keep the track open.

"This is a wonderful place to come on a Saturday night," he says. "It's neat, clean, the folks running it are the best, and the racers respect them."

The couple still does a lot of the work at the track. Jamie goes back and forth from helping park cars in the pits to wheeling the vacuum cleaner around the track to pick up debris from a wreck.

Judy is at home in the concession stand, waiting on customers or making burgers. When things get slow, she takes off her apron and mingles with the crowd to be sure everyone is having a good time.

"It's a mom-and-pop operation," Jamie says. "But we couldn't do it any other way and end up with the operation the way it is."

There are some changes Jamie Guenther says he won't make.

"We don't allow alcohol," he says. "I'm not anti-drinking, and my wife and I will have a drink on occasion, but I want to keep the track a family friendly place for people to come with their kids.

"I don't want to have parents worrying about the guy next to them having too much and getting out of line."

Guenther says the lack of alcohol hurts the business.

"I go to promoter meetings and I know alcohol is a big profit maker," he says. "Changing that could probably mean we'd finally break even on the track. But there are things more important than money," he adds. "These are my friends, and every Saturday during the summer I get to spend time with them.

"You just can't put a price on that."