DIALED IN
LOOSE ROCKER PROMOTIONS
here to begin with and then pride ourselves on a
low re-entry fee and high round money payouts.”
The racers have responded accordingly with
over 90-percent re-entry at a recent event. Loose
Rocker has also attracted no less than 16 sponsors
who contribute lots of great round prizes at each
event, and the more prizes they have to give away
the more enthused people are about coming out
to race. At the 2016 season opening St. Patrick’s
Classic at Virginia Motorsports Park on March
18-20, the turnout was phenomenal with 489 entries to
kick things off on the first day.
The uptrend continues each
year, with a particular influx of
cars coming out of Ohio and
Pennsylvania. Loose Rocker
has a total of five events on
the 2016 schedule; the most
Anthony and Michael have
ever put on in a single season.
They’re even expanding their
brand into new markets this
year with the inaugural NoBox Classic to be held at KilKare Dragway in Xenia, Ohio,
in early September.
“Additionally, we’re keeping
a c lose eye on the progress at Dragway 42 in West
Salem, Ohio, and we’d love to continue growing
our Ohio market by holding one of our VMP-style
races at Dragway 42,” says Beard, who says a total
of 6 events are likely in 2017, and that’s the number they both agree they’ll probably cap off their
season with. “I think 6 races a year is enough for
us, but our wives like to remind us that we were
saying the same thing when we had just one race
in a season, and then two races,” laughs Walton.
Anthony’s wife, Stacy is a school teacher, and
Michael’s better half, Jill, specializes in organizing
events, so it’s no wonder they both play a key role
in Loose Rocker’s success.
“Our wives handle the important stuff – me and
Anthony just run the race,” insists Beard with a
laugh. As these events continue to explode in
popularity, the founding duo contends that it’s
the racers who have put this deal on the map.
“We don’t have some magic formula, we simply
create races that we would want to race in ourselves. It’s very humbling and we’re sincere in our
appreciation for people wanting to come out and
race with us.”
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I-64 Motorplex Stands Tall
K
entucky’s I-64 Motorplex is a grass roots eighth-mile
facility that has definitely experienced periods of “feast or famine”
over the years with regards to participation from its local bracket
racing community. Built in 1997, this IHRA sanctioned track is nestled
in the quiet, northeast Kentucky town of Owingsville, which is home to
roughly just 1,500 residents.
When current track owner Tim Baldridge bought the track five-years ago,
the drag strip was experiencing one of its slow periods, with an average car
count of approximately 25-30 race cars
per event. The former track owner had
desires of relocating to Florida and was
wanting to sell the track, so that’s when
Baldridge got the call to see if he might
be interested in taking over the facility.
“Honestly, I would have never believed
that I would have bought a drag strip,”
says Baldridge, as he reflected on his improbable decision to buy I-64 Motorplex.
Five seasons later he has no regrets about
becoming the track owner, but readily admits that acquiring the track made little
sense at the time. In fact, Baldridge had
just recently retired from a long career of
truck driving and was enjoying sleeping
late each morning and doing pretty much
what he wanted to do when he got that
fateful call and subsequent offer to buy
the track. At first, Tim had no intentions of even seriously considering it,
but as negotiations progressed Baldridge eventually decided to take the
plunge. He soon realized that operating and maintaining a race track takes
a whole lot more effort than most people realize, so it was a blessing that
he was recently retired.
Additionally, Tim resides in the town of Russell, which is 84-miles from
Owingsville, so he arrives at the track each week on Wednesday and lives
in the apartment above the timing tower until Sunday. During the week he
cuts the grass, scrapes the track, and performs any electrical repairs when
the need arises. He will also assume the role of plumber, roofer, carpenter,
etc. His days of sleeping late in his retirement years were extremely short
lived. The one thing that probably surprised Baldridge the most about
owning the track was the bond and friendship he developed with his racers.
“I’m a very blessed man,” he says with a tone of gratitude.
He’s also enjoyed a sharp increase in participation from his local bracket
racers, with a car count that now hovers
around 100 entries per event. Tim schedules a robust bracket program each year,
with 22 races penciled in on the schedule.
“Racers only have to claim 15 events for
points, so if they want to go on vacation
or travel around to other tracks they have
the opportunity to do so,” he explains.
Owingsville’s points series typically begins in April and runs through the end of
September. Baldridge has also put together an extensive calendar of special events
for 2016 which includes visits from the
NOP Racing Series, The Bluegrass Super Shifters, Straight Axle Mafia as well
as the 4th annual charity arm drop race
for Shriners Children’s Hospital. Special
appearances also include Street Outlaws
stars “Varley”, “Daddy Dave” Comstock
and Chuck Seitsinger at various events.
Baldridge is also putting together a mega race for the Junior Dragster
division, which features a jaw-dropping $100,000-to-win first prize. “That’s
not the total purse either, I’m talking about $100 grand going to the winner,” exclaims Tim.
Details for this event are still being worked out and will be announced
soon, with an anticipated race date of late October.
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64 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
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Issue 112
PHOTOS: BRYAN EPPS
By Van Abernethy