DIALED IN closely with reality , the one thing that truly shocked him was just how much Alabama football affects his attendance . “ They ’ re ate up with football ... even on the high school level !”
Wheeler works through all the challenges and embraces the positive aspects of his location , namely the weather . Central Alabama is favorable for near year-round racing , with short and mild winters . “ We ’ re planning to do some more concrete work in December or early January and hope to hold our first bracket race in February ,” he says .
Wheeler also plans to embrace the diversity of all things drag racing , holding many events at Montgomery . “ We want to have all kind of racing here , including Pro Mod , radial , small tire , and also grudge racing , since a lot of that goes on here in Alabama . I ’ ve never been around a lot of this stuff , so it ’ s a learning curve for me ,” he admits .
Wheeler says he ’ s also not limiting the facility to just racing . “ We want to do some concerts here as well ,” he notes . “ We also host an event called Pik Nik / Freak Nik , where people come in and bring their family and also bring their grills and have cooking competitions , along with cars and trucks on display . We hosted one of these events this year and we feel as though we have something to build on , so we ’ ll probably do it again and throw in some racing with it .”
Wheeler also signed on with WDRA in 2023 , and is gearing up for a big season in 2024 . “ We ’ re gonna have the Bracket Finals here , along with the World Finals and also the Jr . Dragster Finals , so we ’ re looking forward to a lot of great things happening here next season ,” Wheeler concludes . DI
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