Top 5 Illinois tracks

[t4g2]

Some of it is Dirt and part of it is chemicals the promoters use esp on the top side to not let it slick off aka tide.

[ride height]

Fairbury is King in Illinois. If you can’t enjoy yourself there....then dirt racing isn’t for you. Super nice people. Almost always 2-3 wide racing. Atmosphere is unbeatable.

[WisWildManFan]

FALS, Macon, Spoon, Farmer city, Lasalle

[CIRF]

20 yrs ago when I was exposed to dirt racing I met a guy at Kankakee who taught me a lot about the sport. He'd drive every week from Kankakee down to Belleville. He said simply there is a no better local show in the state. So much so he drove a few hundred miles every weekend to see it.

Not a surprise at all MR. We've driven down there at least a couple dozen times over the years and can't remember a bad race track or bad organization of the show.

Speaking of the right dirt/clay for racing, Knoxville, so I've read, was built with river bottom black clay gumbo and they replenish the dirt/clay for the track from the original source to this day.

I've hung around Fairbury for all of my adult life and attended well over a hundred events there and I've never heard where they get their dirt/clay from. I'm gonna' make an appoint to ask someone who knows sometime soon. I'm betting there is some of the dirt from the old track that made it's way into the new track when the configuration was changed back in the 1990's and is still part of the track.

I've heard Emmett Hahn say that he loses about 8 tandem truck loads of dirt every year during the Tulsa Shoot Out and The Chili Bowl. Gotta' believe bigger outdoor tracks such as Fairbury and J-ville, etc., lose much more than that to erosion and rooster tails throughout the course of a racing season!

[i-pod]

Out of the ones I have been to. 1. LaSalle 2. Farmer City 3. FALS 4. Macon 5. K3

[Scott Boesel]

If a man were to move to Illinois to hunt trophy white tail deer and watch racing, which track or tracks would he live near? I know Fairbury did not look like good white tail deer country.

Brownstown Illinois area has some awesome whitetail country. Also Spoon river and Peoria area is awesome for whitetail

[intel8]

Fairbury
Spoon
Kankakee (When O'Conners had it)
East Moline is the most unique place.

Why would anybody move to Illinois in it's present state is beyond me. New slogan is mot Land of Lincoln, but land of taxation.

[Mister Ricochet]

Not a surprise at all MR. We've driven down there at least a couple dozen times over the years and can't remember a bad race track or bad organization of the show.

Speaking of the right dirt/clay for racing, Knoxville, so I've read, was built with river bottom black clay gumbo and they replenish the dirt/clay for the track from the original source to this day.

I've hung around Fairbury for all of my adult life and attended well over a hundred events there and I've never heard where they get their dirt/clay from. I'm gonna' make an appoint to ask someone who knows sometime soon. I'm betting there is some of the dirt from the old track that made it's way into the new track when the configuration was changed back in the 1990's and is still part of the track.

I've heard Emmett Hahn say that he loses about 8 tandem truck loads of dirt every year during the Tulsa Shoot Out and The Chili Bowl. Gotta' believe bigger outdoor tracks such as Fairbury and J-ville, etc., lose much more than that to erosion and rooster tails throughout the course of a racing season!

Good post CIRF, thanks for it.......... You jogged my memory about Knoxville. Think I remember reading an article saying just what you are about the surface being river clay and that it retains moisture really well.

For me the racing surface of a track, followed by the art of track prep, is the most under reported aspect of the sport. DoD has some fine writers. I'd like to see periodical articles on individual track surfaces about the clay/dirt, where it originally came from, how they replenish it, prep it and why.

We hear and use terms like dry slick, wet slick, rubbered up, tacky, heavy, sealed about the surface and a slew of track prep terms and speaking for myself I'm not sure I understand all of them. Be great to hear the people who are in charge of this stuff explain and talk about it. ......... IMO a great and under reported topic for a writer to tackle.

[Mister Ricochet]

Out of the ones I have been to. 1. LaSalle 2. Farmer City 3. FALS 4. Macon 5. K3

Alright, i-pod. Knowing you are a weekend warrior not afraid to travel 500-600 miles on a weekend my ears perk up when you post. .......... We all love Fairbury but when the track is right LaSalle is as racy IMO and since it is dug into the ground there is not a bad seat in the house cuz you're on top of the action.

It's a shame this track is so under used, just a couple shows a yr and no weekly racing, and it seems we are watching it fade into history.

[WisWildManFan]

Walking up to the stands during hot laps at lasalle is very unique. On top of track is an understatement

[HoosierDirtFan]

1. FALS
2. FCR
3. Jacksonville
4. Spoon
5. You can pick from a few different tracks: Kankakee, LaSalle, Lincoln, Tri-City, Macon, & Belleville