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63 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, June 10, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Britt Festival Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend June 3, 2005 Rain puts a damper on speedway By DON HUNT Mail Tribune A damp April and the seventh-wettest May on record were cruel months for the Southern Oregon Speedway, which rained out an unprecedented five times over the eight-week period. For perspective, consider that the local stock car track rained out just twice during the first five years it was in business (1996-2000). Speedway promoter John Skinner couldn’t find dry weather when he was 1,500 miles from home. Skinner was in Oklahoma to compete in a modified race two weeks ago and, you guess it, the show got washed out. "We’ve got more people signed up to race than ever before — it’s so frustrating," says Skinner. Last Friday, several motor homes and race car trailers pulled into the parking area to get ready for a Northern Sprint Car race, only to get stuck in the mud the following day when the skies opened up and canceled yet another event. Advertisement "That lower parking area is made up of clay, and it acts like a sponge," says speedway manager Teresa Lowe. "If it’s wet down deep, you have to squeeze the water out, but we can’t even get our heavy equipment out there to work on it." The roar of engines should return to the track Saturday as the forecast calls for partly sunny skies with a 10 percent chance of rain. The weather is expected to worsen Sunday and Monday. Sprint cars will join modifieds, pro stocks, dwarf cars, and super 4’s during Saturday’s show. With a wife that plays softball and two young sons that play baseball, Seth Carder has to do a juggling act to make it to the speedway on Saturday nights. But the Medford beer delivery driver plans to run for points in the pro stock division after winning the 50-lap Art Pollard Memorial on May 14. "It’s not a big deal for me to run for points, but it’s tough to back off when you win the first race," says Carder, the 2002 pro stocks rookie of the year. Carder, 31, battled with Frank Word III for the first half of the Pollard, then had to outduel Charlie Charlton over the latter half to get the win. "I was out front most of the race and that really helped," says Carder, who is piloting the same Rayburn chassis that he drove last year. "I could see the ruts and moved around and picked my line." Carder is among the minority that didn’t mind the multiple rainouts. He went camping after last week’s race got canceled. "If we raced once a month, that would be great," he says. "But if it’s four a month, I’ll be there." Jerry Apland, who failed to win a dwarf car main event last season, has already won two of the three feature races contested this season and is out in front in points. Mark Wauge registered victories in his heat race, trophy dash and main event for a clean sweep in the modified race on May 21. Reggie DeVore did likewise in the super 4 division on May 14. A transponder computer system that keeps track of cars and laps is in use at the go-kart track at the Southern Oregon Speedway. The transponder system can record the movements of as many as 150 vehicles and will eventually be in place at the oval track, Lowe says. "The one thing the computer doesn’t understand is yellow flags," Lowe says. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s