Race fans ain't like nobody else. Come Saturday night, you can keep your peace and quiet. Set us in some bleachers, overlooking the asphalt rink of the stock car roller derby. Hell yeah! Racing. It just plain gets in your blood. Welded to your chassis. Belted in tight. Race fans will trek a whole lotta miles, if necessary, to spend the night with strangers. Strangers, who, like us, crave the smell of rubber, radiators and flaming fumes. Auburndale Speedway has been a trek destination of mine for a few years now. Oh say, since 1977-ish. That's a helluva lot of busted up race cars, spins, smoke and temper tantrums. All of a sudden, I wasn't able to attend. For this reason, or for that reason. Non-sense reasons. And that, is a pity. I really really missed it. But I'm back. And it's like I never ever stopped going. Picking up right where I left off! The parking lot. The ticket windows. The gate. The gatekeepers. The grandstands. The concession stand. The bathrooms (gotta go, ya know?). The track. The cars. Best of all, the intoxicating sound of those high revving engines. Screaming and popping, practicing on the track. It's loud. Real loud. Real music to a race fan's ears. A rock concert of speed. Everything was there. I was there. I sat where I always sit! (Race fans love their spots!). I ate 'race food'. Burger, fries and a foam cup of fizzy pop. Soda to some. Boiled peanuts. Biting into that saltwater brine. It was a perfect night for racing. It was a perfect night OF racing. While a misty drizzle tickled at us, we were wowed by a rainbow. Pointing to that pot of gold on Turn 4. We knew that was no threat. We knew we were going racing! It was a perfect race crowd. Kids running around looking at everything but the races. Teens playing Frisbee in the side yard. Old men, alone and bundled up in their Chevy race jackets. Young couples, with babies, starting a new batch of race fans. Fueled up fans with foamy beers and go team cheers. The 'we stand for the wreck worriers'. Every race saw quite a bit of drama. Spills and thrills. Rubber donut decorated doors. Flopping hoods and finger pointing. Spins and wins. I'd say we got WAY more than we paid admission for. A whole lot more. I'm a fan of Auburndale Speedway. It has a lot of character. It has a whole lot of CHARACTERS! IF we lose another racetrack, we lose another piece of our hearts. We can't let that happen! Track owners could save themselves a lot of stress, and money, by throwing away the keys and just walking away. It's OUR job to keep these tracks alive! WHAT happens if we have NO races to go to. NONE. Anywhere. I don't even want to think about that... Welcome, race fans! read more

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If you're disabled and sit in a chair at the bottom of the bleacher seats---save your money. Between the 50/50 raffle people and the kids stopping along the fence to see a "highlight" of the race or a crash, you might as well stay home. With the dirt & dust coming off the track in turn 4 -- be sure and wear your Covid Mask and goggles. They used to use the blower trucks during the break between races to help clear some of it. As far as getting a free T-shirt from the bazooka shooter, be sure to set in the main grandstand. Such a shame, it used to be fun. read more

Guess who won the race to be the first to review Auburndale Motor Speedway on Yelp? *rimshot I suppose it's not really a Yelp going crowd that frequents the 'Dale but it's some pure Americana. I came out here with my pops on a rainy Saturday night in February. Mother nature cut short the spectacle but we caught a few laps first. The grandstands were less than full as I'm sure a lot of folks checked the weather forecast, but a bunch of the faithful turned out anyway. Admission was $15 for adults. Kids and seniors are cheaper. Something tells me there's a veterans discount, too, though it might not be the best idea to trust a Yelp reviewer tapping his words into a cellphone based on memory three weeks later. Cash only, both for admission and concessions. My dad told me concessions were dirt cheap, so I didn't really look at the cost of the two Cokes I bought for he and I after he sprang for a couple of hot dogs. I plopped down a fiver, thinking that would cover it, based on what he said. Well, th JHy serve big ass 32 ouncers and it turned out they were 3 apiece, a fact I only discovered after wondering where my change was. The lady was perfectly willing to let me slide on that extra dollar, like times were tight for me. I apologized, settled up and threw another buck in the tip jar. That's pretty cool she wasn't even going to say anything about it. One of the racers came up to get a dog while we scarfed down ours, huddled under the awning with a few hardy race fans, wondering if the rain would stop and they'd wave the green flag again. We got to hear him talk shop about the race to his friends. That's not something you'll get at a big track. Like I said we didn't get a full night of racing action but I enjoyed what we saw. There was a really good battle for the lead for a few laps before the eventual winner put his challenger behind him. Most of the cars were in pretty good shape but there was a couple of comically bad rides in the back of the field in the rain shortened race, one a beat up old Dodge Neon with its racing number done super basic in spraypaint. There were two cars numbered K9 in one race! Fortunately, there were easily discernible by their color schemes and the big fake dog head sticking out of the rear of the passenger side window of the one. As the nickname The 'Dale would befit Earnhardt is still King at this here bullring. We saw a black car with that iconic white 3 and a fire engine red 8 car. Not a 24 or a 48 to be found. I enjoyed my short time at this short track. Now if somebody else would review a busier night with better weather so I can get a sense of what a more typical night here is like! read more

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