New York State Fairgrounds

The New York State Fairgrounds is basically in Syracuse, New York, and there's one word to describe it; big. Everything is bigger at the New York State Fairgrounds, the track is the biggest modifieds run on, the crowd is the biggest seen at any modified race, the speeds are bigger by far than any other track around, the prize money is by far the biggest of the season. It's got a big history, a big event atmosphere, there's nothing like Super Dirt Week at the New York State Fairgrounds.

The facility is around 100 years old, so, it's not in the best shape. For Super Dirt Week, colorful banners make the facility look much more appealing than it really is. Realistically, the track could use some new walls around the outside of the speedway, and some fresh clay on the race track to make passing a little easier, and also make the track less abrasive on tires and equipment.

With the huge purse, Super Dirt Week usually sees fields of around 80 big block modifieds, and around 50-55 small block modifieds. The big block field for Super Dirt Week is by far the best field of drivers seen every year as all the best drivers show up for a shot at $100,000.

Super Dirt Week has the best atmosphere of any race all year long. When you have 40,000 modified fans in one place for a long period of time, it leads to some great parties every night at the track. Drivers, crews, fans, and media all celebrate being at Syracuse together. Many race fans have a tendency to complain about a lot of things, and as someone who sees dirt racing with rose-colored glasses, it's refreshing to see all those race fans smiling, laughing, and having a good time together.

The history at Syracuse makes it worth attending alone. Every year there's one dramatic moment that completely changes the race, and leads race fans talking all throughout the winter. Last year's moment took place when Jimmy Phelps made a move to put a car a lap down with just 10 laps remaining while leading the race and made contact with the lapped car, resulting in Phelps cutting a right rear tire. There's always drama late in the race in the Super Dirt Week main event, the Rite-Aid 200.

The infield is filled with campers and haulers, so try to sit as high as possible from the bleachers. My personal favorite place to the section closest to turn 1. It gives a great view of the track, and also gives you a perfect seat to view action in the pits. If you want to watch the race from the infield, try to watch the cars coming off of turn 2. It's amazing watching the drivers twist the chassis going sideways off the turns at such a high speed.

Every year creates new memories for Syracuse. My favorite moment came in 2004, in the small block modified Salute to the Troops 150. The small block race is the second biggest race of the weekend, and features a lot of the same drivers that run in Sunday's race, as many big block modified drivers also drive small block modifieds. The race is 150 laps, which means the drivers must pit at least once for fuel and tires. Pit strategy comes into play due to the fact that it is incredibly difficult to pass cars on the track. Top teams research fuel strategy all season long in hopes of winning at Syracuse. The popular strategy is to pit as early as possible, and try to be the first person off of pit road. The favorites of the race did this when an early caution took place. Some smaller teams, who don't have the funds or ability to research fuel mileage or pit strategy all season long stayed out. Later in the race, when a caution flag came out, those drivers pitted as well. This gave the lead back to the favorites to win the event. Drivers Brett Hearn, Pete Bicknell, Matt Sheppard, and Chad Brachmann continued to set the pace, playing a chess game of trying to outpace the other competitors without using up too much fuel or tires so they can last the entire race. Wayne Jelley, an unknown driver in his 40s was one of the drivers that pitted later in the race. He had no worries about tires or fuel since he pitted some 40 laps after the leaders, so, he was on a mission. He was passing cars on the outside and the inside. He came out of the pits in 31st place, and through some impressive driving, quietly found himself in the top 10 with less than 50 laps remaining. Jelley continued his charge into the top 5 with 25 laps to go. Slowly, the crowd began to notice. Knowing that I'm the crazy obsessed race fan that knows who every driver in the race is, people around me started asking, "who's in the #45?" Wayne Jelley had turned some heads in the race. The guy deserved it, and it was great to see him pick up a top 5 finish. Brett Hearn, who was running third, cut a tire while running third, this held up Brachmann and put Jelley into third place as the yellow flag waved for Hearn's disabled car. Tension built as everyone wondered is the top two drivers would last until the finish. They were unable to run a pace to conserve their tire-wear, as Jelley was now causing them to push the car to the limit. On the restart, with just 7 laps to go, Jelley swept around the outside of Sheppard and into second place and set sail after Bicknell. Bicknell, already a 5-time winner of the race, showed his talents as he began to open up ground over Jelley despite having badly worn tires. With just 4 laps to go, Bicknell's right rear tire gave in, and deflated, giving Wayne Jelley the lead. The crowd went crazy as Jelley cruised around the track for the final four laps and won the biggest race of his career, and became an instant household name.