Berkeley Springs, WV @ Potomac Airport – It’s election season, that time when a lot of people try to tell us everything that’s wrong with our country and how they’ll fix it. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong, it’s better to look at what’s right in America, and there’s no better place to see a lot of the good than when street racing is going on at Potomac Airpark. It was a picture-perfect day for racing, with the leaves just beginning to turn colors and crops literally being harvested as I drove up the lane to park. I’m going to start this off with what no one can argue is the one of the best examples of good there can possibly be. One of the first things you’ll see after you get out of your vehicle and start walking towards the track is a tent where you’ll find a wonderful lady by the name of Geri Lee selling merch and presiding over the Leechel Reynolds Charitable Fund. Only in the car/racing culture can you find such a great charity and a lot of people who support it. 50/50 raffle tickets were pulled on this day worth thousands of dollars, with a number of the winners just giving the winnings right back. You might ask why they’d so easily give up their winnings, but this is just a sign of how generous car people are and how worthy this foundation is of being supported. Proceeds go towards such things toward food, clothes, and even haircuts, for unfortunate folks in need of those items. That alone, is worth showing up to these races, just so you can help support this worthy cause.

Next up, you’ll see the kids in the Power Wheels classes. These kids were on top of their game and full of energy. One youngster wasn’t ready to give up the wheel until his dad could catch him and hit the kill switch on the car. It was soon apparent why dad mounted the switch up on the windshield because you couldn’t give this kid racer too big a head start or dad would never catch him (at least not till the battery ran down)! This was a Trick or Treat event, but I think these kids were more about the racing than they were the candy. Of course, none of them would argue about getting to have both. This is an amazing way for kids to safely get into racing on the ground floor and is one of the best things to watch there is. Unlike most other sports that have kids competing at these age groups, here the kids learn what it is to lose and also learn the benefit of hard work if they want to build a faster car.

The driver’s meetings at these events are really something to behold. The laid-back atmosphere that surrounds everything here extends to the racing. Everyone wants to race. Everyone wants to win. Everyone works together to make sure it’s possible for everyone. And not to be overlooked, everyone in the track crew works hard so everyone has a good time. And when all the dust settles, a talented, young lady sang the National Anthem in the midst of it all. The air was thicker with patriotism in that moment than it ever was in the fumes of racing fuel to follow later.

The track itself had a minor wardrobe malfunction. One of the barriers started leaking water onto the starting area. It was impressive to see the all-hands-on-deck approach to taking care of the situation. Professional NHRA tracks should take notes on having such passionate staff working hard to keep the down time to a minimum. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the situation was taken care of and racing quickly resumed … only to be struck again when a car broke on the very first pass after the cleanup, leaving a more challenging trail of gear oil to be dealt with. Without a thought the staff jumped right back into action and took care of the gear oil spill as quickly as it can be done. I often hear grumbling at other tracks when this kind of thing happens, but from my view point, all fans and racers took it in stride and understood the staff did the best cleanup job possible.

Just can’t talk about racing here without mentioning the stellar work of flag girl, Mag Gates. This impressive young lady takes control of the starting line and lets everyone know just who is in charge. And if there’s a chance, she’ll run from the starting line and hop into her own race truck (that used to be her dad’s) and make some impressive runs down the track. Not just another pretty face, she maintains and works on the truck herself!

The style of racing here is what draws the fans in. Wild cars that are built with good old American-style ingenuity. They range from show quality to David Freiburger’s catch phrase of “Don’t get it right, get it running!” Whatever pulls up to the line, you know there’s a lot of power under the hood! Most runs were incredibly smooth, although one racer did an unintended reach for the sky, on the rear bumper, wheelstand, another got out of shape and went for a better view of the aircraft hangar, and another seemed to forget he was drag racing and did a drifting donut before leaving the track. When it was all said and done, Keith Hummer ended up winning the 7.0 class and Timmy Figgatt won the 8.0 class. Winning here isn’t the easiest thing to do with the level of competition that shows up. And the funny thing about that is the runners-up had about as big a smile on their faces as the winners did. The season’s done for this year, but make sure to keep an eye out for next year’s schedule so you can visit Potomac Airpark and witness a real slice of what America’s all about.

DF Motorsports Magazine is a Summit Racing Equipment affiliate. Please use the links below to place your Summit order and support this site! Thank you for your support!