By Steve Pados, Accord Media
While the construction crews work continuously on the "new look" Accord Speedway, the speedway will remain dark this coming weekend. Accord Speedway Promoter Gary Palmer reluctantly made the decision to throw in the towel to try to run any kind of practice on his refurbished speedway and will now point towards opening night April 18th when the Terra Nova 4 Seasons Pizza sponsors the Scott Harvey Memorial Night, an event that will have all six of the speedway's divisions competing for the first time on the totally redone raceway. Palmer cited numerous projects at the track remain to have the finishing touches put on them before he would be comfortable in opening up the track for practice and decided to wait an additional week in hopes all of the projects can be completed before the first green flag falls.
Palmer, who will be opening the Accord gates for the eighth year under his regime, feels the extra week will be beneficial to everyone involved with the speedway. At last count many of the weekly regulars had not yet put the finishing touches to their racing equipment, and the extra week should be a blessing for those still waiting to button down their race-cars and have them ready for action when the season opens on April 18th. The optimistic Palmer is hoping for some much needed cooperation from Mother Nature this coming week to will allow for the track to be rarin' to go for the lid-lifter.
Three of the speedway's racing stars, Andy Bachetti, Jerry Higbie, and Scott Ferrier, along with Media Man Steve Pados, took part in a taped interview session yesterday with Local Cable Channel 6 TV Host Lindsay Liquori to discuss the many improvements made at the Accord Speedway over the winter months and the much anticipated racing season that looms ahead. The taped show will air on Monday Night, April 14th at 6 PM and will be re-broadcast on Wednesday Night, April 16th at 6 PM as well. The drivers reacted favorably to the many changes being made at the speedway as being all of the proper moves in the right direction and praised the energetic Palmer for having the courage and wisdom to take on such a vast project but never forgetting about the drivers who race at his racetrack during the season. As good as the racing was in 2007, the drivers feel the racing will be even more exciting in 2008, citing the wider track (70 feet wide all of the way around) and the increased number of talented racers all vying for the added incentive of racing for the $2,000.00 to win Palmer has put in place for the new season.
A tremendous field of cars is expected in for the opening night of racing, a night dedicated to longtime speedway Announcer Scott Harvey who passed away from a long battle with cancer just after the 2007 racing season got underway last year. Harvey was the Announcer at Accord since 1992 and proved to be the instrumental person to have Promoter Gary Palmer take a look at the speedway when then Promoter Dave Flach wished to step down. Harvey called his last race at Accord at the King of the Catskills event in 2006. Harvey, in addition to calling the races at Accord, was the longtime voice for the WKA Karts in the Northeast and announced at most tracks within the region. Expected in for the opening night show include the likes of Jerry Higbie, Andy Bachetti, Rich and Mike Ricci, Richie Eurich, "The Cyclone" Jamie Yannone, Danny Tyler, Rick Mill, Scott Ferrier, and "Jumpin" John McGill. With the 17-year old Tyler moving up to the Modified Division, the door opens up for all of the hopefuls in the challenging Sportsman ranks. All of the divisions at the speedway will be well represented when the curtain rises on the new season at the "Gem in the Catskills".
Plans call for the pit gates of the speedway to open on April 18th at 4:30. Spectator gates will open at 5 PM. Hot Laps are set to begin at 6:30 and the racing will kick-off at 7 PM. A standing room only crowd is expected for the opening night races so fans are encouraged to come early.
Promoter Gary Palmer and his family have put a lot of hard work and effort into making Accord Speedway one of racing's highlighted success stories since the speedway has been under their direction. The improvements at the speedway continue and the racing just gets better and better and the Midweek Madness shows have seemingly become the farm system to nurture the future stars in racing we will be hearing about for years to come. Let the great work continue as the excitement is already building for a 2008 racing season that will blow the lid off of everything that has been done in the past.
The Palmer Family would like to thank all of the sponsors, competitors, fans and staff for making the 2007 racing season at Accord the best season to date since they took over the reigns at the facility seven years ago. The Palmer family looks forward to the 2008 racing season and encourage everyone to visit the newly constructed website often for continued updates and information on the great racing and at the "Gem in the Catskills"
Regular Show admission remains the same at $12.00 for Adults (12yrs+) Kids $3.00 (11yrs and under)
Pit Gates open at 4:30 and Spectator Gates open at 5 PM. Hot-Laps are at 6:30 and Racing begins at 7 PM.
For further updates and information regarding the great racing at the Accord Speedway, logon to the their newly constructed website at: http://www.accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478. The website will be offering Videos on Demand.
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