EACH SATURDAY AT MISSOURI INTERNATIONAL RACEPARK, THEY'RE RACING TO THE LIMIT

BENTON -- Dan Little of Chaffee and David Dabbs of Cape Girardeau, street stock racers, surveyed their competition in the pits at the Missouri International Racepark July 4.

Their early assessment showed competition would probably be tough. Undaunted, the young racers began making adjustments to their engines preparing to race.

"We do this mostly for the fun," said Little. "It's a way to let loose on the weekends."

Dabbs said, "It's kind of an ego trip to race, and there are no tickets out here."

The new three-eighths-mile clay oval track, situated just off Highway 77 about two miles east of the Interstate 55/Benton interchange, is entering its third month of operation.

Races are scheduled every Saturday night through the first part of October, depending on the weather.

Regular admission price is $9 for adults and $4 for children, ages 6-12. Children 5 and under are admitted free. Race time is 7 p.m.

Little and Dabbs, like most of the local drivers racing at the new race track, compete there every weekend.

Most of the racers are part-timers who race on the weekends and work other jobs during the week.

Little said that since the new race track opened, the sport has grown by leaps locally.

"Before it opened, there were probably four or five local drivers. Now there are probably 45 local drivers."

Keith Simpson of Missouri International Racepark said response has been tremendous since the first races May 11.

"We are just thrilled with the response," he said. "We've had cars in from six different states Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. We have racers here from at least five states every weekend."

Simpson said the races have drawn good crowds of spectators as well.

"We have been packed to capacity three times since we've opened and we've been near capacity most of the time," he said. Missouri International Racepark seats 4,700 people.

Simpson said he knows why stock car racing draws crowds.

"It's really exciting. We've talked with people who have come to their very first races here. They're back. They get hooked on it," he said. "It's a very fast track and it is very exciting."

Cars, racing as fast as 100 miles an hour, run in four classes. Heat runs determine positions for the feature race in each event.

The classes are:

Street Stock: Drivers can make some safety modification, but the engine has to be stock.

Modified Stock: Drivers can make engine modifications but chassis must retain the same appearance.

Late Model: Complete body and chassis modifications permitted. This class is sanctioned by the United Mid-Western Promoters (UMP).

Sprint Cars: Small racers with any type of modification. Easily identifiable because of the wing on top of the car.

The oval track is only the first phase of construction at the Missouri International Racepark complex, Simpson said.

The second phase of the complex will include a one-eighth mile, straight-a-way strip.

Plans for the drag strip call for `Christmas Tree' starting lights, which conforms to American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) rules.

Simpson said construction of the drag strip is slated to begin later this month. "We hope to have it open by the end of the summer," he said.

Stock car racing has been missing in the immediate area for the past two decades. During the mid- to late-1960s, racers and fans from five states converged on Arena Park in Cape Girardeau for weekly races during the summer season.

Charlie Todd of Jackson drove race cars regularly in the 1960s and 1970s. He got back into racing just a few weeks ago.

"I just agreed to help a guy out and drive this car after he got hurt," Todd said. The driver was a little distracted because he felt the modified Camaro wasn't handling properly in the turns and he couldn't determine what the problem was.

Todd's son, Mark Todd, also of Jackson, explained his father's concern. "Each tenth of a second in racing counts. In a 10-lap race, a tenth of a second on each lap is a full second. That doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot in racing."

Mark Todd said a slight adjustment to the car could make up that one-tenth of a second difference.

The new race track, Mark Todd said, has been good for local racing. "Actually, I was real surprised to see all the people down here. It seems that some people like the speed, other people like the crashes."

Todd said danger is part of racing. "It's a full contact sport," he said.

The drivers wave off concerns about crashes, but take precautions to make sure their vehicles are as safe as possible.

Terry Baker of Scott City drives a late-model car. "The reason I do it is for pure enjoyment," he said. "I'm not aspiring to be anybody, but I want to do good." But Baker said racing is "real hard to pay for."

His late-model racer is about a $30,000 investment. "I think we are all looking for sponsors."

Some local businesses have already offered financial support to the drivers. Sponsor names are painted on the race cars.

Baker said, the new facility, which he described as the best between Memphis and St. Louis, has drawn a lot of people into the sport.

"We've never had any place to race before," Baker said. "We had to drive two hours in either direction to race."

Baker quit racing, sold out completely, in 1987. "But racing is like a disease," he said. "I started back again when this race track opened. It's just 15 minutes from my shop."

He's racing every weekend again.

"If we can just make the feature we're happy," Baker said. "When you race, it's an adrenaline pump. If you do win, that's just a bonus."