Against the dull green backdrop of perhaps the most giant landfill known to man, 900-horsepower sprint cars screamed around East Bay Raceway Park.
Inside the candy red-and-white striped walls, the 26-car High Limit Racing field lined up for the final “Battle at the Bay” on Tuesday night — the last 410 sprint car race scheduled to be held at the Hillsborough County, Fla., facility.
The one-third-mile clay oval is soon to be swallowed by the landfill after the track closes its doors at season’s end. The final race will be a $50,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event on Oct. 12.
“There had been talk for a number of years that it was maybe closing, but I guess it’s true now that it’s going away,” said crowd member Jimmy Hickman. He lives in Brandon, Fla. — about 20 minutes from the race track.
Hickman has been attending races at East Bay since he was in junior high school, which was around 1977 when the track first opened. Though the scenery was nothing new for the longtime sprint car fan, Tuesday’s event was Hickman’s first High Limit race.
“Great field of cars. Stronger than it even was over at Volusia (Speedway Park) with the World of Outlaws,” Hickman commented.
The Outlaw field was 45 cars strong, whereas High Limit’s car count was up to 58 on Tuesday.
Though he’s supported the World of Outlaws in the past, traveling near and far to watch the Greatest Show on Dirt, Hickman is one of many fans who are excited to see High Limit enter the scene under the leadership of Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson.
“You’ve got the best drivers and they’re able to drive for the biggest purses. I think it’s a win-win for everybody,” Hickman said.
Though the Florida local was positive with his feedback, other stirrings from the crowd were a little more critical of the new national tour and the two men in charge.
One such murmur was, “The two owners of the series, running one-two, it just blows me away.”
At that point in time, Larson and Sweet were lining up alongside each other on the front row of the preliminary feature. Larson went on to win, while Sweet finished fourth.
It’s natural for such skepticism to arise, especially considering it’s still early in High Limit’s existence to truly know how things will pan out.
But for the most part, the newly-formed High Limit team seemed to get things right.
Both nights, the grandstands were teeming with fans who rose to their feet, cheered and waved their hats whenever things got exciting. There was also a collective roar during the first four-wide salute of the season.
A new voice was heard on the loudspeaker — Chase Raudman, who formerly worked as a pit reporter with the World of Outlaws.
Though his delivery of the pre-race chatter wasn’t quite as compelling as Johnny Gibson’s classic Word of Outlaws line — “often imitated, never duplicated” — Raudman proved to be a natural on the microphone.
It was entertaining to have a non-qualifier’s race in between qualifying and the heat races. With a 58-car entry list, the list of drivers in the eight-lap feature was substantial.
There were subtle differences in the fan experience, such as hearing Jacob Allen’s “High Roller” playlist on the loudspeaker throughout the night.
Songs by Machine Gun Kelly, Morgan Wallen and Parker McCollum were among the artists played.
Early on Tuesday night, Larson was pleased with how the season opener was shaping up.
“It’s the first event for the national tour. The first with this new team of people together and that’s what’s been good to see, compared to where we were at last year,” Larson said. “We didn’t have many people helping us last year — we stayed pretty lean to cut costs. Now, we’ve got some better funding and a lot better help.”
Drivers had limited feedback for the series, other than perhaps revisiting the event format.
Zeb Wise wasn’t a fan of the driver lock-in format for the two-day show, while Tuesday’s winner Tyler Courtney kept his comments vague.
“I think there’s a few kinks to work out and a couple things here and there on both team side and the series side, but that’s expected with a new series,” Courtney noted. “Overall, I’d call this a success.”