|
|
Ymada
Speedway
Weekender, Sept. 4,1980
By Kay Mohr
It's Saturday night in Butler County,
and if you think Butler is synonymous with boring, you'd
better guess again.
After farming all week, area residents are
ridin' high on Saturday night ... riding that is, low to the
ground and anywhere between 40 and 50 miles per hour.
Go-kart races have captured the hearts of
young and old in this rural community and this summer marks
the second season of racing that draws crowds of 300 and
more to the "Saturday night fever" of checkered flags and
humming engines.
It all happens at a place called Ymada
Speedway, located on the Leo Adamy farm three miles east of
Bellwood.
Leo and his sons built the track three
years ago, the only one-twelfth of a mile high-bank track in
Nebraska.
"Guess you could say that we did it for
cheap entertainment," says son Carroll Adamy. "With the
price of gas so high, you can run here on a gallon all
night."
The races begin in early spring and end
whenever the weather says it's time to stop.
And it may be cheap entertainment, but it
sure is popular in Butler County.
The Adamys do not charge anything for
admission or to participate. The sporting events drew an
average of about 40 spectators last summer, but that number
has swelled to crowds numbering in the hundreds this season,
all from word-of-mouth promotion.
To accommodate the spectators, the Adamy
family erected bleacher-type seating beside the track, which
attracts drivers from Butler, Colfax and Platte Counties, in
addition to some from as far away as Lincoln, Omaha and
Sioux City.
Carroll Adamy says he has "played around
with go-karts for about five or six years."
"When I got married I had one hanging on
the wall, but my wife didn't notice it until I bought four
brand new ones," he adds with a chuckle. Carroll who
operates a glass and body shop at the family farm also is a
dealer for go-karts.
And Saturday nights in Butler County find
most all of the farmers switching from tractors to
go-karts.
"Just about everyone who races here is a
farmer," says Carroll, noting that just a handful of
participants have other livelihoods.
And the races are purely for the fun of
it, with drivers running for points. There are no cash
prizes and trophies are only given if someone donates
them.
A trophy donator is Bill Frohner, a David
City native, who now resides in Lincoln and manages Urban
Motors.
Frohner has been racing at the track for
"about two months now," which he heard about from friends in
the area.
One of the aspects of the go-kart racing
that both he and Carroll are quick to point out is the fact
that everyone helps each other.
"If you break something, there's always
someone right there to help you put it together again,"
Frohner says, who has raced hobby stocks but never found the
same camaraderie and companionship.
"Everyone who races at the track helps out
there," notes Carroll, adding that one of the things that he
enjoys is seeing the "dads helping the kids ... it really is
a family thing with the father-son projects."
Then he qualifies that statement because
one of the go-kart participants is a girl.
The races now consist of the men's
division and the youngsters, but Frohner would like to see
"powder puff" races for the women.
Other future plans for the track,
according to Carroll, may include expansion and moving it to
a better place.
"Right now we are racing between grain
bins and trees," he says, "and we'd like to get it in a
safer area."
If any changes are made at the track, it's
a sure bet that
|
|
area residents will be right in there pitching to
help.
It may be all for free, but as Carroll
Adamy says "donations are always nice" and it doesn't appear
that Butler County farmers want many Saturday nights in
front of the television set.
The
kids prepare to race, after putting on protective jackets
and helmets, the small engines will roar to
life.
John
Adamy waves checkered flag to signal winner.
|
|
