Windy Hollow has good opening to season
May 28—Windy Hollow Speedway has already had some Sunday racing this May, and the beginning of this year seems to be picking up on the momentum from the 2020 pandemic year.
"We weren't disappointed last year," said Evelyn "Rooster" Miller, who is back for her second year in her latest stint as the track promoter. "You don't know if you ever have enough, but I'm a promoter. We are seeing growth, people are still building cars. We've got some folks come back that are joining us, and we're working with other local race tracks, so people can build one car and race it at multiple tracks."
Windy Hollow had races May 16 and 23, but will be dark this Sunday because of Memorial Day weekend.
Roaring engines and racing cars will return in a big way on June 6 when the Renegades on Dirt Open Wheel Modifieds come to Windy Hollow.
"It's a traveling series of races every weekend somewhere across Midwest, in West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois," Miller said. "We do have several of our local guys running in this show, and you want to see our local guys do well.
"This is something I never hosted before, it's a huge purse, the biggest single race purse we've ever paid."
On June 20 there will be a $1,000 to win night in five weekly classes. Miller said last year that was a big draw.
There will be a major Monster Truck event in October.
In between, there will be plenty of racing with a lot of chances for family and friends to go to the track.
"We've got a nice midway area by the concession area, we've picnic tables set up, everybody can be social, everybody is back to wanting to talk to each other face to face," Miller said.
Outdoor gathering restrictions have been lessened considerably and will be even more open in June.
There is a Little Scrappers Kids Club that has been popular early this season.
Windy Hollow celebrated its 50th-year anniversary in 2020. Miller returned as the track's promoter and it had a pretty good run despite COVID-19.
The fabled dirt track, located a few miles outside Owensboro, ran four classes in 2020 during a shortened season that went from August to early November.
The shortened campaign was dedicated to Miller's parents, Hal Miller and Deanna Miller, along with the former staff and racers who were deemed the "Legends of Windy Hollow."
Hal Miller built the track and opened it in May 1970, and over the next several decades, the Miller family helped the track rise to prominence. When the latest owners left the track late in 2019, Rooster Miller had a decision to make.
"Last year was our 50th anniversary, and that's why I got back into it," Miller said. "In order for it to stick around another 50 years, it was something I needed to do."
Windy Hollow did a lot of renovation work on grandstands and concession areas at the track during what would have been their open time of year.
"The first several months of the spring and summer last year we were remodeling all the grandstands, the concession stand," Miller said. "The timing of the pandemic for us was a benefit, we weren't ready to open until Governor (Andy) Beshear allowed it anyway."
Miller was pretty pleased with the crowds they had for events last year.
"It went surprisingly well considering it was a pandemic, feel like people were excited to try to get out and do something," Miller said. "We were blessed to be able to have a few events. By the time the remodel at the speedway was ready it was time for the auto racing."
