Race Report: Midvale Speedway – Farm and Dairy Farm

Race Report is a five-part photo essay taken at short tracks in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania that will take place at the Farm and Dairy throughout the summer. Each month we bring you a different theme to ponder from a different track.

For the fifth and final installment, photojournalist Matthew Chasney was rained out of two races in two different states over Labor Day weekend.

I originally intended to shoot the final Race Report of the year at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, West Virginia. I drove down from Cleveland with my buddies Brian and David to shoot the legendary Hillbilly 100 dirt late model race. Unfortunately, nature and the Lucas Oil Dirt Series brass had other plans.

As we were heading south, the decision was made to cancel the race because the track was too muddy from the previous night’s rain. Rain in the middle of a severe drought — imagine that.

I learned the bad news from a gas station attendant about 10 minutes from the track who took one look at my tie-dye 2007 Hillbilly 100 T-shirt and said, “Wow, they’re not racing tonight because it’s raining.” I sent a picture of us pretending to be sad and sent it to my editor Rachel along with the news. There was nothing to do but laugh about it.

I had to hurry and figure out a plan b. On the way down, we passed Midvale Speedway near New Philadelphia, Ohio and they had a full parking lot. I had always wanted to visit this 3/10 mile asphalt track and, as it turned out, this was my night.

I arrived at the track just as compact driver Jakob Keller was loading his car onto the trailer. He was done for the day. Jake led the heat race until a caution brought the pack together on the second to last lap. He lost the race in turn 2 and finished a respectable second. He liked his chances in the B-Main but a bad alternator took him out before he could complete a lap. Racing is unfair.

Keller and his team have had a run of bad luck recently. They wrecked two cars last season and damaged several engines. But this race felt like a real turning point. They had the speed and luck on their side. Until it didn’t. The third-generation racer knows the value of patience and he takes setbacks in stride. When mechanical problems strike calmly and measuredly, Keller says, “You just have to keep going, there’s nothing you can do about it.” For Jake, racing is enough.

We parted ways and I headed down to take photos of the modified feature as dark clouds appeared to the west. On the first lap, two cars collided in turn 4 and a lengthy caution was issued to clean up the oil spilled all over the track. While the cleaners were dealing with it, it started to rain. Most of the fans poured into the parking lot while a few die-hards put on ponchos and waited.

The boys and I discussed our options and played amateur meteorologists while watching the jet dryer do a few hot laps. In fact, I saw more laps from that machine than I have from any race car. It started to rain and we decided to head home. I had been there for an hour, and I had photographed exactly two green flag laps. Racing resumed in the morning — a credit to the Midvale crew.

Anyway, I still had to turn in a race report. As Sturgill Simpson said, “That’s the way it is, life isn’t fair and the world is cruel.” Or, in the words of Jake Keller, “If it’s meant to be, it will be.” I had a deadline, so it was time to make it happen.

You can’t fight the weather (or a bad alternator). There are plenty of things that can get you down in this world, but a drive through West Virginia with friends, a late summer downpour, and an hour at the racetrack aren’t on the list. It’s a good reminder that the universe doesn’t work the way we want it to, but it’s up to us to make it work the way we want it to. After all, where would the joy be in life if all you expected was wins and sunny days?

I hope you enjoyed this Race Report as much as I did. See you next spring.