“It happened about 6, 6:30 in the morning and I was at Lowe’s buying two chainsaws at 7,” Robert “Hutch” Hutchison said. “We had our grand opening the middle of April. The storm hit the middle of May. It wasn’t a very good greeting.”
But Hutchison never missed a heat.
Staff sold tickets out of the back of a pickup the first Friday after high winds swept away ticket booths, and giant pecan trees crashed into bleachers, automobiles and guardrails.
“Three 24-hour days didn’t fix everything,” Hutchison said. “It fixed where we could open.”
Hutchison, age 64, continues to find debris scattered across the raceway grounds. And broken tree limbs too high to reach without a bucket truck dangle from trunks. The long, narrow bleachers that run parallel to the track stop abruptly. One 50-foot section had to be cleared away. Hutchison hasn’t had time to replace it.
Thursday morning, workers replaced toppled light poles in preparation for the biggest weekend of the year, an early July Fourth celebration.
Hutchison wasn’t the only one shook up by the racetrack damage. The previous owner, who lives nearby, rushed down shortly after the storm passed.
“It was my first instinct. I had to go down there,” said Linda Tomastik Spanhel, regarding the first anxious moments after the storm swept through Bell County. “I got across that long bridge and started looking.”
Although Ms. Spanhel no longer owns the drag strip, she carries a sentimental attachment to the flashing lights and roaring engines. Her parents raced at the track when she was a teenager. She met her late husband there, and the couple inherited the track from his parents in 1999. She returns to the races almost every weekend to visit drivers and rekindle friendships forged over decades.
“It was a sad deal when I pulled down after that storm . . . trees everywhere,” said Ms. Spanhel. “It gave me chill bumps and tears in my eyes. I was speechless.”
Ms. Spanhel said she is pulling for Hutchison to succeed. Local folks agree.
They say the racetrack is an integral part of the Little River-Academy community.
“I was going to the racetrack before I was born,” said Rita Harris, now 27. She pointed out her mother went to the tracks when she was pregnant because her husband was a racer.
Ms. Harris now works at the CEFCO convenience store on SH 95 in Little River. She said the store starts jumping when the racers hit town.
Ronnie White, longtime mayor of Little River, remembers the drag strip from his youth. He said the drag strip attracts out-of-town visitors who spend money and stimulate the economy.
In years past, the previous owner hosted fundraisers for area youth. White said he has met new owner Hutchison and they have talked about the racetrack playing a philanthropic role in the community.
“He’s come and talked to me about doing different stuff,” said White. “He’s wanting to get it back to normal.”
For now, Hutchison is taking the days one at a time. Albeit some very long days.
“We’re still repairing damage two months later,” said Hutchison. “Last night I got off early - 1 o’clock.”
