May 30, 2004

On May 29, 2004 ten seasoned competitors traveled to Didly’s Raceway in Arnold, MO (St. Louis area) for the first running of the Indidlyanapolis 500 on the new 1 scale mile D-Oval. Some of the competitor’s were local regulars while others traveled from other parts of Missouri and Illinois.

Didly’s Raceway had moved earlier in the year. The new space is larger and presently features two road racing courses as well as the new, larger, D-Oval that has a scale ¼ mile drag strip in the infield. There is a fourth racetrack under construction as well.

The one-mile D-Oval is an 8-lane plastic track. Qualifying runs determined the starting grid positions with the fastest qualifier having their choice of starting lane. The race began promptly at 2:00 PM. Each racer ran one 5-minute rotation in each of the 8 lanes for a total of 40 minutes of high adrenalin racing action.

Car requirements for this race specified a Super G+ car with any Indy car style body. Any wheels and tires were allowed and either stock or “gray” SG+ traction magnets were race legal. Gear ratios were at the drivers choosing but stock SG+ armatures and motor magnets were required.

The race was run over the course of two hours counting time for lane rotations and yellows. When the dust had settled and the racers celebrated with prizes and pizza Will C. took the checkered flag with a total of 575 laps and an average lap time of 4.173 Seconds. Several positions were hotly contested with just a few laps making the difference. You have to be fast but consistency and staying on the course wins races.

The results for all positions looked like this:

Position     Driver    Laps      Average Time

1.        Will C.   575 Laps 4.173 Seconds

2.        Peter A.   563 Laps 4.262 Seconds

3.        Big Mike 552 Laps 4.347 Seconds

4.        Aaron      526 Laps 4.562 Seconds

5.        Tim Mc.  485 Laps

6.        Ed B.      480 Laps

7.        Don G.   471 Laps

8.        Jeff K.   444 Laps

9.        Rick F.   441 Laps

10.       Greg W.   36 Laps (DNF)

Didly promises that this is to remain an annual event on the new track. There will also be several major stock car races yet this year. Perhaps with a little persuasion we might also see a Formula 1 race on one of Didly’s superb road courses?

For further information watch the web site or contact Didly’s directly:

Didly's Raceway
5496 Baumgartner Rd.
Arnold, MO 63129

(314) 845-0705

Web Site: http://www.didlys.com

Email: racing@didlys.com