Honoring heritage and history: City continues Motorsports Week with NASCAR watch party
Jun. 5—The city of Owensboro continued its celebrations for Kentucky Motorsports Week on Sunday with NASCAR Day at The Lot off Fourth Street.
Racing enthusiasts and motorsports fans were welcomed out to enjoy food and games along with a watch party for the 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300 — a 240-lap, 300-mile race part of the NASCAR Cup Series that took place at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois — less than 15 minutes away from St. Louis and a three-hour trip from the heart of Owensboro.
Additional happenings included an autograph signing and meet-and-greet with retired racer and crew chief Jeff Green, an Owensboro native who went on to become the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Champion and the 2003 Daytona 500 pole winner.
Blake Smith, board member for Kentucky Motorsports Week, said the festivities kicked off on Friday with the River City Bike Expo at the Owensboro Convention Center along with some drag racing taking place over at Windy Hollow Dragway.
He said the watch party was a great way to continue the excitement.
"St. Louis is probably one of the closest tracks to us besides Nashville as far as driving distance," Smith said Sunday, "and since St. Louis has a sold-out crowd today, we thought we would bring the opportunity to celebrate the NASCAR heritage to the Owensboro area and bring (everybody) together."
"With all the history of NASCAR drivers from Owensboro and Kentucky in general, we definitely had to include the race in our motorsports week," said Ben Skiadas, one of the coordinators for Kentucky Motorsports Week.
Smith said watching racing was part of his upbringing, which in turn led him to the career path he's on today as the host and racing reporter of "Let's Talk Racing" for 102.7 The Game.
"I grew up a huge Bill Elliott fan (and) my uncle watched NASCAR every Sunday; so I grew up watching it," he said. "As a kid, I remember Bill Elliott (with) the No. 94 McDonald's car and it kind of grew me up into where I am now."
Skiadas said the idea of creating an entire week of scheduled events was built around the annual Nicky Hayden Day and Nicky Hayden Memorial Ride — both in honor of Hayden, an Owensboro native and motorcycle racing superstar, who died at the age of 35 in Italy in 2017 of injuries sustained when he was stuck by car while riding his bicycle.
Skiadas has held fundraisers at his restaurant, Lure Seafood & Grille, the past few years in honor of Hayden and eventually came on board to help with organizing some of the events.
Though Skiadas wouldn't describe himself as a "gearhead," he appreciates the company he is able to be around with this venture.
"I grew up watching NASCAR some as a kid, but I'm definitely not a die-hard by any means," he said, "however, I think getting to hang out with all these guys that live, eat and breathe racing is really fun. It's kind of contagious."
Regarding the race itself, Smith didn't have a clear pick in mind of who he was going to root for. His favorite driver — Chase Elliott — was suspended following a wreck involving him and Denny Hamlin at the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Still, Smith was happy to see people coming out while also getting a chance to see and hear a familiar face and voice during the broadcast.
"There's (not) really anybody involved locally anymore, so it is great to see Owensboro's Michael Waltrip (being) in the booth covering today's event ... (which) will be neat seeing him in the booth calling with his expertise he brings to the sport," Smith said Sunday. "It's going to be great to relax and watch it here among other NASCAR fans."
For more information about Kentucky Motorsports Week, visit kentuckymotorsportsweek.com.
