How To Kill Your Local Short Track

Episode #63 of “Kenny Conversation” is dirt racer and track owner Gordy Gundaker!

#racing #kennywallace #NASCAR #dirtracing

Brought to you by JEGS! Click here: https://jegs.io/KennyWallace & text KENNY to 36727 to save up to $100!

***thumbnail photos courtesy of Charlie Marlow, Gordy Gundaker & Tri-City Speedway

JEGS has been in business since 1960.
Racers selling to racers.
Focusing on American Muscle – but also big product line of automotive tools, garage gear & other performance parts.
JEGS is well established with racers of all kinds, including the NHRA, bracket racing, circle track & more!
Free shipping on orders over $199.
Unrivaled expertise from techs.
Millions of parts for every car person’s needs.
Sign up for their email for exclusive deals!

hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny conversation brought to you by Jags the leader in high performance aftermarket car parts remember to go to jegs.com for everything you need to fix your vehicle up and they’re telling me they have Jeep parts in stock and truck parts well you are looking at a dear friend of mine family friend uh Gordy Gundaker Gord how you doing I’m great Herman I’m glad to be here you know just uh enjoy trying to enjoy the weather we got now you know finally we got some good weather I guess today but uh yeah no I’m doing good just uh staying busy well Gordy’s uh well here first of all here’s my disclaimer uh I use this a lot over the last couple years the disclaimer is this Gordy’s mom and dad are Kevin and Tammy Gundaker and they own Tri City Speedway in Granite City Illinois Kevin Gundaker his dad uh is basically family to the Wallace uh you know the whole Wallace family uh his dad Kevin actually worked on his race car in our shop years ago before he married gord’s Mama Tammy so the Gundaker family is uh very close to the Wallace family and before we get talking about something so controversial uh I needed to make sure that everybody understood that that um Gordy I want to talk about you just for a little bit um you are a smart person you’re a college graduate where did you go to college I went to Quincy University right there in Quincy Illinois um I went up there and played uh college baseball and um got my business marketing degree uh while I was there so uh I think I was focused a little more on the baseball but uh I did do did do good in school you know I enjoyed it and yeah it was a great great University I loved everything about going to Quincy and uh I wouldn’t wouldn’t change it for the world you’re a really good uh baseball player a great catcher uh you and I love our Cardinals uh I watch you on X you know give your two cents about the Cardinals I admire you because you know listen um sometimes it’s so us Old redneck dirt Racers we can get labeled uh as not being very very smart but I just wanted to start to show out and tell everybody you went to college you’re smart you’re a great athlete um you’ve got a lot of friends up in that area yeah I’ve got a ton um you know playing sports growing up you obviously your teammates with a lot of guys and um you know when you go to a university like Quincy um you know we had 50 60 guys on our roster um you know each year so you you know you had guys leaving guys coming back so I would say between that time you know we had between probably 120 guys that I you know had relationships with that were friends and teammates of mine and you know fortunate enough a lot of them I became super close with uh they’re still great friends today you know uh guys that I’ve you know obviously been to their weddings or been in their weddings and uh you know now everybody’s having kids you know I’ve met their kids and see everybody grow up you know so it’s it was uh it’s a really it was a really cool time uh honestly and I just enjoyed playing ball up there you know it was a completely different um relationship I guess you’d say in camaraderie than it is in the racing world because those guys you’re with every day you know you’re in a constant grind of working out and going to practice and and doing those things but you become like brothers with a lot of them and that’s really what happened you know and so they kind of got to see the life I live because they didn’t know what racing was you know so then I got to kind of teach them kind of what I did outside of baseball growing up and you just learn about a lot of different aspects of everybody’s life so it was uh it was a really cool time and and yeah I’ve got a ton of friends I think that’s one thing I don’t lack uh by any means I’ve got you know I’ve probably been in like three or four different walks of life so I got friends in in all different places and from different areas you’re a very good race car driver uh when I think about our time together I think about the time that I believe you you won the the race uh the the hell for summer national race big race at Farmer City maybe on the last couple laps you took the lead from Shannon bab on the inside uh maybe not Shannon but then you also won uh the Herold review 100 uh two times yeah yeah I want it back to back yeah I sure did yeah 18 and 19 yeah so I I hope everybody understands the picture that I’m painting right now uh gord’s super smart he’s a good race car driver uh his Grandpa uh the great Gordon Gundaker uh in the day uh was one of the largest Realtors one of the most successful realtors in the city or in the surrounding areas of St Louis Gundaker Gundaker Realtors then later on Gundaker Better Homes and Gardens uh your grandpa Gordon a smart man yeah you know he kind of paved the way for our entire family um in all honesty you know I’ve got we’ve got a huge family and they’re all located here in St Louis you know I’ve got uh my dad’s got four sisters so you know I have four aunts four uncles we’ve got I think total up now I want to say our family you know between cousins and everything and grandkids is like 38 or 40 somewhere now in in this area and you know Grandpa truly laid the foundation for all of us you know he kind of laid it out there of what hard work looks like you know what you know persevering through tough times and and how to keep grinding through every every day uh you know you see that in him I mean he’s 90 90 years old and he still goes to work uh which is unbelievable you know he just can’t stop and and it’s great because I think you know like I said you don’t see that very much anymore uh but in our family hard work is just something that just comes natural uh because we’ve seen it our entire lives and and uh everything that he has achieved and everything that he has you know um become successful in it’s literally just because of how hard he works and what a smart person he is and he’ll be the first one to tell you that if he doesn’t know what it is he’s not afraid to ask and listen and learn and and keep learning you know even to this day so he does a yeah he’s just a unbelievable man you know just super thankful to have a a grandfather like that okay let’s get right to it now um we’re going to take just a little bit to talk about this uh yesterday you’re look at him right there Gordy Gunder made national news in the dirt racing world so we have baseball World foot ball World NASCAR World dirt racing world so in the dirt racing World Gordy Gundaker made national news yesterday he is smart and he eloquently uh wrote a long letter uh punctuated perfect the dots in the right place the commas no misspelling easy to read and it was long so Gordy 20 years ago uh your mom and dad created rebuilt the Tri City Speedway in Granite City illino it’s a dirt track um they rebuilt it it was a big half mile you all rebuilt it you made it a little bit smaller you upgraded it millions of dollars in new concession stands you know the walls that go around the racetrack so you know millions of dollars spent in upgrading the old Tri City Speedway in Granite City Illinois uh you and your brother Trevor born you’re born into a racing family but yet Gundaker realators so it it’s safe to say y’all are pretty smart you come from a a Heritage of you know land Barons you know knowing how to your your aunt sold one of my properties so tell me Charlie’s going to put this letter up uh the letter is going right now as we talk tell me the whole story and how you got to this letter yesterday well I mean it kind of honestly it started back really a few months ago um you know this year for for us at Tri City has been probably our worst year ever as far as getting races in here we are sitting June 27th and we’ve had two races over at Tri City uh which is just unfathomable really to think about but you know um you know I obviously at the beginning of the year I was looking at promoting my own race had it all scheduled I scheduled this race back in November y y yada and and I had a lot of doubters I felt like from the beginning you know on there just talking about how this was never going to work and we couldn’t do these things blah blah blah and then you know we’ve gotten rained out now like I said I think I don’t even know how many times eight nine every time yeah it’s been it’s been ridiculous it’s been ridiculous um you know and as a when you’re a promoter and racetrack owner you know it’s a business and that’s the way that this all works is that um we’re we’re were there to to put on a show for fans and give play people a place a race but at the end of the day it is still a business you know and and it’s dollars and cents no matter what and um you know during some of these rain outs every time you get on social media it is just a constant bashing about I can’t believe they cancel why would they cancel they don’t care anymore uh they don’t even want to have Races they they should just sell the RAC track get new promoters in here the gun acers are terrible and you know and I’m not one to get on social media and give two shits really at the end of the day about what people have to say because I know there’s so many people out there who just that’s all they do they live a negative lifestyle so it doesn’t bother me and I always tell my mom you know she takes a lot of that more to Heart than I do she she’ll get on there and read every comment um on everything that she posts um and I always tell her just stay off of there because you’re not going to read anything good and um you know after we when I canceled my race you know it was a big two-day deal I took took a lot of backlash about why I cancelled early you know I canceled on Thursday when teams were getting ready to start traveling in from 13 14 hours away and you know I’m staring at 80% chance of rain and I as a racer myself I know better than to you know Drive halfway across the country when it looks like rain and and you know as a promoter in that sense what well you know what kind of person and promoter would I be knowing that I’m staring at rain and if we get it in it’s either going to be half a night or one night and I’m canceling as soon as it rains so you know I I see both sides of the fence where a lot of people don’t and you know then Mom and Dad cancel Thursday night U or Tuesday night I’m sorry for this week for the summer nationals you know we had gone over on Monday and watered the racetrack and till the racetrack back up and did all the things we do to get prepped and we were getting ready to go back over there Tuesday night because it was 98 Degrees I think it was 108 heat in X here Tuesday afternoon hottest day of the year yeah and so we were going to go over there about six o’clock to go over there and water and get the racetrack ready and grade um in preparation for Wednesday and dad was already over there and and he calls me and says hey don’t even bother coming over here it is downpouring um you know which obviously is just not what you want to hear the rain came in early it was supposed to be like a 4-Hour rain and it shocked the whole Community it rained forever yep and so I mean it just downpour I mean I mean it to a torrential downpour and um it rained and rained and rained and and by the end of Tuesday night about 11 o’clock we were actually sitting on the couch watching the summer National Springfield race um you know Sam had text Mom and said hey you know what are what are you thinking here and she said listen I just don’t think it’s possible with the amount of rain we got and what’s coming uh she said I think it’s probably best if we just cancel it now so they put a press release out there at I don’t know 10:30 11 o’clock on on Tuesday night about us cancelling and you know you just get on there of course you get on you see the post you see the comments rack up in a hurry and uh you know the first couple comments I read about um you know on there says you know typical gun acers uh you know they should just sell the place because they don’t care and um you know why would you cancel this early I think the one person said something like uh didn’t even try to get the event in they could have at least waited to try to get the race in well you know so like I said I don’t really normally get on there and care too much but I just have honestly had enough of it th this this struck a nerve so part of Kenny conversation is me asking questions why did this strike a nerve with you because you know you’re you’re kind of you know you’re like me you’re like Nick hoffen we don’t care we’re tough guys screw everybody but why did this get your goat this time you know honestly I just I I’ve just seen my parents kill themselves you know for 20 years over there I’ve watched them day in and day out for 20 years do everything POS possible you know to give to give guys a place to race and fans to go sit in the grand stands without nickeling Diamond them and and overcharging and doing these things and I mean they absolutely kill themselves you know I you know most of the people that have seen my dad lately obviously saw that he got hip surgery you know a lot of people know that he was in a motorcycle wreck you know back in 2002 and and he can’t hardly get around but I I promise you right now that man Works harder than 99.9% of people in the country and will do anything he can to watch that racetrack succeed and and I’ve watched him days on in no sleep and you know I’ve watched mom do the same thing and I watch how distraught they get when they read some of this stuff you know and I try to stay out of the middle of it but honestly I just I’d had enough you know you you read some of this stuff and you watch people just kick your family down over and over again and you finally just you you get enough of it you know you don’t want to deal with it anymore and and sometimes it’s time for a reality check to these people you know I I don’t think um I don’t even know if it’s their fault you know to to that that they don’t understand the negative uh energy they’re pushing towards people on social media you think I I think they’re dumb I’m I’m aggressive with my verbage I think people are dumb uh I don’t think they got proper schooling I I think they’ve always worked for people I’ve always I’ve always you know I I’m controversial because I just say it you know uh you know there’s a there’s a word called ignorant and and the word ignorant sounds horrible but but some smart people use the word they say real nice you’re ignorant I’m like God that’s horrible but ignorant means you don’t have a clue yeah in the smartass World these people are ignorant yeah they’re dumb and uh but they’re piercing uh with their verbage their their spelling is usually off they can’t spell and uh they’re horrible they’re horrible humans yeah well and that’s I think the part that you know you try to stay away from getting on there to arguing with these people or or even giving them their five minutes of fame and and letting them get at you but you know it’s a when it’s a constant every week at something you know and and you’re exactly right uh you know I talked to a friend of mine yesterday and he his exact words that he said he said was these people are uneducated you know they don’t they in exactly your words they’re dumb you know and that’s why even in my post I talked about calling these people idiots because at the end of the day that’s what they are because it’s like um you don’t what you have till it’s gone right these people sit here and Bash you and Bash you and Bash you and then the minute you sell the racetrack or the minute you say hey we’re done we’re closing the doors and we sell it to a concrete plant and it’s no longer a racetrack well now you’re the bad person for selling the racetrack and you didn’t care all along when really it was those people that ran you out so yeah just yeah I I just um I’ve had enough of it you know and these people need to kind of understand that that what they say carries a little bit of weight um it doesn’t make me lose any sleep at night I slept great last night so that didn’t happen you know but at the same time it just you know these uh I wish that they could come put their themselves in our shoes for a week a month a year you know I mean when you sit here and lose races like this over and over again um I just I guess people don’t understand you know this is what my parents do for a living you know this is a business and when the race track doesn’t race we’re not making you know there’s no money being made there you know so um I’ve watched them pour every dollar they’ve ever had into this place right you know we upgraded the racetrack the concession stands uh the pit area the lighting you know I mean I I can’t tell you how much it has been put in there I mean let alone the fact that we bought the bowling alley to put a quarter track on that land to let the younger kids race out there and and um there’s plenty of appreciative people out there though right but it’s not the Pats On The Backs that that you really remember it’s the people that are sour at you constantly right that’s what really gets to you so you know I just wanted to kind of lay it out there for a lot of people uh that don’t get it that just flat out don’t get it um kind of what what their their words kind of carry um and at the end of the day we will still drive on no matter what my mom and dad will never just quit because somebody says something I think if if you know my parents that’s the way they are and that’s they’ve instilled that and me and Trevor and it’s the same thing um we’re never going to quit working but um at the same time you just don’t want to keep hearing it over and over again because there’s too many racetracks being lost uh too many promoters getting out of it because they just don’t want to deal with the anymore just flat out they just don’t uh because every week it’s something else it’s it’s you know you just you can never win with with a lot of these people you know and and like I said 95% of the the racing Community is not that group but that 5% surely tries to ruin it for everybody else so we’re going to get to the the phenomenon of the uh social media uh but before we do that the last thing I want to ask you is uh do you see yourself uh your dad the great Kevin Gundaker dirt Lake model Hall of Famer Kevin Gundaker down there in Florence Kentucky he’s a great racer your dad’s got to be 70 now he’ll be yeah he’ll be 70 next year he’s 69 right now do you see yourself taking over Tri City Speedway or or what do you think you know it’s it’s funny because if you had asked me this last year I would have said no um just flat out and um you know after after last year um you know obviously I had my little girl um and and we kind of moved back home in a sense of not racing The Outlaws and and changed up our schedule a little bit um you know I got to be able to spend some more time with Mom and Dad here at the racetrack and obviously was promoting my own event event and U that was the topic of conversation here probably two or three months ago kind of about what the plans for next year look and and I I pretty much told Mom and Dad I said I I really think I’d want to be a part of this you know and and kind of you know maybe not so much takeover uh but be uh play a big role uh in working together with them you know my mom does a great job upfront running the business taking care of the concession stands all those things so I don’t think I could ever do without her but I do think that um you know I I do think that I would love to to promote you know i’ I’ve been very fortunate to travel to a lot of racetracks across the country and meet a lot of great promoters like the cisis and and Matt curl uh you everybody up there at Eldora and Larry booze and and guys that just do a great job um you know across the board and and to me um I think it’s G to take someone like me in my shoes that’s got a real passion and love for the sport to to make it grow and and continue on a path that we want it to be on and not let it just trickle down um just like I think Kyle and Brad are doing there uh with high limit you know they took two Racers to put it put that together you know and there’s a lot of drama around that was it good was it bad I don’t know but it was packed at Lake oark Speedway last night so they’re not doing anything too bad so um I think I would love to you know and I’ve I’ve had real conversations with mom about it and and you know I think moving forward that’s that’s kind of a plan uh you know is kind of see where it goes and to keep promoting some and um you know Trevor wants to be a part of helping out over there so um I’ve been fortunate as I’ve done this I’ve had some people kind of reach out and say they’re willing to help you know and Aaron dragy who has helped me do the racetrack over there um since April uh has pretty much said he was willing to help me anytime I needed his help and and he’s been over there every day we’re working on the racetrack and I you know can’t be more thankful for a guy like that but you know just you know I I think as I’ve grown a little bit over the last few years I think this is something I’ve I’ve really grown a passion for and and definitely want to uh kind of go for here in the near future okay uh excellent I think we’ve kind of laid the groundw out uh we’ve talked about your education where you come from uh the RAC track uh what I want to move into now is um I talked to what I think is one of the greatest promoters of all time Bob Sergeant uh I told Bob I said Bob uh you’re not a flashy promoter you don’t pay very well but you’re consistent you you saved terot you saved uh Milwaukee Bob Sergeant is known for staing racetracks um but he’s also known for making money and keeping RAC tracks going one thing Bob said uh when I talked to him on Kenny conversation was that social media now this is specific right here social media is killing local short tracks now hold on social media is not killing the race at Elora it’s not killing the World Finals but social media is killing the local Saturday night short track because it becomes like Payton place you know if you’re outside of a restaurant long enough don’t go in there the food’s bad or you know so with that being said we are in a new phenomenon now we are in a new era where I I don’t I don’t believe God had us born this way but the phenomenon of the F good of the the negativity I hate them I’m going to sit home tonight watching on TV and talk about that racetrack it makes them feel so good it’s a it’s a it’s a Euphoria uh so here we are now it’s the way it is we can’t change it but because of what you went through yesterday I thought you know what I just wonder if I ought to put a headline on all my social media you cuss me you’re gone I don’t mind debating I don’t mind being wrong but the way they MF you and your track and talk so degradable to you my question is where are we at in the era of local short track negativity and social media basting bashing for the local short tracks it said an all-time high you know people will be sitting in your grandstands bashing you you know and I think the problem with social media right is that you can hide behind a computer computer screen you can hide behind your what you’re typing out here on on social media and do all those things without having to face what is reality right like if uh like me and you right if we had something to say to somebody we’ll just flat out say it but somebody like that they don’t have to they can get on social media and hide behind a page or whatever they want to do they can make a fake account they can make a fake name they can do literally whatever they want um and the problem with that is at the end of the day is that people read all those things right so if you get on there and just constantly bash somebody on their posts and say what a terrible place this is or they did this or they did that you’re running people off and that’s the reason why in the St Louis area we don’t have local racing anymore right it’s why we don’t have it at Tri City Speedway stop right there okay I wanted to point this out all short tracks are closing it it’s a hor you know listen everybody says elor World Finals all this is all good but nobody nobody debates what we’re going to say right now we’ve lost Lake Hill Speedway Valley Park Missouri we’ve lost St Charles we’ve lost Godfrey we’ve lost Belleville we’ve lost four racetracks in our era your racetrack has gone to uh you know specials only Brownstown is specials only Lincoln Illinois is specials only Jacksonville specials only there’s a few here and there uh I hear that uh now straighten me out and respond right here everybody I hear Mont villier Indiana Gas City I’m hearing all these tracks I see a post yesterday from K Ki Gordy we’re go do do you think local short tracks are all but gone they’re just Bob Sargeant says their nose diving in a hurry oh they are I mean it’s it’s obvious you know it’s a it sucks because that’s really why do your own that’s why why our sport thrives right when our sport was was killing it in the 90s in the 2000s it’s because every night you went on every Friday and Saturday when you went to peely you went to godfre you went to Tri City the grand stands were full right people were dying to get to the racetrack now that is not the case you know and the era of social media has has caused that you know um and I don’t know I don’t know if there’s ever a way to save it right right I wish I wish we could go back maybe 10 years and we could probably save it I don’t think saving it now is is a real possibility um the only way it’s gonna get saved I guess in a sense is that every other racetrack is going to close down you’re gonna have two right right that that could probably be about the only reason that you could get local racing back because you’d have nowhere else to go but by then I think everybody’s gonna be runoff from the sport anyways because you’re you’re running out of promoters who are willing to deal with the constant day-to-day and having to pay out all this stuff when they they’re not getting support from the fans who are in the stands right so um I don’t think it’s the racers I think Racers do and they they moan and and that’s part of what comes with it but the racers still show up you know we might complain one week about how it was rubbered and we burn up all these tires and then we’re still just dumb enough that we go back the next week anyway so it doesn’t really matter right the racers aren’t going anywhere I want to say this uh the fan watching right now is going to say yeah but deserve the ass chewing because of this and because of that I want to explain to all the fans that’s not what we’re talking about what we’re talking about race fans is the racetracks are closing they’re already shut down so you lose on that debate with me and Gordon yeah they’re already shut down so see what I mean yeah I mean you know do you do you see Tri City just specials from now on the will you ever go back to local racing or try it I you know I’m not so sure that I wouldn’t say we wouldn’t try it um because it’s something that I would if there was a way to visit it and make it work that I would absolutely love to because that’s that’s where the racers are right every you know you listen to all the great adages where do Racers come from they come from the street stocks and and the the modified ranks and that’s where they start well when you don’t have local racing to go do that at well where are they going to come from right we’re gonna they’re going to come from asphalt and go-karts and that’s going to be about it and they’re going to run Legends cars and that’s right that’s that’s not what we want right you’re it’s tough to um it’s tough to grow those guys when they don’t have places to race so I’m not saying we won’t ever go back to that um but there’s going to have to be a I guess a test run or a trial and air type deal on how do we get people back in the grand stands on a constant basis and um you know it I think I would love nothing more than to have a Friday night that’s got five classes of four cylinders and Street stocks and sportsman and bods and aods and late mod the good old days right right where you where everybody shows up and and those things and and there’s a whole another topic that we can get into on that side that you know that changes some of that and even comes back to the racers a little bit right of everything now even on The Late Model side has turned into such a a business right and it’s you know you used what used to happen I remember when I was five six seven eight years old and we would race at peev on Saturday night with Dad and at 3 in the morning you would look in the pit area and the pit area was full there was haulers not haulers there wasn’t haulers there was open trailers in a 28 foot enclosed trailers and everybody would park together you know we might be parked down at the end with our rig next to Ed Dixon and a couple other guys and guys would pull their trailers down to park next to us after the night was over to hang out and and guys would be drinking and and bullshitting and carrying on till 34 in the morning you know I don’t know how many times we left that place when the sun was up and those are the days I remember right and and I know the times have changed and things are very different but at the same time that’s when local racing was at its best um how do we get back to that I don’t know there’s there’s got to be some solution um and I would love to get back to it I would think that we can get back to it you know the bodified class is is doing is doing fine you know they’ve got plenty of racers so um but there has to be some kind of um you know give and take at some point to get that back and um I would think that we’ll probably visit that at some point because this rate we’re just going to keep losing racetracks if we don’t bring them back right because those are the racers that keep the racetracks alive um you know without the big races so man I I hope so because I don’t want this sport to go anywhere and I don’t don’t want to see it die out I don’t want to see any more racetracks die out but um you know unfortunately the way that everything is trending that’s going to keep happening until something changes um whether it be on social media or you know whether it be uh with the racetracks and the fans that go to the races so there’s a there’s got to be a common ground we just got to find it all right everybody you heard it let Let’s uh let’s wrap this up the local short tracks are dying soon you won’t be able to go to your local short track we could have six races a year um there’s a small percentage of you out there that have destroyed it through social media um you know beating people down to where they’re like you know it’s not worth it anymore as far as the argument well they got to be strong they got to take the ass cheun it ain’t worth it they can they can go sell homes for that the only reason people own these local short tracks is because For the Love of the sport same as you don’t have to go to the racetrack so it’s a bad time right now everybody respond right here uh explain why all the tracks in America all of them explain why they’re all shutting down and by the way respond right here on what track has shut down it’s in the hundreds now we lost Chattanooga we lost Boyd Speedway down there in Chattanooga all the big ones are shutting down local short track racing is dead and gone it’s official they might run every other week here and there but Gordy listen um thank you so much for being on the show I I appreciate you having me Herman I really do I love you to death and I I was pumped whenever you called and and asked me to do this um you know there’s nothing more that I love than than sitting here and talking with you like we said before we could do this for full on hours uh no issue well my strategy at the end there was to tell you know be very indignant and my strategy just now was everything’s closed everything’s horrible so let’s see how the fans respond now and uh all like I said all your trackss are shutting down and you might have a couple open now so uh that’s a smartass statement right there but it’s true and uh listen everybody we are in podcast form you can listen to Gordy Gundaker on the way to work and you can listen to him on the way back home until the next Kenny conversation we’ll see you next time