Drawing a Crowd: Owensboro Racing Expo & Auction created to assist racing community
Jan. 29—Car and racing enthusiasts gathered in Calhoun on Saturday for the annual Owensboro Racing Expo & Auction presented by Windy Hollow Speedway.
The event, which began Friday, drew a large crowd of people from surrounding counties.
Jeremy Canada, owner of JC's Race Parts in Akron, Ohio, said his company has a history with the event.
"We were here last year, and before that we were here three to four years when other people had hosted it," he said. "There are a lot of people that come to see us every year when we come back."
Canada's company was selling a wide variety of new circle track parts during the event.
Josh Vanover, founder and promoter of the event, runs Windy Hollow Speedway.
"We took the racetrack over, so this is our second year of running the expo and the auction," he said.
The Owensboro racing community hadn't had an auction for two or three years prior to last year, and Vanover said when he took over the racetrack, he wanted to do something for the racers.
"I decided to put together another auction so people didn't have to travel so far to get parts," he said.
This year's event was in McLean County, and Vanover said that had to do with where space was available.
"It's so hard to find a building in Owensboro ,and when you do find one big enough, it's so expensive, and we wouldn't make any money if we did use one of those buildings," he said.
Vanover said this year's event has been more successful than last year's.
"There are more people in and out this year," he said.
The items sold during the auction came from different distributors and racers in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana.
"The money from the auction this year will be used to buy new dirt for the racetrack," Vanover said.
Vanover said his favorite part about the event is being able to see all of the people.
"Seeing all the racers and people who love what I love and trying to help out the racers in the community to keep racing alive in the area," he said.
Owensboro resident Patrick Payne said he has attended the auction and expo just about every year it has been held.
"The race car items is what keeps me coming back," he said.
Payne said he and his son both enjoy race cars. He said he has been involved in racing for six years, and his son has been participating for four years.
