Part 3
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Despite the setback, the 61-year-old says quitting is not an option, even in the face of what many are already suggesting could be a round-two of significant flooding as additional, tightly-packed snow melts off into the river upstream.
“I never say never. Giving up is not in my vocabulary. I don’t want to cry like everyone else. The bottom line is we do a lot of good things, and if it [the track] goes away, they’ll never build another one. If we can keep the racetrack, life will be good. I’d like to see kids be able to get started in this stuff, get them off the street.”
Finch says the racing surfaces, his chief concern as it soaked under 16-feet of river water, appear to have weathered the ordeal better than expected from initial surveys. Many of the structures that weren’t washed away entirely — including the concessions and concession equipment— are complete write-offs. Nevertheless, he says there has been an outpouring of support from locals who have already mobilized to assist, both physically and financially — to get the track back up on it feet once the waters fully recede.
“I was really expecting the worst. We have no major blowouts in the track surfaces that we’ve been able to see in the drone footage. We’ll be surveying the track today. We think we can save the timing tower, and some of the timing equipment was up high enough that it should be okay, The sensors down low, all the brand new wiring, should dry up and we’ll just clean the connections and it will be okay. In hindsight, I should have gotten a bunch of people together and just driven all of the equipment out of there and parked it on I-29. I probably would have been arrested, and that’s fine, because it would have saved me as much as half a million dollars.
“But we’ve had a great response from people who are ready to pitch in. And we might set up an account at the bank for people that want to donate to help us make repairs.”
Finch adds in closing, “I came up from nothing and worked hard for everything I have, and with the stroke of a pen, somebody with no brains caused hate and discontent. I want to be the poster-child for changes in the laws so this doesn’t happen again. This is my life’s work, and insurance only covers a penance of it. I just have to pick up the pieces and make the best of it.”
Photos credit: 1320Video