C.A.R.B. Clyde Ellis Race-On Car Show highlights the Snake Saturday Parade in North Kansas City

The Central Auto Racing Boosters (C.A.R.B.) Clyde Ellis Race-On Car Show has been a tradition during the Snake Saturday Parade in North Kansas City for a long as I can remember.  This event is often cold, miserable, riddled with rain and sleet, and oftentimes snow.  But somehow, they avoided all that this weekend.  The weather couldn’t have been nicer for this event , and there were some interesting things to look at both in the car show and in the parade.

Missouri's Larry Phillips nominated for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame

When you think of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, names like Petty, Earnhardt, and Pearson come to mind. Well, there is one driver who competed locally that regularly makes the list for people in-the-know, and you may have never even heard his name.

Preserving Kansas City's rich racing history with the CARB Hall of Fame Swap Meet and Auction

You never hear about it on the news, and the people at your office aren’t aware of it, but there is a very strong auto racing underworld here in Kansas City. The fact is, there are people that live and die by local, short track racing, and there have been for the better part of the last century.

Of course, that means there is a rich racing history here too. And for some people, preserving that history is a privilege and a duty. It would be a shame to wake up one day and have no recollection of the people, the cars, and the tracks that played such an important part in so many peoples’ lives. It would also be unfortunate if no one realized the role Kansas City played in the careers of some of the greatest racing personalities in the history of the sport.

Kansas City racing bonanza; Sprint Cup, Nationwide, ARCA at Kansas Speedway, Late Models at Lakeside

For car folks, this is a depressing time of year in Kansas City.  Yes, there are some really cool season-ending events, but it also reminds you that soon there will be nothing left until next spring.  And there is no better example of that than the huge racing weekend that just came to an end in Kansas City, Kan., which was punctuated by the Hollywood Casino 400 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  Let’s review some of the action that took place in Wyandotte County.

If you click on the headlines, they’ll take you to the complete race results.

Lakeside Speedway. Go there.

Lakeside Speedway has a rich history in Kansas City, but when I reported from there at the beginning of last season, it looked like that history was going to come to an end.  Well, I went out there Friday night, and I am happy to tell you that Lakeside is back and better than ever, and it is definitely a place that you want to check out this summer.

Opened at the Leavenworth Road location in 1955, Lakeside hosted some of the biggest names in the early days of racing. Right up until it closed, Lakeside was the most popular dirt track in the area, drawing a rabid following of fans and cars.

Lakeside Speedway prepares for flooding. Hopefully this report doesn't cover the last night of racing

Everybody is talking about how the Missouri river is about to come out of its banks and flood everything in its path, but there is a significant potential casualty that isn't getting much attention.

Lakeside Speedway is a Kansas City institution. And next week, that institution will be silent. Kansas City, Kan., emergency management officials told the owner of the track to prepare for the worst, so the upcoming races have been cancelled to give the track a chance to move their equipment to higher ground.

Lakeside Speedway 2011 Season Opener may have saved lives

For race fans in Kansas City, Budweiser Opening Night at Lakeside Speedway is the only thing that helps them survive the winter. Many of these people wouldn’t make it one more week. And yet, the cold, rainy weather nearly resulted in tragedy, as opening night was postponed from its usual Friday night time slot.

Luckily, they only had to hold out a couple more days, because Sunday was nice and sunny, and track owner Marc Olson opted to run this event then.

More than 100 photos from the legendary I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo. The most awesome race track I've ever been to

I've been in the picture scanning mode lately, and I decided to go all-out and share my photo collection from what is easily the most interesting job I had, working in the front office of I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo.

I-70 was a Kansas City racing institution. Opened in 1969 by salvage yard owner Bill Roberts, the track proved to be one of the fastest, toughest, most significant venues in the Midwest. For its time, I-70 Speedway was state-of-the-art, with modern concession stands and restrooms, individual boat-type seats in the grandstands, and a VIP suite/media center. Short tracks didn't get much better than this.

Unprofessional, regular, family-style coverage of the racing at Kansas Speedway

In case you didn't know, Greg Biffle won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway. But Biffle wasn't the only winner in Kansas City, Kan.

Beautiful weather meant that everyone who went to the races was a winner, too. And my family and I were among the hordes of fans that spent some time watching the sensible consumption of high-octane fuel this weekend.

Overall, we had an incredible busy weekend, so getting to Kansas Speedway wasn't really in the cards. But as luck would have it, BHo's school was closed on Friday, so we were able to take in a day of practice and qualifying at Kansas City's racing showplace.