Kodiak has less than a hundred miles of roads, less than half of that paved. But the island is home to one of the most remote stock car racetracks in the country. The scene in Kodiak is more ‘grassroots’ than elsewhere. But racers said that makes the community all the stronger.
Kodiak’s quarter mile dirt racetrack doesn’t have many bells and whistles. The press box, where the announcer sits, is made out of an old boat wheelhouse. And three sets of stands are wooden with the paint peeling off.
But on a sunny Saturday in early July, the bleachers were packed with fans snacking on hot dogs and hamburgers, ready for a day at the races. Race days at the Kodiak Island Racing Association include competitions for motocross, ATVs, and more. But the biggest, and loudest, event is the stock cars.
“We’ve had a few late nights, midnights, working on the cars," said Sarah Rohrer, who has been racing stock cars here for ten years. "The finale is right now. All the work’s been done, we’re gonna go have fun.”
Kodiak has what’s called hobby stock car racing–known as a good entry point because of its relatively low cost. Hobbyists strip cheap vintage cars of everything except the essentials, refit them with necessary speed and safety features like new engines and roll cages, and redecorate the outside.
“You know, it’s like the 40 foot rule," said racer Josh Good, standing in front of his gray and red car. "It looks really good from 40 feet, but the closer you get, the more you see.”
Of Alaska’s five racetracks, Kodiak’s is the smallest and most remote, being the only one off the road system. It’s located in the island’s fairgrounds, where horses graze in pastures and bears catch salmon across the road.
Many tracks, like the Alaska Raceway Park in Palmer, are affiliated with organizations like NASCAR and the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA). But smaller racetracks like Kodiak’s make their own rules. At this level, there’s not much prize money. So for people like Good, it’s a passion project.
“I was a teacher for a long time, and I’d always ask the kids on the first day of school what they wanted to be when they grew up," he said. "My mentor teacher was like, ‘You need to have an answer for that.’ So my answer was always, ‘I want to be a race car driver.’ And now here I am, driving stock cars every other weekend.”
There were seven cars racing this time around, each of them supported by volunteer pit crews made up of friends and family. Rohrer said it’s the most they’ve had since she can remember. But it wasn’t always that way.
Wayne Hartford used to race stock cars in Kodiak back in the early 2000s, before moving to Anchor Point. He said interest in the sport nearly died out in the early 2010s, before a volunteer named Craig Dehart decided to help fix it.
“It was probably in 2013 or 14, it was really slow down there," Hartford said. "And he got together with some of the other companies in town and that, and did a lot of work on the track, and that’s when it built back up again.”
Getting vehicles and equipment to the island is a challenge. Parts might take weeks to arrive, and Good said repairs often get done last minute.
“You show up and it’s, ‘Oh, did you get it fixed? Did you get a test drive?’ No, I didn’t get a test drive," he said. "I fixed it late last night, or I was filling the oil this morning, or whatever.”
Because of the difficulties, keeping the sport alive on Kodiak takes a village. Dehart purchased and ferried in several cars from mainland Alaska to sell on to prospective drivers.
“All it takes is one ride in the car and they’re sold," Dehart said. Other racers sell cars before they move so future racers don’t have to bring in new ones.
Good said that because the community is so small, even the most competitive of drivers are always there to lend a hand. Good has only been driving for a few years, so he said he needed the advice.
“Everyone was really welcoming," he said. "We had questions, and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, this is what the last guy did,’ or ‘Maybe we have a spare part,' if it’s something odd or big or heavy that really won't ship.”
During the breaks between heats, drivers and their pit crews took stock of any damage and make repairs. One driver’s car didn’t finish the race, and a pit crew and other racers came to help him fix it.
In the end though, he had to bow out after the second heat. Rohrer said that’s par for the course.
“You can put in the time, and of course it’s a lot of money. And sometimes it just doesn’t pan out, which is devastating," she said. "But then when it does work, it’s all worth it.”
The final heat, with only four racers left, ended in chaos. A car lost a tire, another spun out, Rohrer had to get towed off the track, and Good won by default.
But the drivers didn't seem to mind.
"It's not tough to talk me into taking a couple laps," Good said. "It's just as fun as you think it would be.”
