The Rum Bum Racers Hit Small Town USA
There’s a WalMart in Ennis, a small town about eight miles east of Waxahachie near Dallas, TX. That’s where Rum Bum racer Shawn Gann and his crew found themselves Thursday evening for some grub before the next big race Friday. Gann dined on a grilled shrimp salad from a nearby Chile’s and later returned to town to grab some orange (well, any flavor but red) Gatorade G2 from the superstore before heading two miles back to the Texas Motorplex for the night. “Town," of course, means the random collection of storefronts – including Hunan House Chinese, Wigs (“where they have wigs,” Gann observed), Ennis TV Repair, Beer Warehouse, Curves, and the remains of what once was a Sonic – surrounding the WalMart.
The motorplex, site of this year’s O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals, isn’t Gann’s favorite spot of the series. Though the speedway could use a facelift after it’s 20+-year run, he’s still looking forward to making the most of its all-concrete track. As the first track to lay an all-concrete quarter mile, Texas Motorplex prides themselves on significantly quicker race times due to “optimum traction;” however, Gann’s already beat their track record this season back in Atlanta.
"I’m ready to splatter somebody,” said the biker on the way to his G2 fuel pickup destination. Especially after Gann sailed through to the semifinals last weekend and moved up three spots to 6th place, his confidence and anticipation is building almost as exponentially as WalMarts are replacing small town Americana. “I’ve got a lot of power and ability,” he said, adding that though the motorplex is a little ragged, the track will suit him just fine to smoke the competition.
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