Right time to feel power of DeSoto Speedway

The sound simply blitzes your eardrums, and that always has been part of the draw of auto racing.

Sheer power, sheer fun.

There is something intoxicating about watching drivers strap themselves into potential death machines and fearlessly tempt fate.

And you can find that kind of entertainment right here at DeSoto Speedway.

I went to the track for the first time Jan. 28, and even during the warm-up session, was greeted with the hum of engines going full out as drivers tried to make last-minute adjustments.

Just the sparks flying out the back of the cars on each turn was a show within itself and the vehicles were pushed so hard in the straightaways they would shake and swerve a bit.

The drivers would push their cars so hard, a few times on this particular night, they would be unable to launch themselves in a corner just right and would crash into the rusty fencing that surrounds the track. The speedway has multiple spots marked in yellow by the grandstands where spectators are advised not to loiter for that very reason.

Most of the accidents are of the minor variety, even if they don't seem to be that way. The drivers at DeSoto are skilled enough to know when something bad is going to happen, and they take appropriate action. It's a quick decision when you consider the cars were completing the 3/8th-mile laps in less than 16 seconds.

The main events on this night carried quite the importance. One such race was the track’s final sportsman race of the 2016 season (which bleeds into the 2017 season).

With a clean run in that race, Brooke Storer, the No. 9 car, had a realistic shot at the sportsman track championship. All she needed to do was finish ahead of Roger Welch, the No. 98 car, and she would take home the spoils.

As the green flag was waved to begin the race, Welch was the leader and the 18-year-old Storer was third. Two laps in, the race came to a screeching halt when Rick Reed’s No. 4 car caught fire — literally. The crew on-hand scrambled to put it out, and did a fantastic job, but the incident caused a significant delay and knocked Reed out of the race.

On the restart, Storer took control of second place, just behind Welch, and bumped him, causing him to slow just enough. She pulled in front of him on lap eight. It was a deft maneuver, one worth the price of admission to the group of fans to my left, who praised Storer’s driving the rest of the 50-lap race. Storer was never seriously challenged by Welch once she passed him, and finished second, good enough to win the overall 2016 championship.

“I’m very excited and cannot thank my crew enough,” Storer said after the race. “It got emotional. We have had a lot go on in the past year, for the whole 2016 season. I think as a family we got stronger and closer. This is unbelievable for the Brooke Storer Motorsports team. I’m just so grateful, I can’t say that enough. I am very lucky to be in the position that I am.”

She is not the only lucky one. With the roar of the engines, and the sparks and the crashes and the fires, the fans were treated to a great night of racing. With the 2017 seasons just beginning, there's plenty of time to check out more.