Where today there is snow-covered dirt in Converse County, Tom Reed plans to have organized dirt in May in the form of a quarter-mile dirt oval race track.

The Casper man, who for five years ran the city-owned Casper Speedway, has begun work developing private land just north of Highway 20-26, one mile west of Glenrock.

"We'll have motocross, go carts, mud bogs, tough trucks, whatever the demand is for," Reed said this week.

Thursday, Reed meets with Town of Glenrock and Glenrock Chamber of Commerce officials to present his plan.

"They are very supportive," he said.

Reed plans to run a "very family-oriented" operation and expects to begin next spring, perhaps as early as May.

"You can have more fun for a lot less money with cars on a short track," he explained. "I'm working with people to get cars fully equipped with roll cages donated for kids who want to do something and don't have the money for their own car."

Reed's Big Muddy Raceway Park will feature a competitive schedule with some marked differences from Casper Speedway's stock and other racing cars.

"By doing it on a short track, the driver and the setup man are more important than the motor," he said. "Our straightaways will only be 200 feet long."

One of Reed's dreams is to involve teen drivers who work on a car in their high school vocational ed classes.

"I can see a team from Natrona and Kelly Walsh and Glenrock competing in cars they've done at school," he said.

A therapeutic foster parent, Reed has seen the good that comes from getting kids involved in a hobby that turns their lives around.

"This is for girls as much as boys," he said. "One of my daughters started racing when she was real young, another races motorcycles."

Asked what he needs from the community at this point, Reed said, "I need some organizations to come up and say, 'We're interested in doing this particular thing at your track.'"

Reed said right now, all of the money spent on the raceway development has been "out of pocket," but added he's currently working on funding proposals.

In August 2001, the city of Casper ordered the Casper Speedway closed and rescinded its lease agreement with Reed after the facility's insurance carrier, North American Racing Insurance, said Reed's insurance payments were not up-to-date and it would not honor any further claims until the problem was rectified.

Reed said this week that he is going to have "one of the major motor sports insurance carriers" at Big Muddy Raceway Park.

For more information, call Reed at 472-5268.

Casper Inside editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0532 or sallyann.shurmur@casperstartribune.net.