“It’s where it all started for me,” Monroe said. “It’s going to be nice to go back. It’s been awhile since I’ve been there.”
Shady Bowl was purchased on June 3 by Linda Young and the Mahaffey family. They’ll reopen the track on Sunday. Racing begins at 3 p.m.
Monroe, 57, recently retired as flagman from the NASCAR Sprint Cup series after spending eight seasons with the organization.
He also serves as the president of the Dayton Auto Racing Fan club.
“I’m staying busy,” Monroe said. “Hopefully it keeps you young.”
Former DARF president Bobby Sparks was at Shady Bowl talking to co-owner Jason Mahaffey when he found out they didn’t have a flagman. He was quick to call Monroe, who has more than happy to help out.
“(The Mahaffeys) are good people, racing people,” Monroe said. “They’re going in the right direction. It’s not a job to me now. My work is done. This is more for fun.”
Monroe is looking forward to the homecoming for Monroe.
“There’s no other track like it,” Monroe said. “There’s still guys racing who were there when I was there. It’ll be neat to see who’s still driving.”
In 1977, Monroe was driving with the Fort Loramie Racing Club. At the driver’s meeting, former owner Gene Shear said he needed a flagman for the race.
“We all looked at each other,” Monroe said. “I said, ‘You all know me, I know you, I’ll do it tonight so we can go racing,’ ” Monroe said.
He stayed on as flagman for Shady Bowl, and eventually worked at Dayton Speedway, Winchester Speedway and Eldora Speedway.
In 1992, he was working at Winchester when the former NASCAR All-Pro Series came for Winchester 400.
“It was Jeff Gordon’s first race in a stock car,” Monroe said. “They liked the job I did and asked me to finish out the year with them.”
At the time, he was working a full-time job in Piqua and coaching football at Lehman Catholic.
“It was hard to leave,” Monroe said. “I had two of the best short tracks in the country. Why would I want to go anywhere?”
But he did, and the job with the All-Pro series led to bigger things. He worked in both the Camping World Trucks Series and the Nationwide series before joining the Sprint Cup series in 2003.
“You’ve got to have a great wife and kids who support you,” Monroe said. “It’s not easy.”
Monroe said life on the road can be difficult dealing with airports, hotel rooms and rental cars — not to mention time away from his family.
“You miss a lot at home,” Monroe said. “I missed my family. You miss anniversaries, weddings and birthdays. It’s a brutal sport.”
It can also be a stressful job. The flagman has several people in his headset the entire race, including the race director and competition director, along with several people from the pits and spotters in the turns and on the backstretches.
“There was always someone talking,” Monroe said. “You really had to stay focused so you wouldn’t miss a call from the race director.
“Some of the races last four hours,” Monroe continued. “You had a little breather under caution, but under green it can be really stressful.”
Monroe never dreamed of being a flagman, especially at the highest level.
“It wasn’t something I fantasized or even thought about,” Monroe said. “All I wanted to do growing up was race.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0365, mcooper@coxohio.com or on Twitter @SNS_Wizard.
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