Trending
Florida winter racing action is here. Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., and East Bay Speedway are scheduled to operate this weekend. Late model racing was scheduled at Bubba’s Friday. Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions open the sprint car season Feb. 4-6 at the track. The USAC National sprint car series visits the central Florida facility Feb.17-20.
East Bay Speedway near Tampa hosts the crate late models Feb. 4-6. The Lucas Oil late model series races there Feb. 8-13. The winter series concludes with the Lucas Oil 360 sprint cars Feb.18-20.
Volusia Raceway Park near Daytona hosts the All Stars Feb. 9-10. The World of Outlaws open their season at Volusia Feb. 12 with three nights of action. When the sprint cars are finished the late models and modifieds battle Feb. 15-20.
If you have a radio app on your cell phone you can listen to all Volusia Racing events live on station WNZF AM and FM. Coverage starts each night at 6.
The Daytona International Speedway is hosting the 24 hours of Daytona road course action this weekend. Speed Week officially begins on Feb. 13 and ends Feb. 21 with the Daytona 500.
Ribbon cutting ceremonies were held earlier this week marking the reopening of Daytona. Track president Joie Chitwood III shared his pride in the creation of the world’s first true motorsports stadium. The project took 2.5 years to complete at a cost of $400 million. Improvements include the installation of 1,400 video monitors, enhanced seating, escalators to the seats, more cending, modern restrooms and video boards. The permanent seating capacity is now listed at 101,500.
Sprint Cup competitors are facing a slight reduction in restrictor plate size for this year’s Daytona 500.
Pocono International Raceway continues to improve safety barriers at the track. They also have a Groundhog Day promotion underway. Purchase a $50 Pocono gift card by Feb. 2 and you will be entered for a chance to win a Pocono Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Day hat personally signed by Dale Earnhrdt Jr and Jimmie Johnson. Gift cards can be redeemed for tickets, food and so on. Information is available on the track’s web site.
College football is coming to Bristol Motor Speedway later this year. Tennessee and Virginia Tech are slated to play at the track Sept. 10. A second game between East Tennessee State and West Carolina will be held a week later. It’s expected the Tennessee-Virginia Tech game will set a new college football attendance record with 155,000 seats on sale for the event.
Denny Hamlin taped a cameo appearance Monday for the TV show The Bachelor. The two minute segment was shot at Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters. I haven’t heard when the episode will air. Hamlin spoke with reporters following the segment and stated his knee rehabilitation level is about 50 percent. Hamlin’s range of movement is not where it should be yet. Hamlin said he plans to compete in the Daytona 500.
Fred Rahmer Promotions Path Valley Speedway sprint car dates for 2016 have been released. Three Sunday shows are scheduled. They are May 1, June 26 (speedweek) and August 28.
Susquehanna Speedway continues to make improvements to its facility. Pictures can be found on social media. The track website is under reconstruction. No word when it will again be available.
Port Royal will hold practice sessions March 6 and 10.
Bedford plans a practice day April 3. Opening day is April 18.
The 360 sprint cars have a three-race challenge weekend scheduled for July29-31. URC and Empire Super Sprints, along with Williams Grove, Selinsgrove and Utica-Rome (NY) speedways will coordinate the events. Action starts at Williams Grove.
Lincoln Speedway hosts the Icebreaker for 410 sprint cars Feb. 27. Until then, please drive safely!
***
Craig Rutherford writes about motorsports for The Sentinel.