If you are like me, the sunshine and warm weather brings thought of racing in the mid west, in my case more specifically, the Tri State area of Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Perhaps more so in 2024 than previous years, many changes are afoot. New promoters and changing race nights will make for interesting scenarios playing out at several tracks. For purposes of this blog, I will mostly be highlighting tracks within a three hour drive of my home base in Canton, Missouri, however there are a few notable updates on the fringes of that region.
Beginning in southeast Iowa, it is somewhat remarkable that the longest tenured weekly program will be at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, where owner/operators Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt will kick off their seventh season with 410 sprint shows on April 5 and 6 followed by the MLRA Late Model sanctioned Slocum 50 weekend on April 19 and 20 before settling in to their weekly Saturday night racing. There will be a healthy dose of Sprint specials during the season as well as the annual visit by the Lucas Oil Late Models.
Thirty plus miles down the road, veteran racers Neal Kohlmorgan and Patrick Profeta will assume the reigns at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Opening weekend at the three eighths mile facility will be April 19 and 20 with the Spring Hooray event featuring five classes lead by UMP Crate Late Models. Due to some previous commitments at the fairgrounds, the early season will see a mix of Friday and Saturday race nights before the program shifts to regular Saturday night racing. Hobby Stocks will also be making a comeback at LCS as a weekly division.
C J Speedway in Columbus Junction will also have new leadership in 2024. After eight and a half seasons during which he built a thriving program, Larry Richardson has stepped away with former racer Dan Keltner becoming Race Director. C J will continue with weekly Friday racing beginning on April 26. Also kicking off in June, there will be a four division combo points challenge with Lee County Speedway.
Moving on north, the Kile family will no longer be in charge at the legendary West Liberty Raceway. At this time, the only event on the schedule will be July 17 during the Muscatine County Fair, with the Darkside Promotions team of Ryan Duhme and Timmy Current leading the program.
The Darkside group will be quite busy, however, as they will be hosting several events at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton. The fairgrounds quarter mile will come to life with a two day special on April 5 and 6 followed by a visit by the MLRA Late Models on Thursday, April 18 in advance of the Slocum 50 weekend in West Burlington.
Also Darkside will be in charge at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa. Although this is one of the tracks a bit out of range, I would be remiss to not mention the Nippy 50 event on March 29 and 30. As of now, this open Late Model show will feature a $10,000 to win preliminary on Friday followed by a whopping $20,000 finale on Saturday. With well known folks like Jeff Hoker of Hoker Trucking and promoter Ricky Kay also heavily involved, this looks to be a top notch program.
Following the departure of Kay Promotions, well known Street Stock racer Jeff Struck will don the promoters cap at Davenport Speedway. As of today, I have not seen a final schedule for the quarter mile facility, so stay tuned.
The Dripps family will continue their top flight action at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Racing will start with an April 7 special followed by regular Sunday events on April 28.
Moving west, the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa will begin Wednesday racing on April 24, and Sprint Car fans likely already have April 20 penciled in for opening night at Knoxville, while Eldon, Iowa will again host several events beginning on May 18.
Mike VanGenderen is well known not only in the mid west, but is fast becoming much in demand around the country for his expertise in track prep as well as promotion. Still, in addition to his self owned track in Stuart, he will be expanding the race program at Bloomfield Speedway starting off with a pair of dates on March 29 and 30. VanGenderen is also part of team at Independence Motor Speedway where in addition to Saturday night racing they will again host a series of Monday Madness programs following an April 3 Frostbuster.
Crossing the border into Missouri, MVG will again be the point man at Scotland County Speedway in Memphis. Racing at this popular facility is set to kick off the Tri State season with two nights of action on March 22 and 23. Down the road at Moberly Motorsports Park, owner (and Super Late Model driver) Reid Millard along with Race Director Galen Hassler will fire off season two of their unique but successful Trophy Tuesday racing on May 28, leading up to another one of a kind event, the MLRA sanctioned "Weiner Nationals" on Labor Day weekend.
Callaway Raceway outside Fulton will open the gates on April 5and will host a visit by MLRA on April 26. The MLRA series will then open the season for Lake Ozark Speedway near Eldon the following night.
I also want to mention that the Bethany Fairgrounds Speedway will reopen after a few seasons of inactivity with Saturday night racing. A firm schedule has not yet been released.
On the Illinois side of the mighty Mississippi, there remains a pair of long time promoters. Kevin and Tammy Gundaker will begin their twentieth season as owner/operators at Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach. MLRA will kick things off there on April 5 and 6.
Kenny Dobson has been at the helm of Jacksonville Speedway for many years, and his 410 Sprint Car heavy schedule will begin on April 19.
The track closest to my front door in terms of miles is the Adams County ,Il. Speedway east of Quincy. After two dormant seasons, long time track employee Jim Lieurance and his wife Tammy took over the former Quincy Raceways as J T Promotions. This will be their third season, with an agressive schedule starting on April 28. The exciting news from the track is the formation of a Crown Vic division. Extremely popular "down South", this will be a stock class consisting of Ford Crown Victorias, Mercury Marquis, and Lincoln Continentals from bygone days.
Another Quincy businessman, Cloyed Barden will head up a very aggressive program at Spoon River Speedway near Banner. Switching from the traditional Saturday to a Friday program, Barden will bring back Super Late Models vying for a $2,000 top prize while Modifieds will compete for $1,500. Barden will open the gates on April 19, with the first SLM show one week later.
The change at Spoon River will open things up for a strong season at Peoria Speedway, and they will pay Super Late Models $5,000 as part of their April 6 opener.
Lincoln, Il.Speedway will hit the ground running with a diverse schedule on April 5.
IMCA Late Model hot shoe Chuck Hanna will be the man in charge for his second season at East Moline Speedway. Chuck and his team made numerous improvements ahead of his 2023 debut at the always exciting quarter mile. Opening night will be Sunday, April 7.
As mentioned, I have tried to cover the tracks within an evenings drive of home, and I apologize for anyone I may have missed. And of course, always check with the track for any changes before leaving home. For more complete schedules, I encourage you to check the calendar offered here at Positively Racing. As always, we will also plan trips outside the region, as we continue to be blessed with many great tracks and programs in the mid west. My wish for all promoters, race teams, and fans is for a fun and enjoyable 2024 that leaves everyone with a little jingle in the pockets. See you at the races!
