On the heels of the move to Friday night racing, Spoon River Speedway Promoter Cloyd Barden has released the most ambitious schedule in the tracks’ 41-year history.
After being a Saturday night track for years, Barden has moved the weekly DIRTCAR program to Friday nights and has put up a whopping $29,750 in total purse money. 5 classes will run weekly- DIRTCAR Super Late Models ($2,000 to-win), DIRTCAR Modifieds ($1,500 to-win), DIRTCAR Pro Late Models ($1,000 to-win), SRS E-Modifieds ($600 to-win), and Hornets ($300 to-win).
There will be 2 Open Practice sessions for all classes on Saturday, April 6 and Saturday, April 13 from noon until 4 PM. The 1st Annual “Hess Auto Agency Spring Fling” will open the season on Friday, April 19. The “Spring Fling” will feature Pro Late Models racing for $1,500 to-win, E-Mods $1,000 to-win and Hornets $500 to-win. Track points begin on Friday, April 26 with a full DIRTCAR Weekly Racing Program.
Spoon River Speedway will kick off the highly anticipated CASTROL FLORacing Night in America Series 10-race schedule on Wednesday, May 8, paying $20,000 to-win and $1,000 to-start for the 50-lap Late Model feature. Bobby Pierce is the defending FLORacing NIA Champion and finished 2nd to Dennis Erb,Jr at last years’ event. A stellar 48 cars from 18 states took to the high banks last year. The race will kick off 4 huge consecutive nights of Late Model racing in Illinois where one driver can walk away with $95,000 with a sweep. DIRTCAR Modifieds will also be on the program, paying $3,000 to-win and $200 to-start.
On Sunday, May 26, the MARS Racing Series makes its’ first of two appearances at the track with the “Gary Cook Jr Memorial” for MARS Modifieds paying $2,564 to- win and MARS Late Models $5,000 to-win. This race will be the night after the huge $20,000 to-win “Illinois Dirt Shootout” at Fairbury Speedway, which has over 200 drivers pre-entered.
The MARS series returns in a huge way on Sunday, September 1 with one of the largest winners’ shares in the US for the Modifieds, paying $15,000 to-win for the 34th Annual “Plowboy Nationals”. MARS Late Models will race for $5,000 to-win. The $15,000 winners’ share is the largest ever posted for the Modifieds at SRS.
June 7 is the 15th Annual “Bill Anderson Memorial”. The DIRTCAR Summernationals ”Hell Tour” returns to the high banks on Thursday, June 20, paying Late Models $5,000 to-win and $2,000 for Summit Racing Equipment Modifieds. Last years’ event was rained out.
One of the most anticipated races of the year is the first appearance by the Xtreme Outlaws Midget Series presented by Toyota for a 2-day show on July 19 and 20. The prestigious “Tom Knowles Memorial” moves from its’ traditional September date to July 20, and will be part of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget weekend.
The CASE World of Outlaws Late Model Series makes its inaugural visit to the track on Thursday, August 15 paying $10,000 to-win. DIRTCAR Modifieds are also on the program, which kicks off 4 straight nights of WoO Late Model action for the series. A limited number of reserved seats are available for the race and are on sale now.
The season concludes with DIRTCAR Season Championships on Friday, September 13, with the “Mike Chasteen Memorial” 2-day show on Friday and Saturday October 11 and 12. Purses and more details on the “Chasteen Memorial” are TBA.
