BEATRICE, Neb. — New promoter Tommy Denton is already a long-time fixture at Beatrice Speedway.
Denton takes over the top job at the three-eighths-mile eastern Nebraska clay oval, where Friday night Speedway Motors Weekly Racing programs expand to six divisions.
“We’re going to work on increasing grandstand attendance and car counts and will try to do some different things to accomplish that,” promised Denton, who’d raced bronco and factory stocks before joining the staff at Beatrice, doing the announcing before moving on to corner man and lineup board chores. “The first thing I did after I moved back here in 1980 was go to the race track. I want this track to be successful.”
Bookended by Spring Nationals and Octoberfest specials, weekly races at Beatrice May 5 through Aug. 25 will again feature Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts.
Beatrice will also crown its first-ever IMCA RaceSaver track champion, with sprint car dates scheduled May 12, June 23, July 7 and Aug. 11.
“I raced here, I promoted a year at Deshler and I’ve worked at Beatrice since 2003 so I am already very familiar with IMCA,” Denton said. “The best thing about being sanctioned is that drivers can race at any IMCA track and the rules will be the same. They don’t have to make any changes to their car and that makes it easy for everyone.”
The sprint car dates will give a boost to drivers in that class chasing national and state titles and headline a Sept. 29 post-points season special.
“Sprint cars are going to be a class that’s new for a lot of our fans,” said Denton. “Almost all of those drivers are local so they won’t have to travel far to race here, and I’ve talked with some of the guys who work Saturdays at Eagle Raceway and they’ll come help us the nights the sprint cars race here.”
IMCA Modifieds made their first appearance at Beatrice in 1992 and run for $2,500 each night of the March 10-11 Spring Nationals.
“We are the first track in the area and one of the first in the Midwest to open the season,” Denton said. “Spring Nationals is our biggest race of the season and one of the biggest of the year for the IMCA Modifieds.”
IMCA STARS Mod Lites will also have six dates this season at Denton’s Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury.