BLOOMFIELD, Iowa — As a driver, Mike Van Genderen liked just about everything about the three-eighths-mile dirt oval at Bloomfield Speedway.
He’s confident that IMCA drivers in five divisions will share that opinion when they race at the Davis County Fairgrounds venue this season.
Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks all return to Bloomfield after a hiatus of two decades, while Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts will make their first appearances there.
Southern Iowa Frost Out shows March 29-30 and Bloomfield Fall Special shows Sept. 20-21 bookend April 18, May 9 and 30, as well as July 20 and 30 races. Each event this season at Bloomfield will be draw/redraw so no track champions will be crowned.
“This track is very racy. It’s flat and just has the perfect shape. This is a great little facility,” Van Genderen said. “We like IMCA’s rules package. This is a great place for drivers to run for national, regional and state points and for some great money because every race is really a special.”
New dirt was added to the racing surface following the 2017 season, but the speedway was idle for three years before county fair board members contacted Van Genderen about promoting specials there.
Bloomfield re-opened with a fall special in 2021 and has hosted a handful of events each year since.
IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars and Northern SportMods will race for $1,250 to win, Hobby Stocks for $600 to win and Sport Compacts for $400 to win each night of the Southern Iowa Frost Out, to be broadcast by IMCA.TV, in March.
“I think drivers will be impressed by this track when they come here next month,” Van Genderen said. “The fair race in September is really big, too. We probably have the best fair in the Southern half of Iowa. It’s like the fairs you remember from the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. A ton of people come out to support it and the races.”