MOORESVILLE, N.C. — As this issue of SPEED SPORT Magazine prepares to go to press, we are in the midst of the summer racing season — and a heat wave has overtaken much of the country.
While most fans get fired up over the big events — the recent Eldora Million, the Kings Royal, Knoxville Nationals and other big-money, traditional events — it’s a plethora of midweek races, most of which are part of one speedweek or another, that powers the regional racing engine through the summer months.
The night before this writing, Ohio Speedweek, the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and USAC’s Eastern Storm tour through Pennsylvania were all in action with temperatures hovering in the 90s in all three locales.
The 40th annual Cometic Gaskets Ohio Sprint Speedweek featured nine consecutive nights of racing at eight different tracks in the state of Ohio. Sanctioned by the All Star Circuit of Champions, the series averaged more than 40 cars through the first five events and saw a different driver triumph in each of those five races.
One of the feature winners, Justin Peck, held a mere four-point lead over Cap Henry, who was winless at that point in the series.
Racing a sprint car two nights a week is a challenge for many of the racers who tackle Ohio Speedweek and the many other speedweeks run through June and July, so nine nights is a monumental task. Yet, most who set out to run a full speedweek schedule make it to the end.
The Summer Nationals, meanwhile, is far more substantial than the nine nights of Ohio Speedweek and pushes competitors to even greater limits.
The 37th Hell Tour, as it’s known, kicked off with Ryan Unzicker winning at Kankakee Speedway in Illinois. It was the first of 32 super late model races that were scheduled between June 14 and July 30. While there are off days in the tour — unlike years ago — it’s still the most grueling summer racing schedule out there.
The Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals runs simultaneously with the Hell Tour, sharing the bill at many of the venues along the way, while running 32 events for DIRTcar modified racers during the same time frame.
Thirty-six late models and 31 modifieds signed in for the opening night of the Hell Tour.
The same night the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship kicked off five consecutive nights of racing in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with Brady Bacon topping a 20-car field at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway.
Interestingly, the Eastern Storm tour was the second speedweek for many USAC competitors in as many weeks as it followed on the heels of Indiana Midget Week, which features the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget Series.
Reigning series champion Buddy Kofoid won the IMW title for the second consecutive year. Forty-six drivers competed during Indiana Midget Week with 14 of them starting all five features.
And these were only the start of the many speedweeks remaining on the summer schedule. The 32nd Pennsylvania Speedweek for winged sprint cars was ahead, beginning June 24, with 10 nights of racing on the docket, while the 35th running of Indiana Speedweek for the USAC sprint cars will feature eight races in the Hoosier State between July 22-30.
Southern Iowa Speedweek, which is run in mid-August, consists of events at Knoxville Raceway and Southern Iowa Speedway.
Illinois Speedweeks for midgets and sprint cars, the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series and the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour are among the other prominent speedweek events that run each summer.
Speedweek is a chance for many competitors to make extra money, but also to hit the road and showcase their talents to a different group of fans.
But competing during a speedweek is more than simply racing a lot. It’s about camaraderie, completing a mission and a raw passion to race.
Many racers — and fans — take vacation time from their jobs in order to chase speedweek races.
Christopher Bell, who triumphed at Sharon Speedway, and Alex Bowman took advantage of the only off week in the NASCAR Cup Series schedule between Feb. 20 and the season finale on Nov. 6 to visit the Buckeye State and compete in Ohio Speedweek.
Speedweeks and the Hell Tour are traditions in their regions of the country and generations of families have grown up with them. Some go to the beach, some go to the fair, others go to speedweek.
It’s a summer rite of passage.