Memorial Day weekend is arguably the busiest and most important weekend of the year.
Headlined by the Indianapolis 500 that will be run for the 108th time Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, tremendous attention is also paid to the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 event.
However, there are plenty of short-track racing events that have long been a part of this glorious weekend of racing.
Here, we highlight a few of them:
Little 500
The Little 500 will run for the 76th time Saturday night at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.
The prestigious 500-lap sprint car race on the quarter-mile paved track carries a purse of $136,000 and will see veterans and rookies alike chase glory in the 33-car field that sees 11 rows of three.
Qualifying on Thursday and Friday set the stage for the historic event.
Carb Classic
The Carb Night Classic will feature the 71st anniversary Hoosier Hundred, one of the crown jewel events on the USAC Silver Crown Series calendar.Â
This 100-mile race will kick off the evening, which also includes the USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 Championships, as well as a 30-lap National Pavement Midget Championship feature.
The 71st anniversary Hoosier Hundred will boast one of the richest payouts in Silver Crown racing – $25,000 to win with a $92,000 purse.
USAC Sprints
The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship will have a busy midweek schedule leading into Memorial Day weekend.
It all begins with the 54th running of the Tony Hulman Classic Tuesday night at the Terre Haute Action Track. The prestigious 30-lap event pays $10,000 to win.
From there, action moves to Circle City Raceway for two nights of action at the Indianapolis quarter-mile track.
Show-Me 100
Saturday’s 32nd running of the Show-Me 100 dirt late model race caps off three nights of racing for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. The 100-lap event will pay $50,000 to win.
Weikert Memorial
High Limit Racing will sanction the annual Bob Weikert Memorial at Pennsylvania’s Port Royal Speedway. Two nights of racing will culminate with Sunday night’s $75,000-to-win main event. The race is the highest-paying winner’s purse of the season to this point, with the best of the High Limit travelers facing off against a local contingent of competitors.
Xtreme/WoO Doubleheader
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will partner for a doubleheader weekend event Friday and Saturday night at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway. Both series will run features both nights.
The Xtreme Series kicks off the week Tuesday and Wednesday at North Carolina’s Millbridge Speedway.Â
The World of Outlaws conclude the holiday weekend on Memorial Day night at Fremont (Ohio) Speedway.
USCS Speedweek
The United Sprint Car Series kicks off its annual Speedweek with four consecutive nights of racing May 24-27.
Action opens at Clayhill Motorsports Park and includes visits to Riverside Int’l Speedway, Old No. 1 Speedway and Pine Ridge Speedway.