FRANKLIN, Pa. – Under the new ownership of Merle Black, Pennsylvania’s Tri-City Raceway Park has released a tentative event schedule for the upcoming season.
This season will begin on April 19, with 20 events scheduled at the half-mile dirt oval throughout the season.
Four divisions will compete each week with a 6 p.m. start time, which will allow traveling race teams and fans to return home at a decent hour.
Located in Pennsylvania’s Venango County, near the city of Franklin, Tri-City opened in 1954 and will return to weekly racing in 2020 after several seasons of hosting only a few events per year.
Sprint cars, 358 modifieds, front wheel drive mini stocks and junior sprints will be the weekly attractions of Tri-City’s Sunday events.
The 410 winged warriors will compete for one of the largest purses in the region each Sunday. Multiple tracks currently host Friday and Saturday sprint car racing in the tri-state area, but few race on Sunday. That will open the door for Pennsylvania’s best to compete at Tri-City Raceway Park to close out each weekend.
The 358 modifieds called Tri-City home in previous eras, and will return next year. The mini stocks will compete under the same rules used at other speedways, so competitors will not need to make changes to their machines in order to race at Tri-City. Â Lastly, future stars of the sport will gain valuable experience on the smaller three-eighths-mile surface each Sunday night as youngsters will battle in the junior sprint division.
Black, a longtime business owner in the region, is also a veteran race team owner and engine builder. His passion for dirt track racing and desire to promote weekly competition has resulted in a resurgence of Tri-City Raceway Park.
The tentative schedule of Sunday events lists racing events on April 19 and April 26. Similarly, May 3, May 17, May 24 and May 31 will also showcase the four division racing program, while Tri-City will be closed in honor of Mother’s Day on May 10.
Every Sunday of June will bring the roar of engines to Venango County, before a summer break – with no racing July 5. From July 12 all the way through the month of August, racing will launch at 6 p.m. every Sunday.
In September, after a fall break with no racing on Sept. 6, the weekly action will come to a close after the Sept. 13 race. A grand finale special event will be announced on a date later in September, to bring down the curtain on Black’s first season of operation at the renovated Tri-City Raceway Park.