JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Goodyear All American Speedway is adding more excitement to an already exhilarating season with the addition of the Summer Classic featuring the Grand National Super Series on Saturday, July 16.
The Grand National Super Series held its debut earlier this spring at Caraway Speedway in a race won by Clay Rogers, a five-time champion of the USAR Pro Cup Series prior to its relaunch as the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour. Since then, the series has also raced at Tri-County Speedway, where 10-time ARCA Menards Series champion Frank Kimmel won, and at Franklin County Speedway where multi-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Jeremy Mayfield was victorious.
“We’re actually looking forward to coming out to Goodyear All American Speedway,” Grand National Super Series founder and president Bob Schact said. “I’m not sure who we’re bringing yet. We had 13 cars at Franklin County and it was a really good race. We’re working on our live streaming on Facebook and YouTube so people can watch there. I’m hoping we have 14-20 cars at Dillon and hoping that will transfer over to Jacksonville.”
The series runs cars that formerly competed in the ARCA Menards Series, USAR Pro Cup Series, or NASCAR national series races. Since the tour’s inception, the car counts have steadily risen each race.
“It’s great to bring the Grand National Super Series to Goodyear All American Speedway,” track operator Anthony Goodyear said. “It’s been a long time since full-size Pro Cup and ARCA cars have been on this track. The Pro Cup Series had a rich history at this track and we’re excited to bring those cars back to Jacksonville.”
The Pro Cup Series competed three times at Goodyear All American Speedway, then called Coastal Plains Raceway. Shane Huffman won in 2001 and Bobby Gill won in 2002. The series returned in 2014 in a race won by Caleb Holman, one of the final races before the formation of the CARS Tour.
The Summer Classic will also feature twin races for INEX Legends and INEX Bandoleros, giving drivers who compete additional opportunities to earn national points and more prep-time for the INEX National Qualifier event that will take place two weeks later.
“We plan to run twin races more for some of our local divisions and not just the Late Models,” Goodyear stated. “Running twins for the Legends and Bandoleros will give teams that make pretty long trips to the track their money’s worth.”
The Summer Classic will cap off a three week stretch of racing at Goodyear All American Speedway to kick off July. On Sunday, July 3, Goodyear All American Speedway will host the Independence Bash presented by Armageddon Armory and then, on Saturday, July 9, the Atlantic Turfscapes Super Truck Series will return to the track for their second of four races at the Jacksonville venue.