By T.J. Buffenbarger
The first draft of the new National Sprint League’s schedule is out with 31 race dates listed. The initial schedule show there there is still quite a bit of scheduling left to do as 16 dates are listed at TBA’s. As of now the NSL is slated to visit six states at 11 different racing facilities.
Some readers may wonder why a series would release a schedule with so many TBA’s? By releasing the schedule now with at least the TBA’s marking where a race day may fall it gives teams and race fans a chance to arrange vacation and mark on their calendar there is a chance of a NSL show somewhere ahead of time.
The standout dates for us was three big events switching from 360 to 410 sprint cars with the NSL. The return of 410 sprint car racing on a semi regular basis to the Jackson Speedway in Jackson, MN with four race dates including the Jackson Nationals being a 410 sprint car program, the Midwest Fall Brawl at I-80 Speedway where Wayne Johnson collected a $50,000 bonus for winning both features at that event this past October, and Front Row Challenge during Iowa Speedweek at the Southern Iowa Speedway.
The only co-sanctioned event shown on the schedule as of now is the Jerry Richert Memorial at Cedar Lake Speedway, which is an event several top Knoxville Raceway area teams attended anyway. I would not be surprised to see a couple of co-sanctioned events to be added to the schedule during the off season.
The most daunting part of the schedule is the two day Jackson Nationals followed up by a six and a half hour drive according to Google Maps to Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, MO on a Sunday night, giving the new series a “do you own a map” moment series often have when scheduling.
Overall it’s a strong first offering from the new series is reclaiming some 360 sprint car strongholds with 410 events. It will be interesting to see how the TBA dates develop and if the NSL can break into some new venues that were not holding sprint car races previously.