By T.J. Buffenbarger
While spending a vast amount of time keeping our Allstar Performance Open Wheel Calendar up to date I have spent a lot of time planning road trips to cover races this season along with what I refer to as “home games” covering races in Michigan. 2016 is shaping up to be very interesting for us with several big shows on the docket.
As of today here are the shows I am looking forward to the most in the Great Lakes State for the upcoming season:
• For the third year in a row Michigan will have two World of Outlaws programs. June 4th the Outlaws make what has become their traditional early summer stop at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan while the second date has the tour returning to Hartford Speedway in Hartford, Michigan for the first time since 2011 on July 29th.
• Hartford will host the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MavTV National Tour on June 3rd. The Hartford date is the second of a three day swing through the area that will bring drivers such as Aaron Reutzel, Sam Hafertepe, Jr, and other stars of the ASCS tour fans will get to see take on their local 360 teams for the first time in the Great Lakes State.
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The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions is back to making multiple stops in Michigan on their tour around the Midwest. The All Stars three dates in Michigan are at Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy along with a two day weekend July 2nd at Hartford Speedway and July 3rd at I-96 Speedway. The Hartford date on July 3rd will be one the most anticipated programs of the year in Michigan featuring the All Stars, Great Lakes Outlaw Sprint Series 360 Sprint Cars, and Lane Automotive Michigan Traditional Sprints in a sprint car triple-header.
• The biggest scheduling surprise of the 2016 season takes place on August 27th when the Fremont/Attica Sprint Title series makes its first road trip to Butler with the 410 and 305 sprint car divisions. They will be joined by the GLSS 360’s for a sprint car extravaganza. This event will give Michigan fans a chance to see the Attica/Fremont teams take on the locals without the three hour drive. This show has a lot of potential to grow in years to come.
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Kalamazoo Speedway announced a monster open wheel show of their own this week on Sunday August 21st featuring the Must See Racing Extreme Sprint Car Series and the Michigan Traditional Sprints on the same program coined the Jerry Landon Memorial. The event brings back the tradition of Kalamazoo hosting a Sunday big open wheel program mid-summer. This event ties into the only sprint car program this season at Berlin Raceway in Marne on Saturday August 20th, making for a nice West Michigan weekend for sprint car fans.
• Along with the National and Regional touring series coming to the area in 2016 fans will have their eyes towards the dirt sprint car scene with the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP and GLSS series. As of today the series only have two days with conflicting dates: June 18th with SOD at Merritt Speedway and GLSS at Thunderbird Raceway and August 13th with SOD at Butler and GLSS once again at Thunderbird.
So far both series have done plenty of posturing for position and dates this off season. Each series has different approaches to what they are doing with SOD’s new rule packages and brand equity of over 30 years and the upstart GLSS series using the standard 360 sprint car series rules and trying some innovative things to get their brand off the ground during their first year. This story continues to morph as I have penned two or three columns about the two series only to have various elements change.
With plenty of action off the track this year for SOD and GLSS I’m ready to see what happens on the track. I think there are some great possibilities in SOD’s new rules with the on track product, but I still want to see it in action before making a judgment. Barry Marlow and his staff are incredibly enthusiastic, but how will they do with their first season running a series? Ultimately I still am looking forward to attending races with both series and seeing how the situation plays out.
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On the pavement side of the sprint car world there are several dates of interest other than the aforementioned Jerry Landon Memorial. MTS made nice inroads during their first season of pavement races that seems to be carrying into 2016 with dates at Spartan Speedway joining the Spartan Sprints. This could end up being a very good partnership for both parties if done properly.
On the winged side keep an eye on the Auto City Auto Value Super Sprint date on June 25th. AVSS schedule has that noted as King of the Wing National event while the King of the Wing website still has it marked as a TBA. This could potentially bring some interesting competition to Auto City for that event.
Must See Racing’s date on Owosso Speedway on July 3rd is one of the best kept secrets in sprint car racing. There is something about sprint cars at Owosso that produces awesome racing. The best news on the winged side of things AVSS and Must See Racing have avoided schedule conflicts so far this season. This should benefit everyone involved for the upcoming season.
Michigan sprint car dates for 2016 as of February 10…
4/30/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
4/30/2016: Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI – Sprints on Dirt
5/7/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
5/13/2016: I-96 Speedway – Lake Odessa, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
5/14/2016: Auto City Speedway – Clio, MI – Auto Value Super Sprints
5/14/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
5/14/2016: Silver Bullet Speedway – Owendale, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
5/20/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – Sprints on Dirt
5/21/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Sprints on Dirt
5/28/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
5/29/2016: Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
6/3/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – ASCS – National Tour
6/3/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
6/3/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
6/4/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
6/4/2016: I-96 Speedway – Lake Odessa, MI – World of Outlaws
6/11/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – All Star Circuit of Champions
6/17/2016: Mt. Pleasant Speedway – Mt. Pleasant, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
6/18/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
6/18/2016: Merritt Speedway – Merritt, MI – Sprints on Dirt
6/18/2016: Silver Bullet Speedway – Ownedale, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
6/18/2016: Thunderbird Raceway – Muskegon, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
6/24/2016: Tri-City Motor Speedway – Auburn, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
6/25/2016: Auto City Speedway – Clio, MI – Auto Value Super Sprints
6/25/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
6/25/2016: Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
7/1/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
7/2/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
7/2/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – All Star Circuit of Champions
7/2/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
7/2/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
7/3/2016: I-96 Speedway – Lake Odessa, MI – All Star Circuit of Champions
7/3/2016: Owosso Speedway – Owosso, MI – Must See Racing
7/8/2016: I-96 Speedway – Lake Odessa, MI – Sprints on Dirt
7/9/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
7/9/2016: Thunderbird Raceway – Muskegon, MI – Sprints on Dirt
7/15/2016: Kalamazoo Speedway – Kalamazoo, MI – Auto Value Super Sprints
7/15/2016: Winston Speedway – Rothbury, MI – Sprints on Dirt
7/16/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
7/16/2016: Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI – Sprints on Dirt
7/22/2016: Mt. Pleasant Speedway – Mt. Pleasant, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
7/22/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
7/22/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
7/23/2016: Auto City Speedway – Clio, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
7/23/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
7/29/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – World of Outlaws
7/29/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
7/29/2016: Tri-City Motor Speedway – Auburn, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
7/30/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
7/30/2016: Merritt Speedway – Merritt, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
7/30/2016: Silver Bullet Speedway – Owendale, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
8/5/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
8/6/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
8/6/2016: Owosso Speedway – Owosso, MI – Must See Racing
8/12/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
8/12/2016: Winston Speedway – Rothbury, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
8/13/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Sprints on Dirt
8/13/2016: Thunderbird Raceway – Muskegon, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
8/19/2016: I-96 Speedway – Lake Odessa, MI – Sprints on Dirt
8/19/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
8/19/2016: Winston Speedway – Rothbury, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
8/20/2016: Berlin Raceway – Marne, MI – Must See Racing
8/20/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
8/20/2016: Merritt Speedway – Merritt, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
8/20/2016: Merritt Speedway – Merritt, MI – Sprints on Dirt
8/21/2016: Kalamazoo Speedway – Kalamazoo, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
8/21/2016: Kalamazoo Speedway – Kalamazoo, MI – Must See Racing
8/26/2016: Tri-City Motor Speedway – Auburn, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints
8/27/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – FAST – 305 Sprint Car Series
8/27/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – FAST – 410 Sprint Car Series
8/27/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Great Lakes Super Sprints
9/2/2016: Hartford Speedway – Hartford, MI – Sprints on Dirt
9/2/2016: Spartan Speedway – Mason, MI – Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars
9/3/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars
9/3/2016: Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI – Sprints on Dirt
9/10/2016: Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI – Winged 410 Sprint Cars – Season Championship
9/17/2016: Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI – Michigan Traditional Sprints – Great Lakes Nationals