By T.J. Buffenbarger
(August 21, 2024) — The focus of the Michigan sprint car racing scene focuses to pavement racing this week with only two races on the docket this weekend featuring the 500 Sprint Car Tour making a rare two-night appearance Friday at Kalamazoo Speedway in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Saturday at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan.
Other than practice/qualifying for the Little 500, this is the only two-night stint for the 500 series tour during the 2024 season. Having back-to-back races apparently has made the trip more appealing to race teams with 20 pre-entries for the Kalamazoo event with a couple of other teams indicating they will only be participating in the Saturday program at Berlin
Saturday’s program at Berlin Raceway is also Back to School night where a donation of a school supply item will receive a coupon for a free hot dog and fries from the concession stand (limit one per person). Berlin also features one of the best post-race atmospheres after the races, this week featuring the band Trilogy on stage behind the grandstands after the races are complete.
Friday will be the first appearance for the 500 Sprint Car Tour at Kalamazoo and the first non-wing sprint car race there since July 27th, 2019, for an Auto Value Super Sprints event. Along with a trio of AVSS races without wings the the USAC National Sprint Car Series held a single non-wing sprint car race at Kalamazoo on June 20, 2009.
In those four non-wing races over the past 15 years, Bobby Santos III has won three of the four features events at Kalamazoo with Aaron Pierce being the only driver to win during Santos’ dominance at Kalamazoo in non-wing sprint car competition. Santos will be looking to make it three non-wing sprint car feature wins in a row at Kalamazoo, doing so in three difference decades with previous wins coming in 2009 and 2019. To cap things off Santos is the most recent feature winner with the 500 Sprint Car tour during the series’ most recent event on July 13th at Anderson Speedway.
One of Santos’ most likely challengers will be Tyler Roahrig, who has extensive experience racing late models at both Kalamazoo and Berlin. Roahrig has one feature win with the 500 tour this season at Toledo Speedway and swept both Berlin events for the 500 Sprint Car Tour in 2023.
Billy Wease currently leads the 500 Sprint Car Tour point standings despite not having a feature win in the first three events with the series in 2024. Wease had a podium finish during the 500 Sprint Car Tour’s the last time he raced there on June 10th of last year.
Kody Swanson, feature winner of the season opening event for the 500 Sprint Car Tour on April 14th at Anderson Speedway, is on the entry list for Kalamazoo and Berlin. Swanson will be in a different car than he drove last year during the 500 Sprint Car Tour stops in Michigan, wheeling the Nick Bohanon #33 car this weekend.
Swanson is coming off of a weekend with the USAC Silver Crown Series where he had an engine failure while running second at World Wide Technologies Raceway near St. Louis Missouri on Friday followed up by a second place finish on Saturday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on the dirt.
Taylor Ferns will lead the local contingent with a rare home state racing appearance at both Kalamazoo and Berlin. Ferns, who has started racing within the IndyCar ladder system this year, finishing 15th last weekend at World Wide Technologies Raceway in the Indy NXT event. Ferns has a feature win to her credit with AVSS at Berlin Raceway and looks to add another in the state where she began racing non-wing sprint cars on pavement.
Other local entries expected to compete during the weekend include Nick Landon with the possibility of one or two more entries that were on the fence about competing as of the publishing time of this article.
Other Notes
• The Great Lake Super Sprints and Great Lakes Traditional Sprints head south this week to compete in the Buckeye State. GLSS will start their weekend Saturday night at Waynesfield Raceway Park joined by the FAST Winged 410 Sprint Car Series for the Nickles Brothers Memorial, honoring the legendary sprint car owners who had a variety of the best drivers wheel their trademark yellow #31 entries.
Jac Haudenschild will be making an appearance and will pace the feature field driving one of the former Nickels Brothers entries. Jack Hewitt will join Haudenschild to sign autographs on Saturday as well.
Sunday GLSS is joined by GLTS for the series’ first appearance at the Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio. This will be the second race during the most recent revival of Millstream by Matt and Beth Cogley with the first event during Ohio Sprint Speedweek getting high marks for a first-time effort.
• Butler Motor Speedway will not have sprint cars this week as American Late Model Iron Man Series visits the high banked 3/8-mile oval. Sprint Cars return to action at Butler on Saturday, August 31st for the Terry Wilber Memorial.
• Michigan drivers had a solid weekend out of state with Darin Naida picking up the win with the Maverick Sprint Car Series at Lincoln Park Speedway on Saturday, setting a new track record for winged 410 sprint cars there in the process.
Jeremy Campbell, former Michigan resident now living in Wichita, Kansas, won the ASCS Sooner Region feature at 81 Speedway on Saturday.