After taking the July 4th holiday weekend off, the Sportsdrome Speedway welcomes fans again. On Saturday it is the 35th Annual Twin 45's for Modified Figure 8's. You can bet the action will be strong. Other divisions racing include the Ford Oval, Powers Puff, and Figure 8. The small short track is just off I-65 in Jeffersonville, about 5 minutes from downtown Louisville.
Mother nature forced the Firecracker 200 at the historic Salem Speedway to be delayed for 24 hours. Chuck Barnes Jr. eventually earned the win! You never know during the summer when rain will hit. However, before the skies opened, Southern Indiana based Kimmel Racing took the top two spots in the 602 Late Model Series. Will Kimmel won the event and his teammate, Scott Melton finished second. Melton is running a majority of races in the ARCA Series this year. Will is running a few ARCA events, along with his local short track car. Salem has a full slate of events set next for Saturday July 22. The track is an hour from Louisville in Southern Indiana. By the way, if you want to win a FREE Will Kimmel autograph check us out on Facebook!
What a fun race to watch over the 4th holiday weekend in the Indy Car Series at Mid-Ohio. When a driver is hot, a driver is hot! That is exactly what happened. Alex Palou claimed yet another victory! He's won 4 of the past 5 races. Scott Dixon finished second, about 5 seconds behind. Next up for the Indy cars, Toronto on July 16th.
It certainly has become Must See TV! We're talking the NASCAR action in Atlanta. Ever since renovating the track, the action has been much like Daytona! Intense and at times, wild! You can catch the action on NBC or USA Network the rest of the season in Cup and Xfinity. Fox still carries the truck. It is worth pointing out a "ringer" won on the Chicago street course. And it was his first ever NASCAR Cup event. That hasn't happened since the early sixties. Shane Van Gisbergen took the victory over Justin Haley and Chase Elliott during on and off again rain. It may have made for some interesting TV. Could be wrong, but quietly and candidly ask the drivers, a majority likely would say lets don't go there again.
Next up in the NHRA is Colorado July 14-16th. NHRA Owner Tony Stewart is still beaming with excitement after his wife and racer, Leah Pruett got her first victory for Tony Stewart Racing at the last NHRA event in Ohio. Pruett won the Top Fuel prize. Blake Alexander took the top spot in Funny Car. In Pro Stock, Matt Hartford won. And Lucas Oil driver Hector Arana Jr. brought home his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the 2023 season. Most events can be viewed on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2. Stewart is a 3-Time NASCAR Cup Champion.
When going to the track, summer trips, or driving around town, don't forget to put Lucas Oil Products in your car or truck. They do so much for racing communities across America. Other sponsors of KMS include PNC Bank (Sponsor of Scott Dixon's Indy Car Series Car), Sportsdrome Speedway (Celebrating more than 77 years of Racing!), locally owned Bright Pest Control and Bright Retail in Louisville, (Offering Do-It-Yourself Professional Pest Products with a retail store), and Knox Ford in Radcliff, Kentucky) (It also has a sister dealership, Tri-County Ford in Oldham County, KY). KMS friends also include: VoiceTel Kentucky (Offering telephone service for low as $25.00 a line per month), Temco Roofing, Jim Ellis/Attorney At Law, ICA Dumpsters, Kentucky Raceway Ministries, Nimlok Kentucky, Dynamic Healthcare, Lyndon Mower Repair, and Kentucky Medicare Plans (Serving Kentucky and Southern Indiana with Health and Medicare plans). We also thank our media connections in all series, NASCAR and with NASCAR Media, Indy Car, Monster Jam, ARCA, and NHRA for helping us bring the sport to the fans!
Over the summer, more people will be getting outside. When out traveling or on vacation, we encourage you to look around. See the farms and ranches in America. Our farmers and ranchers are doing work hard and need support. Protect the Harvest backs them. It is a Lucas Oil backed initiative. Learn more at: www.protecttheharvest.com
We mentioned both the Salem Speedway and the Sportsdrome Speedway above. Other area tracks have plenty of fun events scheduled in July. We encourage you to check out the websites and social media. Especially for last minute changes. There are other area tracks to enjoy! The Ponderosa Speedway is known as "Kentucky's Baddest Bullring". It is a short dirt track in central Kentucky at Junction City near Danville (About an hour and fifteen minutes southeast of Louisville). Drive south to Bowling Green (KY) and you'll enjoy Beech Bend. There is an amusement park, camping, and racing. The Beech Bend dragstrip brings in the fans and has a wide range of events. Just outside of Louisville in West Point Kentucky is the Ohio Valley Dragway. It is a 1/8th mile track on Dixie Highway.
