Forum: Minnesota Dirt Track Racing Forum (go)
Moderators: StanM

Had a great time returning to Arlington! Had not been there since 96 and forgot what a unique place it is! The grassroots of racing is stronger than most and still is the only track in Mn to consistently week in week out give sprinters a place to race! Regret not getting back sooner and expect to spend more sats there this year. From Coon Rapids it's about a hour 20 min drive. About the same to Cedar or Kopellah. The Allens are still a dedicated class act in racing and wish to extend my sympathies to them and all affected by the the tragic loss of their family member. The most somber moment of silence I've ever experienced only shows the strength and respect of the racing family they have at their facility! God Bless and will be back for more, Thanks to the folks that make up Arlington Raceway!

Not be an A$$ but Jackson Speedway in Jackson,mn has run Sprinters Weekly Since the Supermodfieds turned into Sprint Cars.And that's a Long time Ago!!!!!!

Very true. I was also thinking the same thing. Jackson definitely has the longest standing tradition of running a weekly sprint car show in the state of Minnesota. Arlington has a great deal of years under their belts too, but Jackson certainly has been at it the longest with respect to Minnesota tracks.

Don't forget Redwood Speedway. Still running sprints and have for years.

I stand corrected? But curious of exact answer? What track has run sprints as a WEEKLY part of the show consecutively for the longest? And from what years? Unfortunately i have not made it to either Redwood or Jackson but hope to this year if i can. Am partial to Arlington as myself and driver both rookies first nite of 94? won the feature, had ran 2 nites prior year but starting in rookie spot at tail of field. Only victory lane pic at Arlington where car was backwards as we hadn't thought that far ahead to know where to go. Glad to see both IMCA and UMSS trying harder to consolidate rules and keep sprints moving forward. Didn't Jackson drop weekly sprints the year some one took over between times John has promoted. And didn't Redwood Falls start IMCA after Arlington. No matter what the answer these tracks deserve a tip of the hat for standing with their beliefs! Look forward to the correct answer from the "historians" for the sprints. And hey 1B only u know if your an a$$ or not lol!

Jackson has always had a sprint car class,,, whether 317's,, 410's or 360's since the time of the VFW...

I believe that Redwood has had IMCA sprint cars on a weekly bassis since Bob Allen, the promoter of Arlington, became the promoter there,

Brian

Sprints in Redwood actually started after Arlington. They were started here when Mark and Betty Galstad were the promoters. Dan Tanner then ran them under Wissota sanction and so did the next promoter. Bob and Susan then changed them back to IMCA when they took over the track 10 years ago and now they are still IMCA but with the rules opened up to allow Jackson and UMSS cars as well as IMCA cars to run every Sunday night.

In the History section of the Jackson Speedway website, there is a very nice summary of track point champions dating back to 1954. In 1966, the stock cars changed to the modifieds, which I believe at the time were also known as super mods or sprint cars at many other tracks across the US. I'm not absolutely certain of the makeup of the class at Jackson back then, but I believe it would be fair to say they have had sprint cars (or early forerunners of the sprints) on their weekly program since at least 1966. The History section takes a person through the various types of sprint cars that have raced weekly at Jackson over the years including the 317 CI sprints, the limited and unlimited sprints, the championship sprints (360s), the WISSOTA 360 sprints, and now the JSTS 360 sprints along with some other sprint support classes. Check it out at...

http://www.jacksonspeedway.com/History/Track%20Champions.htm