Saskatchewan, Schedules and Lightning Sprints

Lance Prystenski's Lightning Sprint at Yellowhead Int'l Speedway. Doug Brook Photo

Well race fans, like the slow-melting snow, news is beginning to come out and take shape for the 2019 dirt track season. Let's have another look at some new items of interest.

Tisdale Motor Speedway, SK. released their tentative schedule which will commence in early June.

June 8
June 22
July 7
August 23 (Night Race)
September 7 (Demolition Derby)
September 28 and 29 (Invitational)

The Outlook Stockcar Association, SK will host 6 weekends of racing. All races will be 2 day events on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday start times are 4:00pm and Sundays start at 2:00pm.

May 25 and 26
June 15 and 16
July 20 and 21
August 24 and 25
September 21 and 22
October 12 and 13 (Fall Classic)

Some open wheel news has come up on the radar.

It appears that there may be an attempt to resurrect the Lightning Sprint class in Manitoba. 6 Morden dates have been pencilled in according to the Manitoba-based Prairie Lightning Sprint Association Facebook page. The new group is trying to generate local interest in the open wheel class which has been absent from the Manitoba dirt track racing scene for about 5 years.

An opportunity to run a few dates at a venue like ALH Motor Speedway which hosted the NLSA, when it was based in Manitoba, just might be what the PLSA needs to jumpstart the class again. We'll definitely be watching how this develops in 2019.

After 2013, the Northern Lightning Sprint Association moved south of the border, primarily racing at Minnesota dirt tracks Greenbush Race Park and Buffalo River Race Park.

There are still a few schedules to be finalized and released, including the CAOSS and NOSA Sprints, Estevan Motor Speedway, Living Sky Casino Speedway and Swan Valley Speedway.

Stay tuned. There's always more...

Until next time race fans, take care and good racing.

For additional Saskatchewan Dirt Track Racing, Sprint Car Racing and more, follow @SaskDirtRacing on Twitter.

Saskatchewan, Snowmobiles and Sprints... What Else?

Lined up to race at Yellowhead International Speedway. Photo by Doug Brook
Well race fans, we may be in January's icy grip but this doesn't mean that there is no news in the racing world. Let's have a quick look at a few recent items of interest.

Lampman, Saskatchewan's Rylan Raynard has joined his cousin Riley in the fight against Muscular Dystrophy by getting involved and raising money through Laps4MD. In 2018, at Estevan Motor Speedway, Rylan's #95 Sport Modified finished 2nd in points to the undefeated season of Robby Rosselli.

Estevan Motor Speedway has announced that their starter car class, the Slingshots will be racing on the big track in 2019. Until now they had been running on a small track in the infield. This a good step forward to growing the increasingly popular family-friendly division.

IMCA Modified teams visiting the 3/8 mile dirt oval in Southeast Saskatchewan will see an increase in payout this coming season. The feature winner will see a $900.00 (Canadian) payday. See the breakdown of the purse HERE.

Yorkton, Saskatchewan's Yellowhead International Speedway released it's 2019 racing schedule. The 3/8 mile dirt oval will host another season of door to door excitement on the following dates.

May 25 and 26, Test and Tune
June 2, Season Opener
June 23
July 14
August 17 and 18, Invitational Weekend
September 7 and 8, Season Ender Weekend
September 22, Rain date if Necessary

Lake of the Woods Speedway released a tentative schedule for 2019. Regular car classes for the Kenora, Ontario low banked, 3/8 mile dirt oval will be 4-Cylinders, Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. The regular season will kick off on Friday, June 21 and run most Friday nights over the summer, until September when they swing over for 2 Sunday afternoons to host the annual Dinner Jacket Classic. The only exception is Sunday, August 4 when the WISSOTA A Modifieds will pay their only visit to the speedway.

In addition to all of this, if you enjoy a little snowmobile fun, LoW Speedway will be hosting a Single Cylinder Enduro & Vintage Twin Shootout on Sunday, February 17.

Finally, the best news of January has to be the return of "The Crowd Pleaser", Craig Dollansky to sprint car racing in 2019. After a short retirement, Craig will be running weekly at Knoxville Raceway. This only increases the competitive quality of race teams running at the famous Iowa 1/2 mile dirt track this season.

Stay tuned for more. This is just the beginning.

Until next time race fans, take care and good racing.

For additional Saskatchewan Dirt Track Racing, Sprint Car Racing and more, follow @SaskDirtRacing on Twitter.

Black and White Photos of Estevan Motor Speedway

While we're patiently waiting for schedule announcements from our favourite dirt tracks, I thought it would be fun to work with some photos I had taken between 2017 and 2018. The following black and white images are from Estevan Motor Speedway, Saskatchewan.

Until next time race fans, take care and good racing.

For additional Saskatchewan Dirt Track Racing, Sprint Car Racing and more, follow @SaskDirtRacing on Twitter.