Winter giving way to Spring means the hopeful end of cold, rainy nights at tracks across the country. This week’s activities includes a jam-packed NASCAR weekend at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, while season openers at famous East Coast dirt tracks are also on the docket.
Last Ride
The 38th and final NHRA Arizona Nationals marks the second race of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, bringing plenty of excitement and anticipation to the facility. Massive crowds are expected all weekend for the final event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Ariz. The popular track will give way to highway construction following the Arizona Nationals. Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock will be in competition.
Texas Triple
All three NASCAR national series will be in action on the same weekend for the second consecutive weekend as the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series will visit the state-of-the-art Circuit of The Americas road course for the third consecutive year. Ross Chastain won his first Cup Series race last year at COTA, while A.J. Allmendinger won the Xfinity race and Zane Smith went to victory lane in the Trucks.
WoO Goes South
A trip to the deep south is on the agenda this weekend for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. A Friday night visit to the Talladega Short Track in Alabama will see the series compete on the quarter-mile dirt track in the shadows of Talladega Superspeedway.
The next night will see the only race of the season in Mississippi for the WoO tour as the series stops at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
It will be the 12th WoO race at Talladega and the second at Magnolia.
Winter Challenge
The eighth annual Winter Challenge for the Spears SRL Southwest Tour is scheduled for Saturday at California’s Kern County Raceway. The 135-lap super late model event will pay $10,000 to win, with Jacob Gomes, who banked $25,000 for winning the All-Star Showdown at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway earlier this year, among the favorites. Pro late models and modifieds are also on the car that can be seen on Spears.tv.
Season Openers
Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway and Attica Raceway Park and Atomic Speedway are among numerous race tracks looking to kick off their seasons this weekend, while the POWRi Midget League and California’s Sprint Car Championship Tour are among the racing series scheduled to begin the 2023 campaign.