TEXARKANA, Ark. — Winged 360 sprint cars have been a rare sighting at Texarkana 67 Speedway over the years.
But with last year’s closure of I-30 Speedway, that changes in a big way next weekend as the 36th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires & Ark-La-Tex Lawn and Landscape shifts to Texarkana 67 Speedway for the first time.
The crown jewel 360 event kicks off Thursday night, Oct. 26, with the $4,646-to-win Ralph Henson Memorial before the 36th STN offering up $20,000 to win takes place on Friday and Saturday.
For the track that has hosted winged 360 sprint cars fewer than 20 times in the past quarter century, next weekend will be the largest gathering of winged sprint car talent to assemble at Texarkana 67 Speedway with the entry tally currently at 61 and counting.
Winged ASCS sprint cars have tackled the Texarkana 67 Speedway clay oval 17 times since 1998 when now track promoter Tim Crawley picked up the win. Crawley added another three wins at 67 in subsequent years, most recently in 2013.
Arkansas’ Derek Hagar scored the most recent winged 360 sprint car win at Texarkana 67 Speedway in June of last year when he beat Garet Williamson and Crawley to the stripe in the event that ended a six-year sprint car hiatus at the facility.
Along with Hagar, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington is the only other driver on the current entry list with a previous win at Texarkana 67 Speedway after taking an ASCS Regional win in 2012.  Covington enters next weekend’s STN after falling just 46 points short of Jason Martin in this year’s ASCS National Championship points battle.
While Hagar, who has raced into eight of the last ten STN championship finales, is the most recent Texarkana victor, any advantage may be negated by reshaping and banking adjustments since made to the track.
With the track’s evolution, the 61-plus entries will enter the event on a level playing field with no prior experience on the currently configured racing surface. A pair of legendary names in sprint car circles, Gary Wright and Jason Johnson, have ranked among the most prolific Texarkana 67 winners in years past.