Kalamazoo Speedway will be highlighting our five weekly classes throughout much of the 2014 season, rather than putting a bunch of touring series at the head of the class.  Most tracks could only dream of having the car counts and the outstanding quality and competition of our weekly classes; thus this will be where we will be putting our focus on so our existing as well as our new race fans will continue to see some of the finest weekly short track racing found anywhere in the Midwest.

As you open up the schedule, you will see that the Full House Night will be the theme for 2014.  Each weekly class of cars will have either 4 or more special championship style events throughout the season (not even counting the Klash, COTW or the Super Shoe), paying extra money as well as racing for extra laps.  Again, this is Kalamazoo Speedway putting our weekly five classes first, hoping that the local fans will come out & cheer for their favorite local driver!  You will notice the special event pay chart at the bottom of this article showing what each special event will pay for each class.

Kalamazoo Speedway will of course be hosting a few of their specialty events as well with some of which are listed below:

• The Must See Racing.com Xtreme Winged Super Sprints!!
• The Auto Value Winged Super Sprint Shows!!
• The Kalamazoo Klash
• The Top Speed Modified Series
• Four Front Wheel Drive Enduro Events
• The Night of Destruction, hosted by LKQ
• The Call of the Wild Extravaganza
• The granddaddy of them all, the 28^th annual Super Shoe Nationals!
• One of the Largest Fireworks Shows in southwest Michigan will take place at the Zoo on July 4th of 2014!
• All of this, not even mentioning the Intimidator 75, Season Championship Night, the Goat Roper 25 and a whole sleuth of exciting races for 2014!

As you go through the above list, you can see why our optimism for 2014 remains at an all-time high……big named events, great weekly racing…….it’s all a recipe for great success for the upcoming race season.  And for you drivers, look at the chart below at the special event pay for all five classes!

Although Kalamazoo Speedway has plenty of free paved parking spots all with electric nearby, we still offer reserved spots to rent for the season, if anyone is interested in parking in the same spot each week.  The main infield spots are $100 for the season & the top two pit areas are $50 for the season.   The spots do not include Super Shoe & special events such as the Klash or the Sprint Car shows, where you may not have your reserved spots.

We have a new Parking Spot Sheriff in town and it is none other than Kenny “Big Daddy” Head.  Contact Kenny at 269-692-2423 to see what spots are available.

With the running of the Daytona 500 being just around the corner, and although the front stretch is buried in over 4’ deep of snow (no exaggeration….and 4’ might be on the light side), its time the get our focus set on Kalamazoo Speedway for 2014!  In times where many outdoor entertainment venues (not just race tracks) are struggling or scaling way back or becoming more of a part time venue or even shutting their doors, Kalamazoo Speedway is coming off our strongest year of the past 13 seasons that the Howe’s have owned the track and looking for season 14 to be stronger & bigger yet!

We are looking at very solid car counts in all 5 classes, we have an aggressive schedule for 2014 yet we have a few weekends where we won’t be racing our weekly classes which can allow for some family vacation time or even a trip to another racing venue.  We are offering a very solid pay structure in all 5 weekly classes, working with the mid & back pack cars as much as we work with the front runners.  We continue to cut back on tire allotment for our participants which I still feel is the number one reason we are averaging 100 plus cars each & every week in our weekly 5 class shows.

With our NASCAR sanctioning, we continue to offer the best participant insurance program as any track offers in the nation.  Lane Automotive & NASCAR helps us still have a $30,000 weekly point fund for our drivers and we still have one of the strongest & best equipped Safety Crew’s as again any track in the nation has to offer.  Our 2014 Schedule is again very strong, as we at the Zoo will offer it all!  As mentioned above, we have very solid Full House 5 in 1 show’s but we also have one of the most exciting schedules as you will find anywhere.  Here are a few highlights of our schedule:

• We again have the Kalamazoo Klash for the Outlaw Super Lates but with the addition of the CRA Super Series, the Klash will rank as one of the biggest single day Late Model Shows in the entire nation!
• For the Open Wheel fans, we have the Auto Value Super Winged Sprints, we have the Must See Racing Xtreme Winged Super Sprints, and the Top Speed Modifieds are looking at bringing 26-30 Open Wheel Modifieds to the Zoo for their first visit.  USAC is going to have an Open Wheel Spectacular in August but not all of the details are finalized yet.
• April 19^th will be the Zoo’s Season Opener for all 5 weekly classes, featuring the Intimidator 75 for the Outlaw Super Lates!
• Super Shoe & The Call of the Wild…….do we even need to waste cyber space on these two classics??
• And of course we still have our FWD Enduro Series, Fireworks Spectaculars, and the entertainment slayer of them all……The Night of Destruction!
• So if you counted, we have 16 weekly Outlaw Super Late Shows, Sprint Car Shows that both run with the Outlaws, we have a wild & zany Enduro that will have dirt jumps…….Kalamazoo Speedway will be the Entertainment Capital of the Midwest in 2014!!

Season Grandstand & Pit Passes are now available…….Reserved Pit Parking Spots are now available…….and there are some great deals on VIP Skybox rentals for weekly or full season rentals.  A weekly rental of a heated and air conditioned skybox for a special event can be a great gift for that ultimate race fan in your life!

After the conclusion of our first Open Practice on April 5^th (and yes, if you have a snow plow or end loader, we may be calling you the last week of March)…..we will be having our annual Meet & Greet from 5:30-9:30 at the Otsego Elks.  This is a great time to bench race & to get your NASCAR and Track paperwork all filled out & ready to fly!

Please e-mail (gary@kalamazoospeedway.com) or call the speedway office (269-692-2423) if you have any questions on pit passes or skyboxes or would like to get any NASCAR applications or track papers sent to you early.

Thank you and see you all in early April at the Zoo!!!

Race For Kids Sake has an array of fundraising activities coming up in the next 2 weeks.  This Friday, February 10^th is round 3 of the Texas Hold ‘Em tournament at the Otsego Elks Lodge.  On Sunday, there will be a charity bowling tournament at the PInz Bowling alley…….Go to www.raceforkidssake.com for details of both of these events!

The Race for Kids Sake will also be hosting a charity hockey game on Saturday, Feb 15th, at 4:00PM. The game will be hosted at The Revolution Arena located in Battle Creek, MI. The proceeds from the game will benefit Autism Awareness and Camp Catch a Rainbow.

The game will feature local race car drivers such as Mike “Bubba” Brooks, Jamison Russell, Zack Cook, Mark Mason, Justin Lanting, and Andy Jach. They will be teaming up with retired pro hockey players from the United Hockey League, International Hockey League, All American Hockey League, Kalamazoo Wings, and Battle Creek Revolution. The game will also feature the first female to score a point in a Men’s professional hockey game Kira Hurley. There will be players from Ohio, Canada, Illinois, Michigan, and many other locations.

Following the game the jersey’s worn by the players will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to both charities. Tickets for this event will just be $5 purchased at the door, kids 12 and under are free, and parking is free. Please visit www.raceforkids.org for more information.

In a continuous effort to keep our Outlaw Super Late Models as a weekly class at Kalamazoo Speedway, we are shortening up the laps for the special races (not counting the Klash) that our drivers will be racing for the following reason.

Starting with the Intimidator and going through the entire season including all 6 special races for the Outlaw Super Lates (besides the Klash), all of these races are going to be a regular tire impound night and only two new tires, instead of the four tires that were allowed in previous years, will be allowed to be purchased for any of these races.  Six tires can be purchased opening night to start your tire impound but only two new tires will be allowed to be purchased the following week, as this will be the tire impound policy that will continue for the entire season.  No buying four new tires for the longer races, thus the reason to shorten up the races by 25%.  This will save our weekly drivers a minimum of 12 tires…….quite possibly making the difference of lower dollar teams being able to race all season long?

Keep in mind that our weekly payout for the Super Lates has been substantially increased & our payout for the championship races will remain the same as they have been in the past years…….just 25% fewer laps will be ran in most instances.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

The rules and payout for 2014 are being released over the next couple days.  As you drivers read over the rules, many of you seem to find an error or two within about 3 hours of us posting them.  We will be calling these the “Tentative Rules” for about a week until we see if we have all of the bugs worked out.  As you will notice, there are very few rule changes although there are a few rules that are “Explained Out” in a much more detailed manor.

You will also see that there have been a few pleasant tweaks in the payout as well, mainly concentrating on the mid top 10 and start money finishing positions.

Kalamazoo Speedway is trying diligently to keep over a 100 car for our weekly car count as well as continue to have very solid weekly fan counts as well.  It is imperative that the track management and the drivers & teams at the Zoo work hard to achieve both of these lofty goals in such a volatile time for short track racing.

The 2013 Kalamazoo Speedway Awards Ceremony was held Saturday night, October 26^th at Western Michigan Universities Bernhard Center and there was no question that the night belonged to Mike “Bubba” Brooks.  Brooks received the accolades for capturing his first Outlaw Super Late Model championship after a thrilling yearlong battle with 2012 champion Brian Bergakker.  Brooks also collected the “GT Products Greatest Achievement” Award for his incredible victory in the Allstar Performance 100, which clinched the championship for his team.  In addition to that Brooks also picked up the coveted “Most Popular Driver” award.  Buddy Head, John Foote, Dave Long and Jack Cook also collected their championship awards and drivers in the top ten of all five weekly divisions collected their point fund money as well as trophies.  The special awards went to:

BS Job of the Year Award – KTS

Callie Sue Jones Employee of the Year Award – Jenny Warning

The Kalamazoo “Extra Mile” Award – Jason Seltzer

Rookie of the Year Awards – Matt Frazier (Outlaw Super Late Models), Tyler Hufford (Super Stocks), Brad VanAvery (Pro Stocks), Dave Long (Mini Stocks) and Tyler McGhan (Cyber Stocks)

Most Improved Driver Awards – Luke Krick (Outlaw Super Late Models), Ryan Wheeler (Super Stocks), Jerry Pierman (Pro Stocks), Chaz Hook (Mini Stocks) and Josh Roberts (Cyber Stocks)

Good Times Award – Spivey Racing Team

Sportsmanship Award – Hufford Racing

Trooper of the Year Award– Donnie Brest

Best Looking Car Award – Kelli Jo Hofacker

Most Popular Driver Award – Mike “Bubba” Brooks

GT Products Greatest Achievement Award – Mike “Bubba” Brooks

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

Tim Easey picked up the victory in a very interesting Pumpkin Patch Enduro Presented by VanGuard Fire & Security Systems Saturday night at the Kalamazoo Speedway.  Easey held off Mark Rozell, Michael Koshar, Adam Wilfong and Cyber Stock driver Barry Jenkins for the victory.  Corey Miechiels finished a solid sixth and in doing so clinched his second consecutive Kalamazoo Speedway Enduro Series championship.  Rounding out the top ten were Jim Cauffman, Loagan Meade, Don Simmons Sr. and Gregory Brown.  Notable finishers included Shane Miller in 23^rd, Jeff Cauffman in 29^th and Harold Bloomer in 43^rd.

Miechiels ended the season thirteen points ahead of Don Simmons Sr. for the championship.  The rest of the top five in the final points were Rozell, Easey and Jeff Cauffman.  The second half of the top ten was led by Miller over Jim Cauffman, Bloomer, Jenkins and Wayne Deering.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 Kalamazoo Speedway Awards Ceremony.  The event will take place on Saturday, October 26th at the Bernhard Center on the Western Michigan University campus in Kalamazoo.  All drivers, crew members, families, fans and media members are invited to attend this special event.  All five weekly division champions will be crowned as well as many special awards being presented.  Some of the special awards being presented include:

Trooper of the Year

Best Looking Car Award

GT Products Greatest Achievement Award

Good Time Award

Rookie of the Year Awards(all five divisions)

Most Improved Driver Awards (all five divisions)

Sportsmanship Award

Most Popular Driver Award

The night will conclude by crowning the 2013 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Outlaw Super Late Model champion, Mike “Bubba” Brooks.

To order tickets for the event please print out the 2013 Kalamazoo Speedway Awards Ceremony Ticket Order Form, fill out the information and mail it in to the Kalamazoo Speedway office.  If you have any questions please call the Kalamazoo Speedway office at 269-692-2423 or email donna@kalamazoospeedway.com.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

The final event of the 2013 Kalamazoo Speedway season, the Pumpkin Patch Enduro Presented by VanGuard Fire & Security Systems, takes place this Saturday night, October 12^th and there is still a championship to be decided.  Defending series champion Corey Miechiels will bring a ten point lead into this Saturday’s event over Don Simmons Sr., with third place Harold Bloomer just thirteen points behind in third position.  Jeff Cauffman (-16) and Shane Miller (-27) sit fourth and fifth in the standings and could still factor into the championship picture if the top three drivers have and problems.  Other drivers looking to break into the top five in the final championship standings include Alan Thorton, Mark Rozell, Tim Easey, Jim Cauffman and Wayne Deering.

The Pumpkin Patch Enduro Presented by VanGuard Fire & Security Systems kicks off this Saturday night at 6:00 and will be a road course event.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

2013 Outlaw Super Late Model champion Mike “Bubba” Brooks completed a dream 2013 season with a victory in the 27^th Annual Super Shoe Nationals Sunday at Kalamazoo Speedway.  Brooks set quick time during Friday night’s qualifying session and had to start 16^th in the feature as a result.  He methodically worked his way to the lead and once he took it he never looked back holding off Marc Casey, Nick Pressler, Billy Shannon and Corey Ryman for the victory.  Cory Pressler led the second half of the top ten over Matt Frazier, Andrew DeVreese, Kelli Jo Hofacker and Dave Simpson.

Other winners on “Super Sunday” included:

Mini Stock Nationals – Jerime Damron

FWD Mini Shoe Nationals – Travis Loop

Super Shoe Nationals ‘B’ Feature – Bob Town

Super Shoe Nationals ‘C’ Feature – Matt Sullivan

Super Shoe Nationals ‘D’ Feature – John Foote Jr.

Only one race remains on the 2013 Kalamazoo Speedway schedule and that is the Pumpkin Patch Enduro coming up Saturday, October 12.  This race will crown the 2013 Kalamazoo Speedway Enduro Series champion.  Corey Miechiels will bring a slim ten point lead into the final event over Don Simmons Sr. with Harold Bloomer, Jeff Cauffman and Shane Miller also within striking distance of the point lead.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.