He’s waited for this moment for four years. Eric Saunders found his way back to his winning ways after four years of confidence testing and the will to succeed.
The Lakeville, Indiana resident was on his way to a successful Motocross career when his dreams of achieving more than 10 state championships and 500 career wins came slamming to a close in a blink of an eye.
On Aug. 29, 2010 prior to his 18th birthday, Saunders was practicing runs in the backyard of his home when he went airborne on his cycle and landed incorrectly.
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart will not participate in a meet and greet that was scheduled at the Newton Center in Lakeville on Thursday.
Officials at the Newton Center said that anyone who has already purchased tickets will receive a refund. Contact the Newton Center at (574) 784-2749 for details.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart will not be racing at Plymouth Speedway on Saturday. He was involved in a fatal accident Saturday night at a dirt track in New York with 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. Continue reading →
It’s where the love of racing begins for most drivers and fans: the short track.
NASCAR’s David Stremme will be at the Double Tree Inn in South Bend, Indiana on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET where he will meet with short track drivers, owners, workers, and more to help improve the sport at a local level.
“Things just change and adjusting to them is the biggest thing,” said Stremme. “As humans, we want things faster. There’s more technology now so there’s a lot more things for us to do. We’re going to see what everybody can do from racers to owners to sponsors to fans. We’re going to have a lot of different people there so we’ll see what we can get out of it.”
Kenny Wallace is pictured here with Marge Newton and Track Announcer Andrew Hayn
It was an exciting night of racing Saturday night at Plymouth Speedway for the inaugural Bob Newton Hoosier Tire Classic. Four divisions of racing provided entertainment on the dirt surface including the Sprints on Dirt (SODs)
Series and those cars flew around the track.
Gregg Dalmer won that division with Garrett Saunders winning the Traxxas USAC 600 Restricted Winged Sprints . Randy Shilling won in the Traxxas USAC 600 Winged Sprints race and Frank Marshall picked up the win in the UMP Modified race.
NASCAR driver and analyst Kenny Wallace fell short in the Modified feature as he got caught up in a wreck during a restart on lap four. He was running seventh at the time.
It’s an open wheel extravaganza at Plymouth Speedway Saturday night!
Not only will the Sprints on Dirt series be a feature during the Bob Newton Hoosier Tire Classic, NASCAR analyst and driver, Kenny Wallace, will be racing his UMP Modified. This is the second time Wallace has been to Plymouth Speedway this season. He finished fifth in the June race – can he get by all of the track regulars to pick up the feature win?
Kenny Wallace, David Stremme, Justin Allgaier, Kenny Schrader and David Reutimann prepare to film an opening segment for the “NASCAR on Race Day” show on the SPEED Channel.
The regular season drivers left the NASCAR drivers in the dust in the Modified feature at Plymouth Speedway Saturday night.
Modifieds point leader, Frank Marshall, found the start/finish line first while Adam Williams and Tommy Beezley II rounded out the top three on top of the podium.
NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace, David Reutimann, Justin Allgaier, David Stremme and Ken Schrader put on a good show and the fans were excited to see them race. Allgaier experienced equipment issues toward the end of the 30-lap feature as a result of a bounce off the front straightaway wall earlier in the race. Schrader missed the feature due to mechanical issues while running hot laps and Wallace, Stremme and Reutimann finished fifth, sixth and seventh.
A big modified race featuring five NASCAR stars is taking place on the dirt track at Plymouth Speedway this Saturday.
A NASCAR analyst for the SPEED Channel, Bob Dillner, says it’s going to be quite the show.
“It’s going to wild this weekend at Plymouth Speedway,” said Dillner. “Anyone listening to this show here today, I would get out to Plymouth this weekend because I think you’re going to have the best racing of the weekend with those modifieds on the dirt! I’m just really excited for everyone at Plymouth to have the success that they’re having now because that’s really good for racing in general.”
It’s a chance to see five NASCAR drivers race at a local venue. They won’t be driving stock cars, but they will be running their modified machines in the dirt at Plymouth Speedway.
Ken Schrader, David Stremme, Justin Allgaier, David Reutimann and Kenny Wallace will be putting their cars to the test against the regular modified racers at Plymouth Speedway. The winner of the 30-lap modified feature will win $1,000.
It’ll be an ordinary night of racing but with a bunch of extraordinary drivers.
On June 15 at Plymouth Speedway, NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace, South Bend native David Stremme, Ken Schrader, David Reutimann and Justin Allgaier will be driving their modified machines around the fastest dirt track in northern Indiana.
Shane Stewart will be driving his sprint car in the Earl Gaerte Classic at Plymouth Speedway Saturday night
It’s one of the biggest races of the season at Plymouth Speedway and it’s happening on Saturday night.
The Engine Pro presented by Fel-Pro Gaskets Earl Gaerte Classic will feature the Sprints on Dirt Saturday night.
Earl Gaerte was an innovator in short track engines and he designed engines that have been in Indianapolis 500 cars and in the cars that are raced on racetracks each Saturday night across America. He passed away in August 2011, but his memory and innovations live on.
Plymouth Speedway Director of Racing, Matthew Schwartz, indicated that it will be an exciting night of racing.
“The Sprints on Dirt, which we call SOD sprints, are a touring series and they race all over Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and even into Canada,” said Schwartz. “The cars from all of those states plus Illinois and maybe some from Tennessee will come race with the sprint cars. These are the fastest things on dirt! They have big wings, 900 hp and they’ll hit over 100 mph every lap.”
Sprint car driver, Shane Stewart, was at Plymouth Speedway Wednesday night for a media event and had a chance to look things over for this weekend’s race.
Stewart is a native of Oklahoma but has since moved to Indiana to continue his career in the sprint car series. He’s quite accomplished having many feature wins under his belt as well as a American Sprint Car Association Championship.
Stewart doesn’t run with a particular sprint car series full-time but he does occasionally race in the esteemed World of Outlaws series. He will be driving a brand new sprint car this weekend under the ownership of Joe Gaerte. Stewart said it was fitting that he participate in the Earl Gaerte Classic with Gaerte Engines out of Rochester as a sponsor. Watch for the number 3G as it makes circuits around the track.
Stewart is pretty impressed with Plymouth Speedway’s new dirt surface.
‘They’ve done a great job with the dirt. They’re working hard. I know and I’ve seen the amount of work that actually goes into preparing a racetrack for a Saturday night,” said Stewart.
He expects to be part of some great racing Saturday night.
“If the track’s right, it’s wide enough to see two or three-wide racing. The best thing that you could hope for as a dirt track guy is if you can get two grooves. That’s the most important thing. If they can make that happen, I think you’re going to see a really good race!”
Modifieds and the USAC 600 sprints will also be racing to round out the exciting night of racing.
The gates will open at 4 p.m. and racing begins at 7 p.m. ET. For ticket and pit pass information, visit www.plymouthspeedway.net.
Rain has hindered the start of the dirt track season at Plymouth Speedway.
Rain canceled the Cabin Fever event and now it’s caused the cancellation of the first race of the season. The start of the season has been pushed back to Saturday, April 27.
The track is simply too wet and will not provide an ideal racing surface for the drivers. Track owner, Ed Kennedy, also kept the fans in the forefront of this decision as he wants to ensure the fans a good opening night.
The world of auto racing is an ever changing one, even at the local level.
The Plymouth Speedway has undergone an extensive change in the off-season. Ed Kennedy, the owner of the track, made the decision to change the surface from asphalt to dirt. Director of Racing Matt Schwartz believes it’s going to be a positive change for the speedway.
“The asphalt track wasn’t that successful,” Schwartz stated. “We weren’t getting a lot of cars or a lot of fans. So, last year we experimented and tore out the infield and put in a one-fifth mile dirt track for racing and it was well received. We had a lot of people show up in the stands, we had a lot of cars in the pits and it was really exciting.”
A vandal went off-roading at the Plymouth Speedway this weekend, when police say someone broke through two separate sets of entry gates, entered the Speedway, and tore up parts of the property with a vehicle.
Police say multiple windows were shattered on one of the shacks located within the property, and consequently, the suspect vehicle may have front or rear damage from striking the gates.
Officials say the incident took place sometime over the weekend.
Anyone with leads on any possible suspects please contact the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at (574) 936-3187.
