Story By: KENNY SHUPP / OUTLAW SPEEDWAY – DUNDEE, NY – With the Annual Awards Banquet as well as the Syracuse Motorsports Expo and the Finger Lakes Mall Car Shows now a distant memory, the Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY can focus its attention on the upcoming 2024 race season which will begin with Open Practice on Saturday, March 30.
“Up to this point we have had an open winter like last year, stated Outlaw Speedway owner/promoter, Tyler Siri. January was a bit rough with snow and cold temperatures, but February turned mild, and we are now in March where the days get longer with typically warmer weather. When we wrapped up the 2023 season a lot of time was spent on putting the track surface to bed for the winter. We have a better drainage system in place so if there was a lack of frost in the ground coupled with a lot of winter and spring precipitation the track will drain much better hopefully eliminating the issues we were confronted with last year in April.”
Like most every other dirt track in the northeast, Outlaw Speedway suffered through a miserable month of April in 2023 losing most of their scheduled early season events because of an abnormally high amount of rain which led to soft conditions.
However, when the calendar was turned to May it was like a switch flipped with everything falling into place with near perfect track conditions for the remainder of the season.
“I am very optimistic that we are in great shape going into practice on March 30 which gives all of our competitors a chance to shake down their equipment for the upcoming season.”
The one-day open test and tune allows racers the opportunity to make sure their cars are ready for competition when the season opener occurs the following weekend on Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, 2024, with the running of the Annual Lucas Nationals at the popular Yates County Oval.
Times for the March 30 practice will be posted on the tracks Facebook when the date comes closer.
Grandstand admission is free with a minimal pit entry charge for the practice date.
The Lucas Nationals which officially opens the 2024 campaign at Outlaw Speedway will see practice and front row dashes on Friday, April 5 with a full blown show of qualifying and feature events the following night, Saturday April 6 featuring the Friendly Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Modifieds racing for a hefty $4,000 to win pay check. The Crate Late Models make a rare appearance where the victor will take home $2,500 with the winner of the Sunrise Insulation/Knapp and Schlappi Lumber 602 Crate Sportsman walking away with $2,000. The Swarthout Recycling Street Stocks will be in competition racing for a winner’s check of $1,750 while the Winner’s Circle Deli Mini Stocks and the NAPA Hobby Stocks both run for $1,000 to win their respective feature events.