Brutal forecasts cancel, postpone sprint car racing across the country

The first weekend of April 2025 was slated to be a full weekend of sprint car racing across the U.S., as three national sprint car organizations scheduled shows for Friday and Saturday.

However, the weather in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Indiana forced them to pull the plug Wednesday.

World of Outlaws

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series was first impacted last weekend. Last Saturday’s event was canceled early at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas.

Following qualifications and heat racing for the Wichita Sprint Car Showdown, World Racing Group (WRG) officials didn’t go any further, hoping the brutal 40 mph wind gusts would let up.

It didn’t. After the local stock car feature, WRG postponed the Showdown and set their sights on this weekend’s doubleheader Jason Johnson Classic at Arrowhead Raceway, in Colcord, Oklahoma.

Then on Wednesday, before the weekend began, WRG postponed it due to heavy rainfall forecast for the next four days.

One of this weekend’s races has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25. The other race is now scheduled to be a make-up event Friday, Oct. 24, at 81 Speedway, near Wichita, KS. Those races now make up the penultimate weekend of the season.

The WoO season ends with the World Finals in Charlotte, Nov. 5-8th.

Buddy Kofoid is still the most recent WoO Sprint Car winner after a triumph Friday (March 28) at Lawton Speedway in Lawton, Oklahoma. Through 13 completed events, defending series champion David Gravel is the only other full-time competitor with multiple wins this season. Gravel has a 78-point lead on Friday’s runner-up, Carson Macedo. Kofoid is fourth, 106 points behind Gravel.

The Outlaws hope to restart a busy spring slate of events April 11-12, at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway in Pevely, Missouri. All WoO and WRG events are streamed on DIRTVision.

High Limit Racing

It’ll be a clean, triple sweep in the record books for Mother Nature in the High Limit Racing National Tour this week.

First, high winds and dust storms prevented the Kubota High Limit Sprint Cars from racing as planned Tuesday (April 1) at Vado, New Mexico. Second, frigid springtime weather is expected Friday night in Amarillo, Texas. Third, snow is possible Saturday for the Dodge City, Kansas, region.

As a result, all three events have been called off. High Limit Sprint Car Series could not agree on a return date, so all three events won’t be rescheduled.

The cancellations mean four scrapped High Limit events already this year, not even a month into the racing season. Opening night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was also postponed due to high winds and dust and then rain the following evening. The series has officially completed six races.

Aaron Reutzel and Brad Sweet won the Avanti Duel in the Desert from Central Arizona Raceway last Friday and Saturday nights. Next, the High Rollers will take to Texarkana 67 Speedway in Mandeville, Arkansas, on Wednesday, April 30. Then, they will head to the Texas Motor Speedway dirt track May 1 and May 3.

Those three events begin a busy stretch of 18 races over 36 days for the High Limit Sprint Cars, hopefully with better weather luck.

All High Limit events are streamed on FloRacing.

USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship

Sadly, the gloomy weekend stretches well over into Indiana and Illinois too.

The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship was set to return to competition for the first time since February with events scheduled for Friday at Paragon Speedway in Indiana, and Saturday at Red Hill Raceway, in Sumner, Illinois.

However, the United States Auto Club (USAC) has canceled the Friday event and postponed the Saturday event. Expected storms are to hit both tracks this weekend.

With the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Tour planned to go to Paragon on Sept. 26, the Friday event won’t be made up. The Saturday event will be as the series will return to Red Hill Raceway for the first time since 1998 on Friday, June 13.

After a near-two-month hiatus, the USAC National Sprints are now set to resume next Friday, April 11, at Lincoln Park Raceway in Putnamville, Indiana. Then, they’ll make a 150-mile trip to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where they will race Saturday night.

All USAC events are streamed live on FloRacing.

500 Sprint Car Tour

Anderson Speedway, in Anderson, Indiana, also postponed their weekend of activity, delaying the first event of the 500 Sprint Car Tour for nearly two weeks. The postponement puts the 25th running of the Glen Niebel Classic to Thursday, April 17.

With cold temperatures and a wet forecast for this Saturday in Indiana, speedway officials were the first to call this weekend’s activity of events. The announcement came early Wednesday morning and included scrapping Friday’s practice day.

Now on April 17, the Glen Niebel Classic is the only tune-up before the 77th running of the Little 500 on May 24.

Racing in the Glen Niebel Classic is set to begin at 7 p.m. All Anderson Speedway and 500 Sprint Car Tour events are streamed by DIRTVision.