Spirit Auto Center Speedway Looks To ’17 Season Opener

Story By: KOLBY RAMEY / SPIRIT AUTO CENTER SPEEDWAY – SWEDESBORO, NJ – With a little cooperation from Mother Nature, the Spirit Auto Center Speedway will see its first action of the 2017 season this Friday night with racing action getting underway at 8pm.

Tyler Reinhardt will be returning to defend his title in the 270 Winged Micro Sprint action. Reinhardt has dominated in the 270 ranks in seasons past but there will be some new names in this year’s line-up that will be looking to make their name in 270 competition and derail Reinhardt’s efforts. Reinhardt won four times on his way to the 2016 title and will be looking to add to his career win total when the green flag waves. Pat Bealer was a five time winner last season with Jacob Hendershot collecting three wins. Rich Keller, Colin Bustard, John Wagner, Jr., Steve Coslop and Robbie Watson, each had a single victory.

Jon Keller won two wingless 600 Micro Sprint events last season when he captured the Spirit Auto Center Speedway title in that division. Keller returns to defend his title this year but will be behind the wheel of the Ed Barber owned No. 99B. It will be a different kind of season for Barber who is accustomed to racing with his son who decided to step away for a season.
“It’s different – that’s for sure,” Barber related. “Jon’s in the garage working on the car while I’m still at work.” Keller tested with the car and is ready for the season opener.

And so is Travis Hill who picked up six wins in his rookie season of 600 competition. Hill, a Crate/Sportsman Champion on the Bridgeport Speedway, is looking forward to the 2017 in the 600 ranks, knowing a lot more than he did a year ago. Luke Thomas was a three time winner in 2016 while Matt Smith and Tim Buckwalter each had a win a piece.

Rich Partite’s five wins were enough to give him the Friday night Slingshot title last season – a title he won by defeating his brother, Lou who had a single win last season. The All Star Bagel Stop returns as the sponsor for the Friday night Slingshot competition.

There will be a new sponsor for the Four Cylinder Enduros this season with the addition of i2M Solutions, the solution to all of your tech support needs. There will be a new 4 Cylinder Champion this season since 2016 Champion, John Webster will not be defending his title. Webster was a five time winner last season. Chris Sammons ,Scott Miller and Joe King each had a pair of wins while Art Knapp and Justin Dunn picked up single victories.

Lee Allen had four wins in the Eight Cylinder Enduro series in 2016 and will look to continue his success during 2017.

The season opener is just the beginning of what will be a very exciting season for the Spirit Auto Center Speedway. The Poker Series will return to the quarter mile track for the 270 & 600 Micro Sprints as well as the Action Track USA Slingshots with five race dates scheduled, starting on Sunday, May 7th. The Poker Series will continue on Sunday, June 4 and Sunday, July 7th. The final Poker Series Hand will be run in conjunction with the Bill Thomas Weekend on Sunday, October 29th.

The Spirit Auto Center Speedway will host the first Skyscraper weekend on October 7th & 8th. This will be a two day event (plus Friday night practice) for the 270 & 600 Micro Sprints with qualifying starting on Saturday and main events concluding the two day show on Sunday.

The Bill Thomas Weekend will wrap up the 2017 season with a three day show – starting with Friday night practice on October 27th, Winged 600 Micros, 270 Micros and Xcel 600 Modifieds on Saturday and conclude on Sunday, October 29th with wingless 270 Micros, Wingless 600 Micros, King of the Sling Slingshots as well as 8 Cylinder Enduros.

The determination of the 2017 season champions begins this Friday night at the Spirit Auto Center Speedway!