Excitement, expectations high for season opener Friday at Wagner

Weekly

WAGNER, S.D. – Following a successful car show and practice day this past Saturday, the 2021 racing season will officially get the green flag this Friday at Wagner Speedway. 

The Fort Randall Casino Weekly Racing Series will hit the track with six classes of cars to open the campaign. They include the DK Flooring and Customs IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars, the CHS Farmer’s Alliance Late Models, the Mark’s Machinery IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, the Ponca Valley Seeds IMCA Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods, the Roth Custom Farming IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and the Payer Livestock IMCA Mach-1 Sport Compacts.

All classes will be under the watchful eye of one of the best safety teams in dirt track racing, with the Butte Implement Safety Team, consisting of MedStar Race Rescue, the Wagner Fire Department and Wagner Ambulance Service and the show will move along, thanks to the C & B Operations of Wagner pace vehicle.

Plus, as a bonus, the DK Flooring and Customs IMCA RaceSaver Sprint cars will be racing for bonus money with the Turp’s Automotive Hard Charger award. The driver who passes the most cars that night, in their heat and feature combined, will receive a $50 award from Jamie at Turp’s Automotive in Bassett, Neb.

The 2021 racing season promises to be the best yet, featuring IMCA sanctioning, along with numerous special events. Special nights include the Horsepower for Hunger food drive night benefiting the ROCS food pantry on Friday, June 25, presented by the South Dakota Lottery and Military and First Responders night on Friday, July 9, presented by First Dakota National Bank and S&S Masonry, both of Wagner. 

Wagner Speedway is also proud to present the Randy Meiers Memorial Race on Friday, Aug. 6, a special Hobby Stock night to honor Randy. Meiers lost his battle with cancer this past March and as a former Hobby Stock driver and long-time race official, the track will be honoring him with a very special night, sponsored in part by Rog’s Auto in Wagner.  More details on the event and more will be coming in the next few weeks.

Wagner Speedway welcomes the South Central ABATE to the track to provide 50-50 sales this Friday night. South Central ABATE is a non-profit organization that stands for A Brotherhood For Awareness Training And Education.  ABATE promotes motorcycle safety courses and awareness about sharing the road with motorcycles!  They also do several charity events every year, and last season, through sales at the track, they were able to donate $1,200 to the Wagner, Lake Andes and Platte Cancer Funds.

This year South Central ABATE is adding the Parkston Pink Ladies to that list.

There are a few nights remaining for non-profit organizations, fund raising projects, sports teams, youth groups and more to raise money by selling 50-50 tickets at the track on race nights.  To learn more about how the program works and/or to sign up your group, call 605-360-8208 or e-mail wagnerspeedway@gmail.com.   

Pit gates opens at 3 p.m., grandstand gates open at 5 p.m. and hot laps begin at 7:15 p.m. with races to follow.

For more information, a complete schedule of events and more, see the track’s website at wagnerspeedway.com or follow the track’s Facebook page. 

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