They say you should make hay while the sun shines, and that’s what Lincoln Speedway is doing this Thursday, February 23. They recently announced a show headlined by a $5,000-to-win 410 sprint car feature at the Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, dirt oval.
“The weather forecast is calling for temperatures in the 70s on Thursday, dropping to the 60s at night,” said office manager Marcia Beard. “When [general manager] Jerry [Parrish] heard that, he decided to go with it. The decision was made just Saturday.”
Lincoln Speedway hopes the unseasonably nice weather lures fans and racers alike after a long winter away from racing. As of now, AccuWeather forecasts 77° as a high, with “clouds and sun; unusually warm for this time of the year.” The average high is 48°, with the record set at 74° in 2017.
“We are looking to have a big crowd even though the show is on a weeknight,” Beard said. “Response has been great. Drivers from as far away as Ohio have called and said they will be coming. The die-hard race fans will be here, no matter when we run a race.”
The Thursday show, dubbed the “Ice Breaker Opener,” will precede the Ice Breaker weekend originally scheduled for February 25–26. Once again, weather may play a factor.
“We wanted to get two races in this weekend, and having the Thursday race gives us the option of running the Icebreaker 30 on Saturday or Sunday, whichever day has the best weather,” said Beard.
The Ice Breaker Opener at Lincoln Speedway will only have 410 sprint cars on the docket. A pill draw will determine starting positions.
The grandstands open at 5:30 p.m. Racing begins at 7:30 p.m. FloRacing will also broadcast the event.
General admission is $20 for adults and $10 for students 12-17 with a school ID. Kids 11 and under are free. Pit entry is $30.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
