For 2024, Park Jefferson International Speedway will offer a Thursday-night program. The South Dakota dirt oval moves into rare company, with few short tracks running a Thursday show.
“More and more people have other things going on during the weekend,” said owner and promoter Wayne Becker. “Around here, people want to go to the lakes on Saturday. The crowds were low on Saturday night. It was not to my liking.”
The change also moves the track to a night that it can have of its own. Several tracks within a two-hour range run on other Fridays and or Saturdays. Its nearest neighbor, Interstate Speedway, resides just 0.3 miles away. That track runs on Sundays.
“Local drivers have a couple of days to get their cars ready for Sunday at Interstate Speedway,” Becker said. “We help each other out whenever there is need.”
Overall, Becker said he has received about 85% positive feedback. The other 15% expressed concern about running on a work night. Becker understood their point of view.
“We have to be ready, with procedures in place to run a quick show,” said Becker. “The green will be dropped on the first lap the cars are on the track — no time will be spent on parade laps. One solo spin is allowed in a heat race, two in a feature.
“The goal is to run our show in less than three hours. We start at 7:30. Local fans should be able to get home and be rested to get through Friday.”
Park Jefferson International Speedway makes its Thursday-night debut on April 18, with an IMCA-sanctioned program of sport compacts, hobby stocks, sport mods, stock cars, and a $1,000-to-win modified feature. The week after, April 25, IMCA late models will swap in place of the modifieds for their own $1,000-to-win event.
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.
