Jason Walls, of the Mid-East Racing Association, will promote Princeton Raceway in 2024. The West Virginia dirt track has laid dormant since 2021.
“First of all, we changed the name to Princeton Raceway to avoid internet confusion with a track in Minnesota,” Walls said. “We are working on a new logo and new website and will have all the information up — rules for the divisions and schedule — by the end of the week [March 22].”
The deal to run Princeton Raceway came together fairly quickly, according to Walls.
“It wasn’t even a thought until the first week of January,” said Walls. “I have a great relationship with [track owner] Melvin [Bishop]. Mid-East Racing had its first-ever race at Princeton in 2017. He wanted to see the track up and running.”
Despite no racing for a few years, Walls added that the facility needs little work.
“Melvin and his family kept the facility going — the landscaping was done, all the power was on,” Walls said. “All the buildings were heated and air conditioned since they closed. There was new LED lighting installed before the last season. It is like a brand-new racetrack — a lot of the equipment there was new in 2021 and hardly ever used — they only had two races.”
Walls said they plan to tun a 12-event schedule, with the season opener on April 13. Five of those nights take place on Friday, seven on Saturday. The track’s marquee event, the Coal Miner’s Classic, is on August 30, the Friday before Labor Day. It’ll pay $10,000 to win, $1,000 to start for the super late models.
“We avoided scheduling on top of other tracks as best as we could,” said Walls. “We have an existing relationship with Ultimate Motorsports Park [in Elkin, North Carolina,] an hour away, and will run on weeks they are not running. And, we stayed away from Beckley Motor Speedway ’s big event days.”
Princeton Raceway will start the year on April 13 with Mid-East Racing Association-sanctioned classes — 604 late models, 602 late models, 602 modifieds, and street stocks.
“Mid-East Racing covers five states,” Walls said. “So far we have incredible positive comments and interest from our racers. Several local racers who have parked their cars since 2021 said they will be back at the track. Everything has been encouraging and exciting for the reopening of Princeton Raceway.”
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.
