(Paducah, KY) After a one year hiatus, racing entertainment is coming back to Paducah International Raceway in 2018. The speedway, owned by longtime promoter Bob Sargent and NASCAR’s Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader, was closed during the summer of 2017 after the previous management team stepped away at the end of the previous season. A Western Tennessee businessman has stepped forward to take the reins in 2018.
Phil Colwell has recently struck a deal with the ownership team to take over as leasee of the 3/8-mile high banked dirt track. Colwell has big plans for the facility, with weekly Friday night racing as well as several big shows throughout the year.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing that first green flag drop this coming spring. It’s a beautiful facility with the potential for great, high speed action.”, Colwell stated.
Colwell has plans to open up in late March to early April with the possibility of a big show early on in the season. The track will run weekly on Friday nights throughout the summer with racing taking the green at 8 PM.
One of several weekly classes at the track will be the UMP sanctioned Modifieds, a highly popular class in dirt track racing. Colwell also has plans to bring back the old school Cruiser class, an affordable division to get a start in racing and go out and have fun. Several other weekly divisions will be announced in the near future.
Paducah International Raceway opened in 1972. The track is located at 4445 Shemwell Lane in Paducah, Kentucky. In recent years, the track has hosted the UMP Summer Nationals, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, as well as highly popular NASCAR nights featuring some well known drivers.
During the 2016 season, the track hosted events that included UMP Late Models, Crate Late Models, Modifieds, Street Stocks, 4 Cylinders, B-Mods, Pure Streets, 305 Sprints, Junior Mini Sprints, Bombers, and Mod Lites.
Full information on the upcoming 2018 season will be released as it becomes available at www.paducahracing.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/paducahracing/.