By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
‘Tis the Season, and as Christmas Eve is here, I hope that you all find yourselves on Santa’s nice list. I know I’m not. But, that hasn’t stopped me from sharing what is on my Racing Wish List for the 2025 season and beyond. Some of these are serious, some not so much, so take it with a grain of salt and don’t get your undies in a bunch. Anyways, here’s the list.
- A Smooth 2025: The whole Ohio Speedweek and All Star Circuit of Champions revival has sent the Ohio Sprint Car scene into a tizzy once again. Then POWRi teamed up with the FAST and BOSS Series and things really heated up. As everyone tries to figure out where they fit into the Buckeye Region, it is my hope everyone can work together as much as possible to ensure the stability and growth of Ohio Sprint Car racing for years to come. I believe Ohio is in a great spot to succeed, as a team can run as much or as little as they want, against local, regional, and national series. In a perfect world, all the big local/regional/national series shows wouldn’t overlap, but that’s not feasible. I feel like Ohio did a good job at this in 2024, but as always, things can change in a heartbeat. I don’t expect everyone joining hands and singing ‘Kumbaya,’ but let’s work together and raise the state as a whole.
- Variety: I know the old saying is “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” but since I’ve been going to Attica (2016), there hasn’t been too much variety in the schedule. I don’t expect 2025 to be much different. I’ve said this before, but the schedule is a shredded chicken sandwich. It’s good, solid, and you won’t find many people who don’t like a shredded chicken sandwich. While I believe the 410/Late Model/305 show is one of the best local shows in the country, it can get bland sometimes. We don’t have to go and reinvent the shredded chicken sandwich, but lets get some BBQ sauce or some potato chips to put on this thing. I was disappointed to not see Attica on the USAC schedule when Fremont and Millstream got dates. I know there’s a lot that goes into a schedule, and it takes time to get all the right pieces in place, and there’s risk in shaking things up, but fans can only eat the same chicken sandwich so many times before they start looking at pulled pork. Disclaimer: I work at Attica, and the 2025 schedule is pretty well set, and I know there are things going on behind the scenes to get some BBQ or potato chips for our excellent chicken sandwich schedule, it just takes time. (Please don’t fire me Justin.) But I’d love to see nonwing sprints back, a Hell Tour race, heck even a national late model tour race back. I think a late-season mod show could draw lots of racers, especially after Limaland has completed their season. That being said, there aren’t too many tracks in the entire country that run 410s and Super Late Models on a weekly basis, and Ohio is blessed to have tracks like Attica and Wayne County that run these classes weekly, and we can’t forget about Atomic who run one or both of these classes most weeks.
- Wayne County Concessions Everywhere: I shouldn’t have to add too much to this. The Wayne County Cheeseburger and Steak Fries are a delicacy, and their concession cashier can handle two lines by herself faster than most two cashier, one line systems. She’d probably be faster yet if people like me weren’t fumbling their wallet trying to get cash out. An extra-special Merry Christmas to the Wayne County Speedway concession stand.
- Mother Nature to Play Nice: I want to race in March without having to drive to Pennsylvania, OK? I know we technically got a race in on March 31st in 2024, but the joy I’d feel to be able to race at Attica on their actual opening night would be unmatched. Rainouts were few and far between in the summer months; for that I’m grateful. Here’s to hoping Mother Nature gets her act together in the Spring and lets us have our fun all season long.
- The Locals to Shine: Attica, Fremont, Eldora, Sharon, and Atomic all have visits scheduled from either the World of Outlaws or High Limit. Our locals tend to get into the top ten, and we may get a top five here and there, but I’d love nothing more than to see one of our local drivers defend home turf and park it in victory lane. Atomic may burn down if Cole Duncan could get his first Outlaw win there. Our locals could take down the old version of the All Stars, but I hope to see a driver take that next step and get the biggest win of their career. I think 2025 is the year it happens.
- More Late Model Love: Admittedly, I’ve been a sprint car snob most of my time in dirt racing. 2024 started to change that as I got to experience late models in rural Illinois, as God intended. Obviously, Eldora has the Dream, the World and the DTWC, but that’s a big half-mile-aero-dependent track. What I experienced at Fairbury was enough to make me wish our local drivers had a Crown Jewel late model event on a smaller track. But Jacob, Bobby Pierce won both the PDC and the World in 2024. Ok? The man is an alien. I’d love nothing more than to see BP32, Terbo, RTJ, Kyle Moore, Rusty Schlenk, etc. banging doors and leaning on each other Dome style for a fat check at a juiced up, high banked Limaland. A man can dream.
- A Clone of Myself: There are many times where I wish I could be two places at once on race night. Whether it be doing interviews with Attica winners while the next feature starts, or covering both the AFCS Finale that always gets scheduled during World 100 weekend (I’m looking at you, Duane). I suppose that’s a good problem to have– too many great races to cover on any given weekend. Ohio race fans are very blessed to have such a variety of great races in state, and so many excellent tracks to watch said races at.
My in-laws are showing up soon, so I’m going to have to leave my list at that. I’m sure there are endless things I could put on this list, but I won’t bore you. Both Clint and I from Ohio Dirt hope you and your loved ones have a great Christmas and New Year. Be safe, have fun, and we’ll see you around in 2025, God willing.