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Route 66 Motor Speedway gears up for new season


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Route 66 Motor Speedway gears up for new season

by Drew Powell, 7 News Armarillo

RANDALL COUNTY, Texas (KVII) — A new year of racing at the Route 66 Motor Speedway gets the green light this month. The operators of the dirt track are banking on a series of strategic moves that can put the speedway in Victory Lane.

“Honestly I was just want to get a full season in," said Zach Gossett, Route 66 promotions manager. "Last year with all the Covid regulations we lost a third of our season revenue-wise we took a pretty big hit.”

Zack Gossett and his brother Jeremy are hoping 2021 will feature a reversal of fortune.

“Last year taught us to overcome adversity," said Gossett. "We were thrown every which way curveball could have been thrown being the first year we had problems with the masks, problems with social distancing, a problem with TABC, lightning struck and knocked the power out one night. We had rainouts, we were literally thrown every single problem that we could have had in our first year we overcame it.”

The grandstands, which have a capacity of 4,400, might be empty now but that looks to change come Saturday, April 24 for the first night of the 2021 racing season at the Route 66 Motor Speedway.

This year it’s going to be a little different as the race track is going to be competing against other entities in Amarillo for the Saturday night dollar.

“I know we're going to be up against a lot of other activities just hoping we can keep the momentum going and the excitement level up," said Gossett.

One way to keep the excitement level up is to offer a new class of racing – six classifications will hopefully translate to more drivers and more fans.

“Starting at the top we got sprint cars, we’ve got USRA Modified’s, USRA Limited Modified’s, limited late models, street stocks, and a brand new class USRA Tuner a front-wheel-drive four-cylinder class," said Gossett.

Operating a grassroots racing venue featuring different forms of family entertainment is one way families don’t have to break the bank to have fun under the sunset and stars while watching the racing.

This year the Route 66 Motor Speedway has worked out a deal with Lubbock Speedway and West Texas Raceway to not host racing on the same nights thus ensuring larger gates and a larger purse for the winning drivers.

Opening night is April 24, featuring a car show from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The final race of the season is Sept. 17 and 18 featuring the Mark Rogers Memorial Sport Mod Show.

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