Sunday afternoons will again be the time and place for racing action at the Sands Speedway as the track begins the second half of a century of operation.
Drivers will tackle the tricky track over the course of 10 separate weekends throughout the summer months. This year’s calendar will be split into three segments, each separated by a one week break.
The first green flag of the year will fly June 7th with action following the next two Sundays before the season’s first week off. Racing will resume on July 12th, an event which begins a mid season stretch of five consecutive races. After the second break, only two races will remain in the 2020 Sands Speedway season. Those races will run August 23rd and 30th, with the latter serving as the championship finale.
Though more details are forthcoming on when the track’s marquee events will be run, we can expect to see the return of Kids’ Day as well as the running of the Seventh Annual Jim Meske Memorial.
Last year’s running of the Jim Meske Memorial hosted some of the year’s most exciting racing in the 30 Lap Auto Value Super Stock & Experimental Division Combined Feature (Pictured Above). Ray Keskimaki and Parker Cain battled in the early stages of the race, with contact sending Keskimaki spinning and airborne through the infield. Luckily, Keskimaki stayed on all four tires and rejoined the battle. Cain’s race would end soon after as he took his car to the pits. The final laps would see a battle between Kaskimaki and Ross Olsen Jr., racing his dad’s car, that would fall the way of Keskimaki.
While the racing was great, the cause championed by the event was greater with over $4,000 being raised and donated to Cancer Care of Marquette County.
Below is the Sands Speedway schedule in full.
By Todd Rose