Christmas - 2009 has come and gone and while that very special day has great significance for most Americans and Christian people around the world, it also reminds us that 2009 is almost over and a new Season of Racing is about to start!

Some local racers never take a break and travel wherever necessary to satisfy their racing addiction, but most enjoy the break between SNMS Fall Nationals and the first races of the following season.  With cancellation of the traditional EPSP/SNMS Winter series in 2010, that break will be a little longer than in past years, but not by much. There are a couple of new pre-season races scheduled for 2010 to fill that void. 

The first of those local races will be the 2010 Winter Showdown at White Sands Speedway, scheduled for February 13 and 14, 2010 with practice February 12th.  As this is being written, details have not been published, but preliminary announcements indicate that the following classes will be racing: Street Stocks, X-Mods, Sport Mods, Mini-Sprints, Non-Winged Sprints, Super Trucks and Legends.

I suppose that list could change before race date, so look for details and race times to be published in January on www.WhiteSandsSpeedway.com.  

   

The inaugural 2010 Southern New Mexico Speedway event will be the Southwest Sprint Car Shootout, scheduled for March 19 and 20.  This is another new race for SNMS and was created to replace the EPSP/SNMS Winter Series.  Classes scheduled to race both days of this event include: 305 Winged Sprint Cars, Limited Late Models, X-Mods (B-Mods) and Hornets.

 

Following the Southwest Sprint Car Shootout will be the 15th Annual Winter Meltdown and Chub Daniels Memorial at Southern New Mexico Speedway.  Dates for the Winter Meltdown are March 5, 6 & 7  with practice on March 4th.  This long-standing, $10,000 to win Modified show will again draw drivers from all over the country and maybe even one or two from Canada.  The last 2009 SNMS race, the Fall Nationals, hosted a record number of Modified drivers ever to attend that event and some of the best Modified racing ever seen at this track, so I expect no less for the 2010 Winter Meltdown!  Classes scheduled to participate  include: Modifieds, Street Stocks, Legends and Super Trucks (March 6 & 7 Only).

Additional information for the Sprintcar Shootout and Winter Nationals may be found at www.SNMSpeedway.com.

So... the break is over and it's time to get your cars ready for 2010.  There is a Play-Day scheduled for January 3, 2010 at SNMS so if you want to get in a little practice, there's your chance.  Additional Play-Days may be scheduled, but as far as I know, that is the only one on the calendar right now.

I'll be there Sunday (Play-Day) to take a bunch of pictures and I'm going to see if they will let me tape the White Sands race in February.  I'll post a notice here if that can be arranged.  Then comes the Winter Meltdown with regular season races at EPSP, SNMS and WSS following close behind!

See You At The Racetrack!

Ed