62 Teams Hit Georgetown Speedway Clay Saturday For Open Practice

62 Teams Hit Georgetown Speedway Clay Saturday For Open Practice; Melvin L. Joseph Memorial Up Next

Story By: Brett Deyo/Georgetown Speedway

Photos By: Pete MacDonald/RacersGuide.com

GEORGETOWN, DE – Georgetown Speedway launched its 2018 season on Saturday afternoon with a day-long ‘Test and Tune’ session on the half-mile, banked clay oval.

A solid 62 race teams took advantage of an Open Practice session to shake down their equipment in advance of the March 16-17 Melvin L. Joseph Memorial Season Opener.

During the four-hour practice, speedway management launched its all-new AMB transponder scoring system, lit the recently installed LED lap counter and sent scoring info to the Race Monitor app for the first time.

Of the 62 teams assembled, 16 of them were Sunoco big- and small-block Modifieds turning laps in advance of the huge opening weekend.

Other divisions taking part were Super Late Models, L&J Sheet Metal Crate 602 Sportsman, RUSH Crate Late Models, Little Lincolns, Delmarva Chargers, Delaware Super Trucks, Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Cars and Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series 305 Sprint Cars.

Attention now turns to a huge weekend opener.

On Friday night (March 16), Small-Block Modifieds take the headline with a 30-lap main paying $4,049 to win plus RUSH Crate Late Models ($1,049 to win), Delmarva Chargers and Delaware Super Trucks. There will be three practice sessions for the big-block Modifieds and Crate 602 Sportsman with the fastest driver in each gaining a Saturday redraw spot.

Pit gates are unlocked on Friday at 4 p.m., with grandstands open at 5 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:20 p.m. with racing at 7:15 p.m.

Grandstand admission is $20 for Adults, $16 for Seniors (ages 65 and up) and Students (ages 13-17), $10 for Children (ages 9-12) and Kids 8 and under are FREE. Pit admission is $35 (ages 13 and up), $10 for Kids (ages 6-12) and $2 for Children 5 and under.

Saturday (March 17) brings the 50th event in Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco history with a 49-lap event paying $6,949 to the winner and $490 to start. This event kicks off the 10-race, $10,000 Velocita-USA South Region battle.

Also on the docket is the first STSS L&J Sheet Metal Crate 602 Sportsman South event ($1,049 to win) plus features only for Delmarva Chargers, Delaware Super Trucks, Little Lincolns and Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Cars.

Pit gates open at noon on Saturday. Grandstand gates are open at 1 p.m. Hot laps hit the track at 3 p.m. and racing gets underway at 4 p.m.

Grandstand admission is $25 for Adults, $20 for Seniors (ages 65 and up) and Students (ages 13-17), $10 for Children (ages 9-12) and Kids 8 and under are FREE. Pit admission is $35 (ages 13 and up), $10 for Kids (ages 6-12) and $2 for Children 5 and under.

Two-day grandstand passes cost $40 (Adults), $30 (Senior or Student) or $15 (Children). Weekend pit passes cost $65.

Georgetown Speedway, originally constructed by Melvin L. Joseph in 1949, is located at the intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road in Georgetown, Del., just miles from the Delaware beaches and less than a 40-minute drive from Ocean City, Md.

A website is live for the speedway at www.thegeorgetownspeedway.com. Like Georgetown Speedway on Facebook, follow @thegtownspdwy on Twitter, e-mail georgetownspeedway@gmail.com or contact the speedway hotline at 302.563.GTWN (4896).