“MASON-DIXON SHOOTOUT” RECALLS AREA’S VIVID HERITAGE

 


The “Fastest Little Dirt Track in the East” at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland will host round seven of the 2011 USAC Mopar .25 Midget “Generation Next” tour. The June 3-5 event will open with practice on Friday, with racing slated Saturday and Sunday.


 


The “Mason-Dixon Shootout” offers the first of two dirt-track appearances for the Mopar .25 Midgets. The other, scheduled for September 23-25 at “Little E” at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, concludes the 2011 calendar. The “Mason-Dixon Shootout” will feature drivers from both north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line, which traverses the countryside just north of Hagerstown and recalls the vivid heritage of the area during the Civil War period of our nation’s history. Several famous battlegrounds, including Gettysburg and Antietam are within an hour’s drive.


 


The Hagerstown Quarter Midget Association, host club for the June 3-5 event, debuted in the spring of 1958 at the American Legion in Funkstown, Md. After a mid-1960s suspension of activities, the club resumed racing in 1981 at its present site, on the grounds of Hagerstown Speedway, which hosted USAC National races in 1986 (Silver Crown), 2007 and 2008 (Sprint Cars).


 


“We are excited about the upcoming visit to Maryland,” says USAC Developmental Racing Director James Spink. “The track is less than an hour’s drive from our Nation’s Capital, which presents yet another chance for our participants to combine this event with a unique vacation opportunity.”


 


The “Mason-Dixon Shootout” also coincides with USAC’s “Eastern Storm” AMSOIL National Sprint Car tour which visits a series of dirt tracks in Pennsylvania and New Jersey between May 31 and June 4.