It’s a bit warmer… The daylight lingers a bit longer… The original date was scheduled in May. Those pesky Spring showers forced a re-schedule. Maybe twice…

July 30, 2022. The weather brought a break in temperature and humidity from earlier in the week to set the stage for a good evening of racing at Motor Mile Speedway. The Pulaski County Play Outside 250 presented by Shively Electric was finally going to happen.

The crowd filtered in with gates at 4pm and an open “pit party” with cars and drivers on the front stretch at 5:30pm. A childrens’ bicycle race started the racing festivities at 6:30pm. The first green flag was set for 7:00pm. The evening set at Motor Mile generally followed the regular series on tap with the addition of the traveling Southern Ground Pounders which feature vintage style race cars.

The Total Car Care Mod-4 set off with the engine command and green flag set in motion by folks from Pulaski County. The 25 lap starter was won by Jonathan Hall.

The Collision Plus Sportsman presented a good field to race the first of the two 30 lap runs. Race one had the checkers taken by Karl Budzevski.

The Late Models, presented by Price’s Body Shop, also had a double shot on the schedule. The first of the 50 lap races was won by Mike Looney as he added another notch to his Motor Mile win list.

The Southern Ground Pounders took the track next with their 25 lap exhibition race. Chris Werner won the Modified division and Shawn Otey won the Sportsman division.

The second of the “Twin 30” Collision Plus Sportsman took the green under the full lights of the track. Once again for the evening, Karl Budveskie put his #7 in Victory Lane.

Late Models put on their second 50 lap show. Mike Looney gave a good run on Kyle Dudley but fell back later in the race as Dudley held on for the win.

The Enduros had a good showing also with a winner’s pot set at $2000.00 on the 100 lap, special “bubble race”. (What’s a “bubble race”…? It’s a race through bubbles… Duh…) OK… Two party bubble machines were set at the start/finish and cars race by stirring and pushing the bubbles. Yes… It is…

It is as odd and weird and, as it was, just as underwhelming as it sounds. The 100 lap race, however, had plenty of action and some good challenges on the lead. That lead, however, was mostly dominated by an orange #43 Infiniti wheeled by Trevor Heart.

Photo Gallery from Motor Mile Speedway / Pulaski County Play Outside 250

The weekend of June 4 was a bit wide open for short track racing. The choices were all open. The dirt at Natural Bridge or Wythe was on and South Boston was running a “triple crown” preview for the upcoming Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200.

However… Motor Mile in Radford was running hot on two levels. The Saturday night speedway action for June 4 Heroes Night presented twin Late Models and Limited Sportsman races with Super Street, U-Car and Pure-4. The oval action had fast company with a full weekend running the straight line on the drag strip. Motor Mile Dragway also had a full paddock so the choice was made to double down in Radford,

The Drag Strip is running a full local schedule for 2022 so there is time to catch it. Friday Night Fury and Brackets are on tap into August with local street challenges and more sprinkled in. The paddock and staging has a large area for competitors with a call tower and VIP suite at the start line. There is plenty of seating on both sides of the lanes for spectators. We had a window to check it out before action got started at the oval.

Test and tune went off Friday with the Brackets getting on Saturday and into Sunday. It took a few runs and some questions to get it straight but we caught up. The variety of racing was wide open. Classics, vintage and street were all mixed in during the day while the oval was getting the teams to the infield. There were even some juniors racing and they were just as quick on the throttle as the adults. This will be on the list for a follow up visit.

Motor Mile Dragway – June 4, 2022 – Photo Gallery

The oval at Motor Mile Speedway was set for a full Saturday evening beginning with a tribute to all who have served in the military and in public safety. Racing went off on the evening schedule on time but quickly set the stage for some excitement. Points racing for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series was on tap with support series filling the schedule.

The “Total Car Care” Mod-4 were shaken up under the green flag as Jonathan Hall got turned around on the start. The restart came off OK and, despite a banged up race car, Jonathan Hall managed a third place finish. Doodle Lang put his #22 in Victory Lane as Kevin Canter came in second.

The next challenge ran the first of two Collision Plus Limited Sportsman races. The finish was not much different from the start. There were some deep challenges but most fell back as the top three at the finish started in the top four positions. The winner, Daryn Cockram, also started on the pole. Karl Budzevski and Jacob Porter finished second and third. Brad Foy, who started outside of Cockram, fell back a bit to hold sixth at the end.

For Super Street, presented at Motor Mile by DCT Towing, brought the challenge as the front starters fought for position early on. Daniel Eakin and Scooter Hollandsworth were close but the #16 of Hollandsworth lost some tack and fell back. Hard charging a few spots back, Bryce Blake managed to climb up for a second place finish behind Eakin. Scooter held on for third.

We’re mid-season at Motor Mile and the Price’s Body Shop Late Model division is showing signs of growth. A track this size with this kind of facility should be drawing more drivers. Granted… Late Model racing is not a cheap run but for southwest Virginia there is not a lot of racing but for the dirt at Wythe and some hot laps in coal country at Lonesome Pine. So… Bring it on!

For the first of the twin 50 lap features, it was another front challenge for Kyle Dydley and Mike Looney. Bryan Reedy started on pole but couldn’t keep the chargers in the mirrors as Cory Dunn made it by. Dunn and Looney raced the front for several laps but a fiery caution brought the race to a stop. Zeke Shell likely had a fluid leak that sparked up into a front end fire in turns three and four. Shell came out of the #1 OK but was out for this one. The restart allowed Kyle Dudley to get back into the challenge and as the final laps wound out, Dunn fell back to third as Dudley and Looney traded the front by bumper lengths. For race one, it was Dudley, Looney and Dunn in first, second and third. Pole starter Reedy put the #17 in for fourth.

The second Collision Plus Limited Sportsman event rolled out and shook up. The field chased the front from the mid and forward. The pole starter, Drew Bond, fell back to fifth at the finish. Karl Budzevski took the win as Dale Cline and Jacob Porter came across the line in second and third.

With racing well under the lights, the Blue Ridge Church U-Car / Pure 4 combined to make a couple of restarts to get around for lap one. At the finish, it was Cary Thomason on top for UCar and William Hale took the top spot in Pure-4.

The final feature of the evening brought the Price’s Body Shop Late Models back to the track. Early racing bunched up in turn three and four and the attrition for late racing began. Kyle Dudley, who had won the first Late Model feature, got jammed up in it and was out of the contest. With Dudley out, the front was contested by Mike Looney and Cory Dunn but it was Looney that held the lead at the end. Dunn held the second and Bryan Reedy came up for third.

Motor Mile Speedway – Heroes Night – June 4, 2022 – Full Gallery

The regular racing season for Motor Mile Speedway may be over but action at Motor Mile is far from done. A-1 Heating and Cooling Championship Night brought twin event racing start to finish with Track Champions being set for the 2021 season.

Coming up for the rest of the year the track is not holding back with the Tour Of Destruction coming up this weekend (9/18) with School Bus Racing, War Wizard Monster Truck, Fireworks, Demolition Derby and more. October brings the SMART Modified Tour, Circle Track Warehouse Madness, Halloween Pumpkin Smash and Monster Trucks.

The Rusty Wallace Racing Experience has their first year with Motor Mile showing progress and momentum. For the points track racing, it came down to Saturday, September 11 which opened with a quick UCar race before bringing some area fire and emergency vehicles on the track as a tribute to those fallen on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Peyton Howell won the Blue Ridge Church UCar opener. Later in the evening for the 2nd UCar race, Howell and the #11 car were involved in a wreck that left Howell injured and unable to finish. He was treated in the infield for non-serious injury then left the track after the UCar event but was still the UCar Track Champion for 2021. The 2nd UCar race was won by Cary Thomason.

Ryan Wilson picked up wins in both of the twin Late Model races but it wasn’t enough to take the crown from NAAPWS LM Champion Kres VanDyke.

The Super Street races were split with wins from Hank Turman in the first and Ray Sowers taking the second and, with it, the Championship for Motor Mile Super Street.

The largest field of cars on the track was the Sportsman division with crowded competition from green to checkers. The first of the twin-30 Collision Plus Sportsman was won by Corey Dunn. The second was taken by Kyle Barnes but it was Corey Dunn who came away as Sportsman Champion at Motor Mile.

The Mod-4 was also a little crowded and featured split wins. Doodle Lang won the first of the twin-25s and Jimmy Mullins won the second. Lang’s win in the first race added to his Mod-4 Tack Championship for 2021.

The full facility at Motor Mile also features a drag strip with still more events on the calendar. The Rusty Wallace Racing Experience features karts with a dedicated track, stock car and drag car driving for fans to get behind the wheel and see what it’s like to take to the track. There is a lot more to see and do on the way at Motor Mile.

FULL PHOTO GALLERY from A-1 Heating and Cooling Championship Night is below