Getting down and dirty

Jason Owens is looking to start some engines and fill a void in Southeast Missouri with his dirt and mud multipurpose facility, Missouri Dirt Motorsports.

A Cape Girardeau native, Owens has had a deep love for racing from a young age.

"My dad raced cars ever since I was a young kid, and my older brother and I kind of grew up in racing," Owens said. "I always had a passion for it and worked on dirt cars and sprint cars, which took me into NASCAR racing."

Owens went to Florida at the end of 1999 and worked for a NASCAR Busch Grand National team as a jack man on the pit crew and as a mechanic. He worked there for three years until he had to come home with a knee injury in 2001.

After settling in the area and seeing several of the local race tracks close in places like Zalma and Bloomfield, Missouri, Owens and his fellow racers were left without a place to compete.

Eric Enderle of Scott City straps into his truck, Mud Slinger, for the mud-bog event Aug. 19 at Missouri Dirt Motorsports in Sikeston.Fred Lynch

"We'd been looking for a place to race and been traveling to other states and going to Illinois, Kentucky and Mississippi, and we'd been traveling 200 to 300 miles to go race one way, and I figured it was time to put a facility in around here and get it going," Owens said.

Thus, Missouri Dirt Motorsports was born.

Just off Interstate 55 in Sikeston, Missouri, the facility is meant to accommodate an array of activities, from dirt and mud racing to truck and tractor pulls and demolition derbies.

Owens leased the property in October and since has been working to make the track operational and ready for guest racers. And with the help of friend Jim Mosely and Owens' mother, Shiela, the trio has worked persistently to make the track functional and keep the business organized.

"[My mother's] done a wonderful job. You know how a mom is, they'll do anything for you to make sure things are right, and she does that for darn sure," Owens said.

The track's first national event was held in early spring and included racers from 12 states.

Brandon Turner of Waverly, Tennessee races Troubled Times on the drag strip Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017 at Missouri Dirt Motorsports in Sikeston, Missouri.Fred Lynch

Although marred by heavy springs rains, the event, which originally had around 160 entries, drew around 70 racers. And despite the setbacks, Owens set standards early to follow through with his promises for all racers who visit his track.

"We had guys from a little bit of everywhere across the Midwest, and I told them if they showed up, I would pay the money that I said I was going to pay and we would race, and we did," he said. "So that was a defining moment for this track, you know, the very first race -- you have to do what you say you're going to do."

Although the event helped raise awareness of the track, Owens said he plans to be more cautious with planning the next large event.

"I think that put our name on the map and that set us up for the second annual date next year that we plan to put on, and hopefully the weather will cooperate," he said.

A past racer himself, Owens still loves the sport but has set his sights on building his business and supporting other racers for now.

"I've got some toys, but I've set that all aside," he said. "I feel like the most important thing at the moment right now is to get this place here in tip-top shape and make it a good racetrack for the guys who are coming."

With plans to continue running the track next year and with a potential move in locating, Owens said he is looking forward to growing Missouri Dirt Motorsports to better accommodate more racers and events as time goes on.

"We're having a good time," he said. "We're not breaking the bank or anything at this moment, but we're having a good time and doing what we love to do. So I think if we just keep putting that positivity into it, people are going to show."

lyoung@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632