PB track won't be ready to go racing until spring

Don't expect to hear engines come to life this season at the new Poplar Bluff (Mo.) Speedway.

Co-owner Jennifer Adamson said Wednesday that work still needs to be finished on the track before it's ready to open, and those final additions won't be made in time to host events this season.

She said she expects the track to open for weekly racing in the spring.

"We'll be ready next year," she said. "But anybody who drives by it now can see big changes in just the past few weeks. We have concession stands up and a lot of other fixtures in place, and we've put the clay surface on the track. We just have other things that haven't been done yet."

In the final stretch

Two tracks that still have racing left in them this season are Auto Tire and Parts Racepark near Benton, Mo., and Malden (Mo.) Speedway. Both have events lined up this weekend.

At Malden, outlaw sprints will race for $2,000 to win at 7 p.m. Friday as part of a packed lineup. Late models, modifieds, hobby stocks, pure streets and cruisers also will compete.

A day later at ATPR, the track hosts its final event of the season with its own $2,000-to-win event for outlaw sprints. Modifieds also will race for $2,000 - more than double the division's weekly top prize. Street stocks, cruisers and mini stocks also will race starting at 7 p.m. Info:382-2423.

Malden Speedway will host its final event next Friday and Saturday with the Cotton Boll Cup, which includes late models ($5,000 to win) and modifieds ($2,500 to win). Info:276-6265.

Around the tracks

Clay Hill Motorsports: The track at Atwood, Tenn., hosts a rare event for outlaw sprints Saturday worth $1,500 to the winner. It pays $200 to start. Info: (731) 669-3833.

I-55: Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., picked up $10,000 by winning the Pepsi Nationals for late models Saturday at I-55 Raceway near Pevely, Mo. Forty-one late models competed.

Milan: The Paul Cook Memorial Race will pay $1,000 to win for street stocks Saturday at Milan (Tenn.) Motor Sports. Milan fast-street rules apply. Info: (731) 686-2781, 686-3499 or 662-7670.

Poinsett County: Billy James of Sikeston won Saturday's late model feature at Harrisburg, Ark. Charles LaPlant of East Prairie was seventh.

Modified racer killed

Springfield, Ill., dirt-track modified racer George Handley III, 29, was killed in a crash Sunday afternoon in the fourth lap of the 11th annual Illinois Fall Nationals, a modified car race on the mile dirt track at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

Six cars were involved in the crash that led to Handley's death. Several members of his family and friends were at the track and watched the events unfold. They said it happened quickly and apparently started when another driver got a flat tire, lost control, hit a wall and bounced back across the track in front of several other cars. Another racer, Danny Schlup of Wentzville, Mo., was hospitalized with a broken ankle.

It was estimated the cars were going about 120 mph on the straightaway when the crash happened.