JACKSONVILLE, NC – Racing in the winter months is becoming more common across the Southeast, and New River All American Speedway has jumped all in.
The 4/10-mile track in Jacksonville, North Carolina will run a six race, points-paying series from January 1 through February 8. The January 1 race, appropriately dubbed the Hangover Nationals, has been a staple on the track’s schedule since it reopened, and the Winter Heat Series is an experiment track operator Anthony Goodyear has successfully tried before.
This time around, New River All American Speedway will run Limited Late Models, Mini Stocks, Bombers, Legend Cars, Bandoleros, as well as the Juice Box division the track started to promote youth interest. All six races will count for points.
Dillon Motor Speedway and Florence Motor Speedway each traditionally run races in the winter. Dillon runs its annual New Year’s Bash Street Stock race on the weekend following New Year’s Day, an event that replaced the Polar Bear Street Stock race which had been held at Rockingham Speedway for a few seasons. Florence Motor Speedway hosts the Icebreaker in early-February. Caraway Speedway has also joined the party in recent years, running a race in mid-January. Carteret County Speedway also hosts a race each year in mid-December.
However, a winter series in the Carolinas has only been pulled off by New River, in 2022, and by U.S. Legend Cars and INEX International, which holds races on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course in January prior to the Winter Nationals race week in Florida.
Following the Winter Heat Series, New River will shift its attention to early-March, as the Onslow County track is hosting the zMAX CARS Tour opener for both the Late Model Stocks and Pro Late Models. The opener had traditionally been held at Southern National, but moved to New River on the heels of a sell-out race last April starring Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
According to a track release, “Winter Heat races will be run in the afternoon hours, and will not be run if the temperature is below 50 degrees.”
The track also notes that, in spite of a cold start to December, which will lead to the coldest Thanksgiving Classic in years at Southern National this upcoming weekend, forecasters have called for above average temperatures due to a La Niña weather pattern. Because of its proximity to the coast, temperatures in Jacksonville are traditionally more mild in the winter months than in most of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic.
New River All American Speedway’s full 2025 season schedule is expected to be released in the coming weeks. Like every track in North Carolina that is not Hickory Motor Speedway, New River All American Speedway is part of the recently announced North Carolina Short Track Coalition.
Winter Heat Schedule
- Wednesday, January 1, 2025 – Hangover Nationals
- Saturday, January 11, 2025
- Saturday, January 18, 2025
- Saturday, January 25, 2025
- Saturday, February 1, 20252
- Saturday, February 8, 2025
Daniel bodenheimer
November 29, 2024 at 11:11 pm
Car count will be horrible the first race because of dilions new years bash but the rest should be awesome. Love the idea but push things up to the 2nd week of January, would be smart