How to Find a Short Track Near You

By David Thompson, Short Track Coffee

There may be a short track closer to you than you think.

It might be a quarter-mile dirt oval behind a county fairground. It might be a paved track outside a town you have driven through without noticing. It may race every Saturday, twice a month, or only when the promoter, weather and machinery all cooperate.

Finding the track is usually easy. Figuring out whether it is still active—and what is happening there this weekend—takes a little more work.

Here is the short version:

Search several racing terms, not just “racetrack.”
Check a racing directory to find tracks you may have missed.
Visit the track’s official website or social-media page.
Confirm the current schedule before you leave home.

That last step matters. Short-track schedules change. Rain arrives. Equipment breaks. Events move. Occasionally, a track listed online has not heard a race car in years.

Start With a Map Search

Open Google Maps, Apple Maps or your preferred mapping app and try several searches:

short track racing near me
dirt track racing near me
asphalt speedway near me
oval track racing near me
stock car racing near me
local speedway near me
sprint car racing near me
late model racing near me

Do not rely on one phrase. A facility may call itself a speedway, raceway, motor speedway, motorsports park or fairgrounds track. Search engines do not always understand that those names can describe the same basic Saturday-night activity.

Once you find a possibility, look beyond the distance. Check whether the track is dirt or asphalt, what nights it normally races and whether it runs the kinds of cars you want to see.

If you do not yet know a modified from a late model, that is fine. Pick an active track with a full weekly program. You do not need to study for the grandstands.

Use a Racing Directory

General map searches miss tracks. Racing directories can fill in the gaps.

MyRacePass

MyRacePass includes track profiles, schedules, event listings, results and other information for many local facilities. Its mobile app also has a Near Me feature that uses your location to identify nearby tracks.

MyRacePass is especially useful in areas where tracks and regional series actively use the platform. Not every track does, so an empty or outdated profile is not a final answer.

RacingIn.com

RacingIn.com maintains a state-by-state directory covering more than 1,200 facilities. Its listings include dirt ovals and asphalt short tracks, but also drag strips and road courses. Check the track description before assuming you have found an oval.

Its size makes it useful for discovery. Treat every listing as a lead, not proof of a current racing schedule.

National Speedway Directory

National Speedway Directory offers a track finder with separate categories for oval tracks, drag strips, road courses, karting and other forms of motorsports. The oval-track category can help narrow a broad search.

DIRTRACKR

If you specifically want dirt racing, DIRTRACKR’s track listings provide another state-by-state starting point, often with addresses, track sizes and website links.

No directory is complete, and no directory stays perfectly current. Local racing changes too quickly for that. Use two sources when possible.

Search Social Media—Especially Facebook

Many local tracks use social media as their real-time information desk.

A website may show the original season schedule. A Facebook post made three hours ago will tell you that tonight’s races were canceled because the backstretch has become a pond.

Search the track’s name on Facebook and look for:

posts from the current week
a current-season schedule
start times and gate times
admission prices
weather updates
event flyers
comments from drivers and fans

Make sure you have the official track page. Fan pages, old location pages and pages from previous promoters can remain online long after the information stops being useful.

Instagram is good for seeing the cars and atmosphere. Facebook is often better for the practical details. Some tracks also post updates on X, TikTok or their own text-alert service.

Confirm That the Track Is Active

Before driving an hour or two, verify the event through a source controlled by the track.

Look for all four of these:

A current-season schedule. Make sure the year is correct.
Recent activity. The track should have posted or updated something recently.
Details for the specific event. Check the date, classes, admission price and gate time.
A race-day update. Weather can change the plan after the schedule was published.

If the information is unclear, call or message the track. This is not excessive preparation. It is preferable to discovering that “Saturday racing” meant two Saturdays ago.

Also confirm the physical address. Some tracks use a mailing address, a nearby town name or an entrance located on a different road from the one shown in an old directory.

Search the Schedule, Not Just the Track

Sometimes the fastest route to a good race is to search for events rather than facilities.

Try searches such as:

dirt track racing this weekend in [your state]
short-track racing Saturday near [your city]
late model racing schedule [your state]
sprint car races near [your city]
asphalt racing this weekend [your region]

Regional touring series can also lead you to active tracks. Their schedules show where they will race throughout the season, and the host facilities are usually worth investigating even when the tour is not in town.

If you see a class or series you do not recognize, do not let that stop you. Local racing has an impressive ability to give similar cars completely different names from one county to the next.

Widen the Search Radius

Your closest active short track may not be in your county—or even your state.

Start with a 30-mile radius, then expand to 60 or 100 miles. In parts of the country with a strong racing culture, that may reveal several tracks with different surfaces, classes and personalities. In other regions, a Saturday-night race may require a road trip.

“Near you” is relative. An hour and a half can feel like a long drive for an ordinary event. It feels shorter when the destination has 24 late models, decent barbecue and a feature decided in the final corner.

Choose the Right First Race

The nearest race is not automatically the best introduction.

For a first visit, look for:

a regular weekly program with several classes
a clearly posted schedule and start time
recent photos showing an active crowd and facility
straightforward grandstand admission
a program expected to finish at a reasonable hour

A major touring event can provide faster cars and a larger field, but it may also bring higher ticket prices, heavier traffic and a much later night. A normal weekly show often gives a newcomer a clearer look at what local racing actually is.

Avoid choosing solely by the biggest name on the flyer. A well-run local program with four divisions can be more enjoyable than a marquee event that spends most of the evening recovering broken race cars.

Your Five-Minute Track Check

Before leaving home, answer these questions:

Is the event still on?
What time do the gates open?
What time does racing begin?
What is the admission price?
Is the facility cash-only?
Can you bring a cooler?
Are grandstand seats reserved or general admission?
What does the weather look like at the track—not at your house?
Is the destination address correct?

If you are taking children, also check the track’s policy on ear protection, coolers, bags and re-entry. Bring hearing protection whether the rules mention it or not.

The Track May Be Closer Than the Culture Makes It Seem

Short-track racing does not have one national front door. There is no universal schedule, common naming system or single directory containing every active dirt and asphalt oval.

That fragmentation is part of why people can live near a track for years without knowing what happens there.

But once you find one active track, the rest become easier to discover. You will hear other track names over the public-address system. Cars will carry decals from regional series. Fans will tell you where they are going next weekend, whether you asked them or not.

Start with the closest promising track. Confirm the schedule. Take hearing protection. Show up.

Local racing survives because people keep doing exactly that.