Bradenton has some of the state’s best high school football in the fall, and gets to show off one of the best spring training parks around, McKechine Field, in the spring. Yeah, the sports landscape is pretty well covered. And included in that lot is auto racing.
DeSoto Speedway and Bradenton Motorsports Park, located on State Road 64 East, offer enough for any local racing enthusiast who lives for the sound of cars zipping up and down — or around and around — the track. DeSoto Speedway made history last November, when it hosted the Florida 400.
The world’s lone 400- lap sprint car race, according to track officials, the Florida 400 offered a purse of roughly $56,000. Tampa’s Dave Steele took first prize — worth $12,000 — by besting 32 other drivers. But that wasn’t the only slice of important stuff that night — prior to the race, Dave “The Bullet” Smith Jr., a second-generation human cannonball, cleared a world-record 18 cars. This year, DeSoto hosted the Frank Riddle Memorial on Sept. 27. A Tampa resident, Memorial was one of Florida’s greatest openwheeled drivers. Bus races, go-karts races and other assorted events are scheduled at DeSoto, which offers stock car racing every Saturday night.
The gates open at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, and $5 for kids between the ages of 6 and 12. Children under the age of 5 are admitted free. Budweiser Night, Turner Tree & Landscape Night and Pepsi Night highlight the slate of special events at DeSoto. Not far from DeSoto is Bradenton Motorsports Park to satisfy all of your drag-racing needs. The track is a member of the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), and consequently, is eligible to play host to the King of the Track Championship. The winner receives an NHRA Wally and King of the Track hat, as well as a supplied picture in National Dragster.
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