AUBURNDALE, Fl. -- The 3rd Annual Winter Showdown Series event at the Auburndale Speedway began on Monday with registration and practice, and optimism is high that this year's four-day event will be the largest yet, with five divisions of racing and drivers from the US, Canada, and the UK expected to compete.

Event founder and Promoter Brad Hockaday started the race three years ago to allow INEX Legend Cars and Bandoleros to have some additional big events to compete at (he envisions running a spring, summer, and/or fall version of the event in the future).  

He grew up at Auburndale, learning to flag and racing go-karts while his family operated the facility.  So, it was natural that he would choose his "home track" to host the first event.  

Earlier versions have seen the USAC Eastern Midget Series and local Florida divisions compete, but last year the TQ Midgets were added along with the 602 Modifieds and both are back for 2025.  Over 20 TQ Midgets are already entered with drivers from the US and Canada.  The 602 Modified division should see drivers from Florida, North Carolina and New York in action. 

Hockaday also got a request from a group of Baby Grand National racers for a spot on the card, and soon that turned into an international affair with four fabulous drivers from the UK filing entries to come across the pond in a mini-British Invasion.

As of Monday evening, all pre-race parking spots had been sold, presenting the real possibility that 150-200 cars could fill the pit area throughout the week.  What happens if more cars show up and need parking? 

"Oh, we'll find room for them," Hockaday said with a smile.  "Those are the best problems to have.  We are thankful to have so much enthusiasm this year.  It takes time to build an event like this and show people that you are going to be in it for the long term. Thinking about the possibility of 150 cars in our third year is pretty exciting. The weather looks great all week, with temps in the 80s and a lot of sunshine, so bring your suntan lotion and come join us!"

One factor driving race team attendance up is the addition of the INEX Winternationals for the bandoleros and legend cars now being held at Auburndale the week following the Showdown.  Hockaday is the INEX National Series Director this season, and with the change in venue for the Nationals to Auburndale, teams in both divisions can get nearly two weeks of racing action in the Florida sunshine to give themselves a head start on the season.  

"I am excited to be working with INEX again and the combination of the Showdown and the Winternationals gives the teams coming to Florida for either event the chance to run both, giving them more racing for their money. Teams running the Showdown will have a four-day head start on those just running the Winternationals to dial in their cars, so it will be fun to see if they can turn that into an advantage for next week's racing."

Sunoco, through distributor Southern Racing Fuels, returns for the second year as the Official Fuel of the Winter Series Showdown.  

MPI, USA also returns to the event to provide an overall Hard Charger Award for the week for each class.  

A brand new website for the series is now online at www.WinterShowdownSeries.com.  All series information including the full week's schedule, a "watch live" button that takes you to the live stream (active Wednesday through Saturday), registration information, and a link to purchase official event merchandise.

The merchandise is new this year.  The live stream is $59.99 for the entire week and is being produced by Pit RowTV but available exclusively on the event's website. 

The tight 1/4-mile Auburndale track will no doubt provide fireworks all week long on the track, and on both Friday and Saturday a fireworks display will also appear in the sky as well, so come on out and join the fun at the 3rd Annual Winter Showdown, or sign up for the live stream and enjoy the action from wherever you are!