National Open, Milk Bowl Headline Loaded Short Track Weekend

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 2, 2026) – The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and Pennsylvania Posse will renew one of short track racing’s best rivalries Friday and Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway, where the 64th J&S Classics National Open will put $75,000 on the line.

That would be enough to make it a major weekend by itself.

It is not even close to the only significant short track event on the schedule.

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl has the 64th Vermont Milk Bowl, Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway has the $50,000-to-win Pittsburgher, and the CARS Tour will make its first visit to Newport Speedway, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick among the drivers entered.

Add the SMART Modified Tour playoffs at North Carolina’s Tri-County Motor Speedway, the rain-delayed NAPA Fall Final at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, championship weekend at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, and there is plenty to keep race fans occupied through Sunday.

Williams Grove gets the first spotlight.

Friday night’s National Open preliminary pays $12,000 to win before the weekend builds to Saturday’s 40-lap, $75,000 finale.

The Outlaws against the Posse has survived because it remains one of the few national-versus-regional rivalries where the local racers are expected to win, not simply hoped to.

Last year’s Friday preliminary offered a pretty good reminder. Pennsylvania racers Chase Dietz, Lance Dewease, and Danny Dietrich swept the podium.

There is also a historical connection worth remembering this weekend.

The first National Open was held in 1963, and Gordon Johncock won it.

Yes, that Gordon Johncock.

Before he became a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Johncock raced sprint cars and Supermodifieds. His victory at Williams Grove came more than a decade before his first Indy 500 triumph.

Johncock died Monday at age 90.

Sixty-three years after he won the first National Open, another driver will add his name Saturday night to the same list of winners.

The other side of Pennsylvania has plenty going on, too.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway for the 38th Pittsburgher. Condensed to a single-day show due to weather, Saturday’s feature carries a $50,000 winner’s share.

The race also lands at a particularly good time in the championship.

Brandon Sheppard leads Hudson O’Neal by only 20 points. Devin Moran is third, with Ricky Thornton Jr. and Brandon Overton tied behind him.

Twenty points is not much breathing room during a weekend when a bad qualifying effort, heat race, or feature can change the standings quickly.

Jonathan Davenport has won the last two Pittsburghers. O’Neal and Thornton are also former event winners.

The Northeast pavement crowd has one of its signature events this weekend at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt.

The Vermont Milk Bowl has survived for 64 years while keeping a format that still looks almost nothing like a conventional pavement late model race.

Saturday is qualifying day, with time trials and three 50-lap qualifying races for the American-Canadian Tour. The New England Supermodified Series also races 75 laps Saturday, giving the program another reason for SWN readers to pay attention.

Then comes Sunday.

The Milk Bowl carries a $100,000 purse, but the format is still the thing that makes it different.

Drivers race multiple segments, their finishes are added together, and the lowest overall score wins.

If somebody invented that format today, there would probably be a meeting to make it easier to understand.

Fortunately, nobody has changed it.

That is part of why the Milk Bowl is still the Milk Bowl.

Down South, Newport Speedway gets its first CARS Tour visit Friday night, moved up due to impending weather and featuring Caden Kvapil’s continued pursuit of a late model stock division championship. He’s aiming to join his older brother Carson as a CARS Tour champion for JR Motorsports.

Whether the action is on DIRTvision (WoO), FloRacing (LOLMDS, CARS Tour, and more) or elsewhere, there is plenty going on to choose from if you are a racing fan this weekend – and that doesn’t even include the fact that the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Saturday and Sunday as well!

Let’s go racing and enjoy it, folks!