Heartland Motorsports Park
Heartland Motorsports Park
— Topeka, Kansas
Heartland Park Raceway is a facility which includes a multi-configuration Road Course and a 3/8 mile clay oval which was added for the 2001 racing season after a brief experiment with a temporary dirt oval. The facility is located just outside of Topeka, Kansas.
The track is used by the SCCA, PSR, AMA, IKF, NASCAR, ASA, and ARCA. There are 5 road course configurations that are regularly used, including the 2.5 mile "Grand Prix" circuit and the 1.8 mile "Full NASCAR circuit" used by ARCA, ASA, SCCA, and NASCAR. The oval has 8 degrees of banking in 90 foot radius turns, with 6 degrees of banking in the straight-aways.
Historical Notes
When Heartland Park first opened in August 1989, it was the first major new motorsports facility to have been built in the United States for over 20 years. Although it is better know for its drag strip than the road course, a number of racing series have visited the track, including IMSA, SCCA World Challenge, TransAm, NASCAR Craftsman Trucks and, most recently the Miata Cup. The track is mainly used by the SCCA Club Racing and various marque clubs.Owing to persistent financial difficulties, the road course was neglected for several years and there were some doubts about its survival. In 2003, the track was bought by Ray Irwin, owner of Blackhawk Farms Raceway and a committed road racer, who has instituted a program of major renovations. These include re-routing the track so that it no longer uses the drag strip (which was extremely treacherous in the rain), building a new timing building and starting stand, extensive resurfacing of the track and generally improving the amenities for racers and spectators.
For more information about Heartland Park visit their website: HeartlandMotorsports.com