OPENING DAY
Fans and racers alike were welcomed to the revitalized track on March 29.
The fans piled through the red gates of the speedway to watch the Crown Vic Wars on the opening weekend with 84 racers participating. The same race track that witnessed the likes of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, A. J. Foyt, Scott Hansen( who won four times) and Mario Andretti, along with 61 other Hall of Fame drivers begin their careers. Foyt once said about Salem,“ if a driver can go fast on the high banks, he can go fast anywhere.”
Paul Hartlage, from Bradenburg, Ky., competed in the Mike’ s Mufflers & Brakes Crown Vic Big Track Series. Hartlage has been competing at Salem for four years.
“ I started out racing the Crown Vic class whenever it started at the Sportsdrome back in 2018,” said Hartlage, whose car is owned by Bradley Winters.“ I think locally it’ s the most technical track there is to race. On a lot of the short tracks, you play bumper tag and move people out of the way. Salem is a calculated chaos and you have to set up your runs to get off the corners to make your passes. It’ s a real technical track and I enjoy it more than anything. There’ s just something about going to Salem and maneuvering that track that tops everything.”
Hartlage was the quickest CVBT driver in his qualifier group with a new track record of 21.736 seconds to win the KJ Enterprises, LLC in Memory of Mike Jones Fast Qualifier Award. He beat out Troy Phillip by one-hundredth of a second( 21.737) for the fastest time.
“ It’ s really cool to say that I was able to set the track record,” Hartlage said.“ I’ m more worried about winning races. That might stand for a while for a track record and we were centimeters with how close our times were. Our goal this year is to be in contention to win every week and try to win the championship again.”
In the CVBT race, Ronnie Basham III won the checkered flag in 54:47.813, beating out Hartlage by. 293 tenths( 54:18.106). Phillips placed third and was 1.323 behind Hartlage.
The additional opening day features winners included Phillips( Crown Vic Short Track), Jake Vickers( CV Future Stars), Kenna Day from Sellersburg, who won the CV Powder Puff, and Doug Vicker from Fairdale( Ky.), who won CV Roval. Additionally, Phillips won a new open car trailer, which was donated by Harmon and Middleton.
With opening day behind them, there will be 25 more events hosted at Salem. One of the big events happening will be the Firecracker 200 Weekend over July 3-4. This event will include the inaugural school bus high banks challenge and figure 8.
The track will also host non-racing events, including the first Carothers Rodeo Company on May 23, a monster truck bash on June 13, a demolition derby hosted by Twisted Metal Motorsports on July 25 and a truck & tractor pull on Sept. 25-26.
Harmon and Middleton will be through it all and many years to come.
“ We’ re in it for the long haul, I don’ t see us going anywhere soon and nobody likes change but they like seeing improvements,” Middleton said.“ What I fell in love with Salem is the people here. Once we got to know other people besides our friends, it was a community that didn’ t want to let people in, but also pushes back as we don’ t want new people. We came in not knowing about 10 people and now we know a lot of people. I love Salem now and it feels like home. If I were younger and had kids who weren’ t grown, then I would have loved to raise my kids here. It seems like the community is about the kids and the future of Salem.”
PAGE NO. 16 NEWS AND TRIBUNE SPORTS MAGAZINE MAY / JUNE 2026