09/01/2026
We're thrilled to start our weekend at Portsmouth Raceway Park and end our weekend honoring Larry Toller! We'll see everyone Friday, Saturday or Sunday!
New week... new weekend of racing, and Labor Day Weekend is bringing a STACKED lineup right here at home!
Three nights, two Jent-family facilities, a whole lot of horsepower, and yours truly will be behind the stick with Kevin for all of it.
Before we get into whatโs coming, I want to take a second to say a huge thank you to the Jent family for continuing to give me the opportunity to be part of this new era of Portsmouth Raceway Park. From โThe Place To Beโ to โThe Legacy Lives On,โ I think there's something pretty damn fitting about putting those two together. The legacy is living on, and the Jents are making damn sure of it.
So let's get into it ๐๐ผ
๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐ก - ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ซ - ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค
Friday night's going to be damn special. It's been more than two years since sprint cars last turned laps around the riverbank clay at Portsmouth Raceway Park. The last time they were here, Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing got all charged up for the 7th Annual Dean Knittel Memorial in July of 2024, where Rico Abreu was the first driver to cross the stripe. Ever since that night, RICO has carried the distinction of being the last sprint car feature winner at PRP.
That ends Friday night.
Aaron Fry's Gladiator Sprint Tour brings the 410s back to Portsmouth, and somebody's going to have the honor of writing their name into the next chapter of sprint car history at PRP. If you've been following the Gladiator points battle, there's plenty more to watch once the green flag flies. Kory Crabtree currently sits atop the standings with 3,346 points, but lurking just 170 points behind him is a name that needs very little introduction around these parts...
Danny Smith.
One of the Original Outlaws... a National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee... an absolute treasure of the Ohio Valley... and a guy who's spent decades proving that the only thing harder to do than win a sprint car race is to keep winning them year after year after year.
Bryan Nuckles sits only 14 points behind Danny, while Spook and Brianna Lawson round out the current top five. With three races still remaining after Friday, that points battle is nowhere near settled.
Add in a $5,000-to-win Super Late Model feature and Crown Vics, and we're kicking Labor Day Weekend off with one hell of a show.
๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐ก - $๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ - ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค
Then Saturday night? Twenty. Thousand. Dollars.
The PRP Dirt Classic Extravaganza is officially the biggest event of the season... so far, and those last two words have been tickling my brain ever since I saw them... maybe it simply means exactly what it says, the biggest show PRP has hosted yet this season... or maybe the Jents have something else cooking for later in the year.
That's pure speculation on my part, but one thing I've learned about the Jents already... you never know what's up their sleeve.
What we do know is this is going to be the first time Portsmouth's dirt sees a collection of national-level Super Late Model talent since โBig Permโ took the checkered flag in the 2024 Boone Coleman Gator 50 - the final race held under the Coleman era.
And look who's coming back to the riverbank.
โThe Mailmanโ Devin Moran
Terbo Tyler Erb
โThe Thrill From Mooresvilleโ Nick Hoffman
โThe Simple Manโ Drake Troutman
Camaron Marlar
With the national tours both off this weekend and $20,000 sitting at the end of 50 laps, who knows who else might decide the Ohio Riverbank is where they want to spend their Saturday night? You have to wonder with Camaron making the trip, will Mike and Skylar follow? Rumors have been swirling about "The Kentucky Wildcard" Josh Rice making the short trip up. Only time will tell!
But the regional guys aren't exactly going to roll over and hand it to them...
RJ Conley will be looking to get right back to the top after his streak of three consecutive PRP Super Late Model feature wins was finally snapped by Kody Evans last weekend. Hot Rod Conley looked every bit the part in the Iron-Man Classic, coming home second behind Evans, while Kirk Phillips has continued to look strong every time he's hit the PRP clay since the track's truncated 2026 season got underway.
And then there's Evans... Does the Iron-Man Classic winner come back Saturday night and try to make it back-to-back victories at Portsmouth?
We'll find out.
One thing is certain: $20,000, 50 laps, and a field full of hungry Super Late Models on a Saturday night at PRP is about as good as it gets. UMP Modifieds will be chasing $3,000 while the Sport Mods have $1,000 on the line as well.
๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐ก - ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ - ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ค ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ
And then we head down the road to Mudlick Valley Raceway to close out the weekend. This one carries a little more weight than just another race on the schedule.
The 1st Annual Larry Toller Memorial honors the man who, along with his wife Becky, believed enough in Mudlick Valley to reopen the facility after years of sitting dormant.
I asked Jaimie Johnson-Mullins about Larry and why this weekend means so much to the Jent family, and she put it pretty damn well:
โLarry and his wife Becky reopened Mudlick after years of it being closed down because they had a vision and a dream. They believed in Mudlick Valley Raceway when others were okay with it staying closed.โ
The Jent family actually raced at Mudlick during Larry's ownership before eventually purchasing the facility from him in December of 2022.
โHe trusted us to take the facility to the next level and we did just that,โ Jaimie told me. โWe are forever thankful for Larry believing in Mudlick and trusting us to carry it out from there.โ
That's the kind of history that makes a memorial race mean something.
This will also be my first trip to Mudlick Valley since the Northern Allstars Invasion earlier this season was washed out, marking my 11th different lifetime track and 10th different track visited this season.
The Super Late Models will headline the night for $3,500 to win, with UMP Modifieds, Sport Mods and Hornets rounding out the card.
๐จ๐ต๐ซ ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ๐น๐ฌ ๐พ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐น๐ฌ๐พ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐บ!!!
Yep... fireworks during intermission!
So with three straight nights of dirt track racing, we're going to close Labor Day Weekend with a memorial race, a $3,500-to-win Super Late Model show, and a damn FIREWORKS SHOW at Mudlick Valley. That's a pretty good way to spend a Sunday night, especially knowing work isn't calling the next morning.
Three nights. Three very different stories. Two tracks operated by the same family that's spent the last several years proving they're willing to work their asses off to keep these places alive and keep the legacy of Ohio Valley dirt racing moving forward.
And I'll get to be behind the microphone for all three of them... I'm incredibly grateful to the Jent family for trusting me with that opportunity, and I can't wait to get this Labor Day Weekend rolling.
So whether you're heading to Portsmouth Friday for the return of the 410s, coming back Saturday for $20,000 at the PRP Dirt Classic, or making the trip to Mudlick Sunday for the Larry Toller Memorial... and the FIREWORKS... get your backside trackside!
It's Labor Day Weekend...
Let's gooooooooooooooooooooo racing in the Valley!!!
