Bemidji Speedway opens season with Chicken Shack Nationals
Jack Sparby’s memorial race put Bemidji Speedway in the holiday spotlight, with 2025’s opener drawing 123 cars and six hours of racing.
Bemidji Speedway opened its season on Memorial Day weekend with the Jack Sparby Memorial Chicken Shack Nationals, turning the 1/4-mile clay oval at 1831 Sunnyside Rd SE into one of Beltrami County’s busiest holiday destinations. The meet kept Jack Sparby’s name in front of the crowd while pulling racers, crews and fans into Bemidji for a two-day event that carried weight well beyond the track.
Racing was scheduled for Sunday, May 24, 2026, and Monday, May 25, 2026, with the green flag set for 4 p.m. Sunday and 2 p.m. Monday. The opener came before regular Sunday-night racing resumed the following weekend on May 31, giving the Speedway a full holiday launch before the weekly season settled into its normal rhythm.
The event has also become a familiar marker for the local racing community because of what it has drawn in recent years. The 2025 Chicken Shack Nationals brought 123 cars across eight classes and packed six hours of racing into the opener. Feature winners left victory lane with Chicken Shack chicken, a detail that has helped give the memorial meet its own identity while tying the event back to a local name and a local tradition.
For Bemidji, that kind of turnout matters. A weekend meet of this size brings families, pit crews and race fans into town at the start of summer, when restaurants, gas stations and other businesses can feel the pull of holiday traffic. It also keeps Sparby’s legacy visible at a time when the Speedway is setting the tone for the season, reminding the community that the track is not just opening its gates, but also preserving a piece of local memory every time the engines fire.
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