Jacksonville Speedway opens Memorial Day sprint-car weekend for Outlaws

That shift matters beyond the track. Jacksonville now opens a three-race swing that sends the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series to Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday, May 23, and Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota on Sunday, May 24. Knoxville and Huset’s will each pay $20,000 to the winner, which only raises the profile of the weekend start in Jacksonville and keeps the city on the circuit’s radar as fans move through the holiday stretch.

For local readers, the Thursday date also changes the flow of the weekend. Jacksonville Speedway lists VIP gates opening at 3:30 p.m., general admission at 4:00 p.m., hot laps around 6:15 p.m. and racing to follow. The World of Outlaws event page lists a 5:00 p.m. drivers meeting and heat schedule, followed by 5:30 p.m. hot laps. Adult grandstand tickets are $50, teen tickets for ages 11 to 18 are $25, and children 10 and under are $10.

The race comes with proven demand. Jacksonville Speedway said grandstand tickets sold out for the original World of Outlaws appearance, a sign that the series still draws strongly in Morgan County even when weather forces a schedule change. The track itself is a 0.216-mile dirt bullring that opened in 1949, and the World of Outlaws first raced there in 2014. Christopher Bell won there in 2014, and Joey Saldana won in 2016, giving the Hy-Vee Perks 40 some recent history on a short track that has stayed relevant on the national circuit.