Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly known as Heartland Park Topeka, was a multi-purpose motorsports facility south of downtown

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

near the

Topeka Regional Airport Topeka Regional Airport , formerly known as Forbes Field, is a joint civil-military public airport owned by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority in Shawnee County, Kansas, seven miles south of downtown Topeka, the capital city of Kansas. ...

. It operated from 1989 until its closure in 2023.

History

When it opened in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, Heartland Motorsports Park was the first new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations (ranging from in length), a clay oval, off-road course and a drag strip. After several years of neglect from continual financial difficulties, the track surface and other facilities had deteriorated badly. The track's survival was in doubt until 2003, when Raymond Irwin, former owner (1986-2007) of

Blackhawk Farms Raceway Blackhawk Farms is a private circuit racetrack located outside South Beloit, Illinois, on a farm on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois. Blackhawk Farms was established in 1967, about a decade after nearby Road America Road America i ...

bought it and began major renovations. In December 2015, Chris Payne and Todd Crossley of Shelby Development, LLC.''The Topeka Capital-Journal'', ''Payne becomes sole owner of Heartland Park Topeka'' by Kevin Haskin, January 26, 2017
Retrieved May 15, 2019. purchased the track. Payne, the CEO of Shelby Development, became the track's sole owner in January 2017. It was announced in 2018 that

Kansas City International Raceway Kansas City International Raceway was a drag-racing track in Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The c ...

and

I-70 Speedway I-70 Motorsports Park, also known as I-70 Speedway, is a multi-purpose motorsports facility near Interstate 70 east of Odessa, Missouri, USA. The track, first opened in 1969, and has since been completely rebuilt and renovated in 2021 under new o ...

were bought by Payne, and would become sister tracks of Heartland. The drag-strip was used by local clubs and the

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...

. The road-course was mainly used by the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, High Performance Driver Education, HPDE, Time trial, Time Trial, Road racing, Road Racing, Regularity rally, R ...

, the

National Auto Sport Association The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is an American motorsports organization promoting road racing and high-performance driver education. Founded in 1991, NASA hosts High Performance Driving Events (HPDE), automotive Rallying, rallies, T ...

and marque-clubs. The track was the home of both the

SCCA National Championship Runoffs The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the ...

and the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships from 2006 to 2008. In the past, it has hosted ARCA,

ASA Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

, AMA, the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

' race:

O'Reilly Auto Parts 275 The O'Reilly Auto Parts 275 was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held at the Heartland Park Topeka road course, in Topeka, Kansas. It was first held during the inaugural season for the Craftsman Truck Series in 1995, and remained a part of the ...

NASCAR Winston West Series The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series, NASCAR Winston Transcontinental Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series ow ...

NASCAR Midwest Series The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA, ARCA, and NASCAR. Art Frigo cr ...

and the

NASCAR Southeast Series The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series was a NASCAR-sanctioned amateur/semi-pro late model stock car racing series based in the Southeastern United States. The series was formerly known as the Slim Jim All Pro Series; it was founded i ...

. The full 2.5 mile road course (and pit road) was completely repaved with a high-tech, polymer-enhanced asphalt in the fall of 2016. On July 28, 2023 it was announced that due to tax disputes between the track owners and

Shawnee County Shawnee County is located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. Its county seat and most populous city is Topeka, the state capital. As of the 2020 census, the population was 178,909, making it the third-most populous county ...

, the final running of the

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...

Nationals would be held August 11–13, 2023. On September 19, 2023 the track announced that it would be shutting down completely.

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at Heartland Motorsports Park Topeka are listed as:

References

External links

*
Trackpedia guide to driving this track
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States Defunct sports venues in Kansas Defunct drag racing venues Buildings and structures in Topeka, Kansas Motorsport venues in Kansas

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

NHRA Division 5 drag racing venues IMSA GT Championship circuits Tourist attractions in Topeka, Kansas Off-road racing venues in the United States Sports venues completed in 1989 1989 establishments in Kansas 2023 disestablishments in Kansas {{Autoracing-venue-stub