The MARS Championship Tour announced that it added the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway to both its Late Model and Modified Championship tours at the end of August.

The series announced in a press release, “On Sunday, August 30, the tours will invade the all-new Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway, in Belleville, Illinois, for a 40-lap $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship Tour event and a 30-lap $2,000-to-win MARS Modified event. This will mark the first stop ever for a touring series to the ¼ mile dirt oval.”

The August 30th date turns what was a doubleheader at Benton Speedway in Benton. Missouri and I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely, Missouri into a tripleheader. Additionally, the series expects a significant car count and thus the MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends and the MARS Modified Championship powered by Summit Racing Equipment will be the only divisions on the card. Both series will have a full program with hot laps, qualifying, heat races, B-Mains, and their respective features.

“Having the opportunity to bring the first traveling show to the all-new Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway is a huge honor” said MARS series director Jonathan Clayton. “We appreciate Chris Blair, Toby Kruse, Brian Rieck, and the entire team for giving us the opportunity to bring MARS to Belleville, and to bring racing back to the fairgrounds. Our teams are super excited, and with three nights of racing that have limited travel between each night, it ought to make it extra enticing for fans and race teams to join us for the entire weekend.”

The Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway is slated to reopen on August 1st a month ahead of the MARS series arriving at the track. The track will reopen with The Fair St. Clair Classic that will include KKM Midgets, DIRTcar Modifieds, and NARA Winged Micro Sprints.

“While the track is all-new, we wanted to ensure that our opening event honors the rich history of racing at Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park,” said Curtis Francois, operator and leaseholder of the new facility. “The St. Clair Fair Classic is a testament to the vision and commitment of the St. Clair County Board and Chairman Mark Kern to make motorsports an economic driver for the region. We’re proud to bring racing back to Belleville and begin an exciting new era for the facility.”

“The legend of ‘Little Belleville’ was built on historic midget racing, and we are excited to bring those memories back for generations of fans who called the former track home,” said Chris Blair, Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway executive promoter. “At the same time, the St. Louis region remains a hotbed for DIRTcar Modifieds and Winged Micro Sprints, making it essential that we showcase the very best regional talent to launch this new era.”

“It’s a new era for racing at Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park Speedway, and we are proud to showcase some of the most exciting racing in the region for our opening night,” said Toby Kruse, local racing promoter and the venues operating manager. “We’ve worked closely with fellow promoters, racers, and sanctioning bodies to assemble what we believe will be the first of many outstanding events at this facility.”

Before the series gets to Belleville it has a number of races throughout the rest of the month of August:

August 7 – Sycamore Speedway – $5,000 to-win
August 8 – Macon Speedway – $10,000 to-win
August 14 – LaSalle Speedway – Twin $5,000 to-win features
August 15 – LaSalle Speedway $20,000 to-win
August 28 – Benton Speedway – $5,000 to-win
August 29 – I-55 Federated Auto Parks Raceway Park – $5,000 to-win

Ryan Unzicker is the series’ current points leader. He has an 88-point advantage over Jason Feger and a 106 point lead over Dylan Thornton:

Ryan Unzicker – 627
Jason Feger – 539
Dylan Thornton – 521
Daniel Adam – 453
Tanner English – 437
Jake Little – 422
Bob Gardner – 415
Caden McWhorter – 373
Myles Moos – 359
Jeffrey Ledford – 331

NEXT: Ricky Thornton Jr. Won’t Compete At Cedar Lake For USA Nationals After Wreck At Prairie Dirt Classic