Ohio Valley Speedway To Host 34th Jim Dunn Memorial

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3 wide racing is common at the Ohio Valley Speedway (Zach Yost Photo)

(Washington West Virginia) The popular Ohio Valley Speedway located in Washington West Virginia, just a few short miles past Lubeck and only minutes from downtown Parkersburg, is set to host the Jim Dunn Memorial this coming Saturday night. The event is expected to be the tracks largest and richest single event in the tracks long history, as this AMRA Late Model special will pay a cool $12,000 to the evening’s winner. The track which opened in 1958, has seen tremendous growth over the past decade under the leadership of the McPeek and Vincent families and the Jim Dunn Memorial will mark a major milestone for the venue as some of the top race teams from across the tristate area are expected to pack the pits for their shot at the excellent payday in what may be the most highly anticipated racing events of the summer across the region.

The Jim Dunn Memorial memorializes the life and legacy of the late Jim Dunn. Along with an excellent racing career, Dunn is remembered by many as the “Cinderella Story” of dirt racing, as Dunn’s modest family racing operation would outduel the era’s greatest competitors to claim the 1981 Dirt Track World Championship at the Pennsboro Speedway. However, just two short years later, Dunn’s career and life would be tragically cut short in an on track incident at the Paducah Speedway in Kentucky, which left a void felt within the racing industry. Just weeks following his death, the first Jim Dunn Memorial was held at the since closed St. Clairsville Speedway and been a staple at numerous tracks across the region ever since.

As the event comes to the Ohio Valley Speedway for the first time, fans and teams are sure to see an excellent evening of racing all for the celebration and memory of a racing star who taken from the world much too soon. The event which will take place this Saturday night, will kick off with gates opening at 2 and the evenings qualifying sessions slated for 7 and racing to follow. Also racing throughout the evening will be the always exciting AMRA Modifieds as the open wheel modifieds will battle for in a $2,000 to win special and the new and quickly Steel Block Late Model division will race in a $1,000 showdown.

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