Merritt Speedway

10/21/2026

🏁 HELP SAVE MICHIGAN RACING! 🏁

Michigan racing has faced enough challenges in recent years, and in 2025 and 2026, we’ve seen far too many tracks shut down. Our racing community is already struggling, and the last thing we need is another obstacle that makes it even harder for promoters to put on races, fans to support their favorite tracks, and racers to continue doing what they love.

Now is the time for our racing community to stand together!

If you have a few minutes to spare, please take the time to fill out the letter and send it to Senator Moss. Every voice matters, and showing our support can help make a difference in protecting the future of racing here in Michigan.

Racing is more than just a sport. It’s a community, a tradition, and a passion shared by thousands of people across our state. Let’s do our part to keep Michigan racing alive for future generations.

Please take a moment to complete and send in the letter. Let’s stand together for our tracks, our promoters, our racers, and our fans.

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST AND HELP SPREAD THE WORD!

🏁 Let’s work together to save Michigan racing! 🏁

🏁 MICHIGAN SHORT TRACK RACING NEEDS YOUR HELP — RIGHT TO RACE 🏁

Kalamazoo Speedway is asking our racing community to come together and help move Michigan’s Right to Race legislation forward.

Michigan currently has two related bills, HB 5652 and SB 773, designed to provide important protections for established motorsports facilities across our state. The legislation has received strong bipartisan support in the Michigan House and is now awaiting consideration by the Michigan Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee.

Senator Jeremy Moss serves as Chair of the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee, and we respectfully need the help of our fans, drivers, race teams, sponsors, businesses, and supporters of short track racing to encourage action on this legislation.

⏰ THE NEXT 2–3 WEEKS ARE IMPORTANT.

We are asking the Michigan racing community to respectfully contact Senator Moss's office and ask that the Right to Race legislation be given a hearing and moved forward through the committee process.

But we also want you to tell your story.

Short track racing has a significant economic impact throughout Michigan. Race teams purchase parts, tires, fuel, fabrication services, tools, safety equipment, trailers, and countless other products from Michigan businesses. On race weekends, racers and fans spend money at restaurants, gas stations, hotels, campgrounds, grocery stores, and other businesses in the communities surrounding our racetracks.

When contacting Senator Moss, consider including:

🏁 How much your race team spends annually in Michigan
🏁 Where you purchase your racing parts and supplies
🏁 What you spend traveling to Michigan racetracks
🏁 Hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, and local businesses you support
🏁 Employees and jobs connected to your racing business or team
🏁 What your local racetrack means to your family and community

An attached letter template can help you get started, but personal stories and real numbers can make an even bigger impact.

📧 Senator Jeremy Moss
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (517) 373-7888

Please keep all communication professional and respectful. Our goal isn't to attack anyone. Our goal is to demonstrate just how important short track racing is to Michigan's economy, communities, businesses, families, and traditions.

We need racers from across Michigan to work together on this. Whether you race at Kalamazoo Speedway or another track in our state, this issue affects the future of Michigan motorsports.

Share this post. Tag your fellow racers, fans, sponsors, track owners, and racing businesses. Send your letter. Make the phone call.

It will take a team effort to help move the Right to Race legislation across the finish line.

🏁 LET'S STAND TOGETHER FOR MICHIGAN SHORT TRACK RACING.

10/17/2026

Ed Thirlby, & his hockey team tonight, Kalkaska Kings.

TOMORROW NIGHT, WE’RE BACK HOME!

The Kalkaska Kings take on the Falcons at 7 PM for our home opener! 🖤💚

📍 Kaliseum Recreation Complex
🕖 Puck drop: 7 PM
🆚 Falcons

Kings fans, let’s pack the barn! 👑🏒

10/15/2026

Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 9th, 2027! Join us at The Pines as we celebrate and recognize our top ten 2026 season finishers!

Tickets are $40 and include hors d’oeuvres, dinner, highlight videos, awards, and so much more! Happy hour is from 6–7 PM, with the banquet starting at 7 PM.

Tickets are limited due to space, so get yours soon! Please return the form below by December 15th, 2026.

**Drivers must be present to receive a trophy, special awards, or prize fund payments.

Part of a group? Indicate that on the form so we can try to seat you together!

10/02/2026

Happy Friday! We’re taking a look back at the 2017 season with a highlight reel featuring some of the action and memorable moments from the track that year.

2017 was a big year at Merritt Speedway, with new bleachers and lights installed, along with the concourse being asphalted.

09/30/2026

With the season ending on a very negative note, I still want to keep everyone updated on what’s going on at the track.

Here are some pictures of the track being worked on. I hired someone to come in and get the track ready for winter, and we also added more clay. We put six straight days of work into the track, and I think it's in the best condition I’ve ever had it in heading into the winter. It's packed and ready for next season.

Good luck to everyone racing at Mount Pleasant this weekend!

09/25/2026

Here is the list of MW Feature Winners for the 2026 season. We will be putting these names and details on the trophies, so we want to make sure everything is accurate. Please review the list and let us know if anything needs to be corrected.

09/09/2026

What a last four days it has been.

Honestly, I have no words that can fix what has happened over the past four days.

Many of you have let me know your frustrations and anger toward me. At the same time, many of you have also reached out to show your support, and I truly appreciate that.

I am also receiving death threats over a Facebook post and/or racetrack conditions, and I believe that has gone way too far. No promoter, racer, or fan should ever have to deal with that.

It may be time for me to seriously rethink the future of Merritt Speedway.

I am making one last post to clear things up. After this, we are moving on from this subject. I will be staying off Facebook for a while as we take some time to decide what we are going to do moving forward.

I want to start by saying that, up until Saturday night, my relationship with Eric Spangler was one of the best relationships I have had with anyone in the pits. I have always respected Eric and have told people many times that it was a privilege to have him race at my track.

Eric has always been someone who would come to me privately and let me know both the good and the bad.

If you were at the racetrack Saturday night when the red flag came out, you saw me walk to Eric's car.

His words to me were, "We have to stop this race. It is too dangerous."

He told me he didn't care where Harnick was or what was happening with the championship. He said we needed to cancel the race at Merritt Speedway for the safety of the drivers and do what is best for Merritt Speedway’s reputation.

I then talked to five other drivers, and they all said essentially the same thing. One driver wanted us to try one more restart single-file, but for the most part, everyone wanted the race to end.

At that point, we figured out what we were going to do with the drivers. We decided to split the purse between all of the drivers. There would be no finish points awarded for the race and no official race finish.

I did not steal a championship from Eric Spangler. Eric told me himself that he did not want to race.

I then went straight to the tower and called Jeff Finley. We were all in agreement that we were going to end the race, split the purse, and move on.

I stayed at the track until around 2 a.m. While I was there, Eric Spangler Racing's post popped up on my phone.

I was surprised that Eric, of all people, posted that, especially considering the history and relationship we have had. I had done exactly what he asked me to do at the racetrack.

The first thing I did was text Eric and Roxanne and ask them to take the post down. In my opinion, it was not a good look for a driver to respond that way, and I felt it made the situation worse for the track. We were trying to do what was best for Merritt Speedway, just as Eric had asked us to do.

Then came Sunday morning.

We had to give an explanation of what happened and how things ended up the way they did.

What Eric posted about the track being opened was correct. The track did get opened up, and it wasn't closed again until after we received all of the rain.

And, of course, being me, I made the decision to suspend Eric and Roxanne. All I can say about that is I am sorry.

It was an overreaction on my part because of how hard everything had hit me emotionally, and it should not have happened.

After the day was over, I realized how wrong that decision was. I deleted my post about Eric and did not follow through with anything I had said I was going to do regarding Eric and Roxanne.

With that being said, yesterday Eric was paid his money in full. The points were updated; he finished second in the standings, and I did not file a trespass against him or Roxanne. I also do not plan to.

I also want to clarify why Roxanne is involved in this situation. Eric does not use Facebook, so the posts from the Eric Spangler Racing page are made by Roxanne. Eric may have input on what is posted, but ultimately, Roxanne is the one making the posts.

As you can see, she is still making posts even though Eric received his points and his full payout, and I feel those posts are giving people the impression that he did not.

No words and no actions are going to completely fix the damage that has been done over the last four days.

I will take 100% responsibility for the track conditions. I will take 100% responsibility for my response to the Eric Spangler post.

But I am not going to take responsibility for anything that would justify death threats. Nothing that happened at Merritt Speedway this weekend deserves that kind of response.

No promoter, racer, or fan should ever have to go through that.

The saddest part of all of this is that it is overshadowing a hard-earned championship won by Austin Harnick.

Both drivers finished second in their heat races, and everyone received 25 points for showing up to the track that night.

Austin earned his championship, and that accomplishment deserves to be recognized.

Eric Spangler has been a staple of Merritt Speedway, and he always will be. His dominance and his long history at this track mean a lot to the history of Merritt Speedway.

I will always greatly respect Eric and appreciate the time we have had together at Merritt Speedway. I wish him the best of luck going forward.

As for the future, those decisions will be made over the coming months.

To everyone who has stood up for us, supported us, reached out, or simply tried to understand our side of things — thank you. It means more than you know.

For now, we are going radio silent for a while. We need some time to step away from Facebook, take a breath, and figure out what comes next.

We appreciate all of you who continue to support Merritt Speedway.

We will provide an update as we move forward in the coming months.

Thank you.

09/08/2026

We cannot go back and change what happened. All we can do now is learn from it and move forward.

As for the future of Merritt Speedway, only time will tell what that looks like. One thing I can say is that Merritt Speedway is not for sale.

We would like to congratulate all of our 2026 track champions:
🏆 Late Model: Austin Harnick
🏆 IMCA Modified: Chad Bauer
🏆 Pro Stock: Nate Murphy
🏆 Factory Stock: Nick Putman
🏆 4–6 Cylinder: Alstin Christensen
🏆 Mini Wedge Unrestricted: Vivian Nelson
🏆 Mini Wedge Restricted: Kaysen Harrington

Congratulations to all of our champions! You have all worked hard throughout the season, and we are proud to recognize your accomplishments.

As far as the banquet is concerned, we are going to take our time and make the appropriate decisions moving forward. We will notify the Top 10 in each division when the time comes to determine whether there is still interest in holding a banquet, given everything that has happened.

I have received a tremendous amount of support from our drivers, supporters, and sponsors throughout this difficult time. I truly appreciate everyone who has reached out, offered their support, and stood behind Merritt Speedway. It means more than you know.

Thank you for your continued support.