VERNON, NY- Even though favorable spring weather has finally arrived in the Central New York region, Utica-Rome Speedway is again forced to delay it’s 57th season opener until Sunday May 13. Track crews continue to struggle with the new clay that was saturated during the extremely wet month of April. Instead of a full racing program that was originally scheduled for Sunday May 6, a practice session will now be run in its place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“With the recent warm and sunny weather that we’ve had this past week, I was really optimistic that we turned the corner with the track,” commented promoter Bill Shea. “But with last night’s (Friday) heavy rain, the track won’t be ready for a full racing program. I don’t want a repeat of last year’s opener where we battled the track throughout the night and ran late because of it. Getting race cars on the track for practice will still give our drivers some track time if they choose and give us an idea where we are with the track. With big 100-lap event next week, we want to have the track in great shape.”

Gates for the May 6 practice will open at 11:30 a.m. with on track practice running from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Pit admission with be $20 while grandstand admission is free.

The 57th season at the Utica-Rome Speedway will open in grand style on Sunday May 13 with the DIRT 358-Modified Series opener that will pay $4,000 to the winner of the New Yorker 100. Drivers from every corner of the northeast are expected to be attendance for the hefty payday that comes with the victory in the 100-lap main event. The Broedel Energy DIRTcar Sportsman and Ted’s Auto Body DIRTcar Pro Stocks will start their point season with the Rookie Sportsman completing the action-packed program on St. Lawrence Radiology Serving Oneida Healthcare, Lewis County Hospital & Open MRI of Mohawk Valley LLC. night.

Gates for the exciting May 13 program will open at 3 p.m. with racing slated for 6 p.m. Adult admission will be $22 while student, senior, and military admission set at $18. Kids under the age of 16 are free.

If you can’t make it to the races, remember you can catch all the action at the Utica-Rome Speedway from your cell phone, tablet or smart television via our weekly pay-per-view broadcast on DirtTrackDigest.tv.

Those looking for information about the upcoming season at Utica-Rome Speedway can like us on Facebook at Utica-Rome Speedway, find us on Twitter @UR_Speedway or on the web at www.uticaromespeedway.com. You may also call the track at 315-829-4557.