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What off-season? Where you can watch racing’s biggest stars all winter

Syndication: News-Journal

The NASCAR season has ended but motorsports is a year-round affair in the United States and beyond.

While the Cup Series and IndyCar have completed their 2023 seasons, many of its stars continue racing throughout the summer, be it to stay sharp or just compete in races or cars they enjoy but their day jobs prevent them from doing more often.

There are no shortage of races that feature the biggest names in motorsports throughout the winter months and most of them are streamed over a variety of digital platforms. Here’s a list of marquee offseason races to enjoy to keep you occupied until Daytona Speedweeks in February.

Hickory Fall Brawl

The season ending race for the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina, the Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars will once again play host to Cup Series driver Josh Berry as he makes his debut for Kevin Harvick Inc. in a Late Model Stock alongside crew chief Rodney Childers. The race last year was won by Cup Series spotter Coleman Pressley, with his driver Joey Logano serving as spotter, a dynamic expected to return on Saturday as well. Xfinity Series driver Connor Mosack is in the field. Beyond the NASCAR connections, the race has several short track starts like Doug Barnes Jr., Kade Brown and Ryan Millington. Here’s an entry list and preview.

Watch: Saturday, November 11 on FloRacing

Florida Governor’s Cup

The season ending race for the historic New Smyrna Speedway just 15 minutes south of Daytona will see Cup Series championship finalist William Byron and future Xfinity Series regular Jesse Love compete against some Super Late Model heavy hitters in Stephen Nasse, Gio Ruggiero and Brad May. Here’s an entry list and general preview.

Watch: Sunday, November 12 on FloRacing

South Carolina 400

This is arguably one of the pound-for-pound best Stock Car races you’ll watch on an annual basis and it’s full of star power too. For one, this is a race Dale Earnhardt Jr. competes in every year. His JR Motorsports protege Carson Kvapil, the two-time CARS Tour series champion will race it too alongside fellow Late Model Stock stars Brenden Queen, NASCAR national champion Connor Hall and numerous CARS Tour contenders. Xfinity Series winner Jeb Burton is already entered. Cup Series winner Chase Briscoe is exploring an entry as well. Josh Berry has entered in the Kevin Harvick Inc. car. The racing is just really spectacular on the aged South Carolina bullring just outside of Darlington.

Watch: Saturday, November 18 on FloRacing

USAC Midgets in California

This isn’t one race but rather a series of marquee events for the USAC National Midget Series all in California over the next: Bakersfield on Nov, 13. Placerville for the Hangtown 100, the division’s longest race on Nov. 17-18. Merced Speedway on Nov. 21-22 and the Turkey Night Classic on Nov. 25-25. These races will fature the likes of Kyle Larson, Buddy Kofoid and Carson Macedo. Logan Seavey will close out a special season with a championship over Justin Grant next week too.

Watch: All next week on FloRacing

Bill Bigley Memorial 128

The season finale for the SRL National Super Late Model tour, this race also marks the return of Late Models to the Freedom Factory, the former Desoto Speedway in Florida now owned by YouTuber Cleetus McFarland. This race already boasts a really impressive list of national short track stars and NASCAR adjacent fanfare like Ty Majeski, Stephen Nasse, Johnny Sauter, Luke Fenhaus, Jake Finch, Jeremy Doss and Derek Griffith. The race pays $30,000-to-win and $4,000 to the fastest qualifier.

Watch: Saturday, November 25 on SRLRacing.TV

Thanksgiving Classic

This is the marquee end of the year race for the Late Model Stock Car class that races primarily in the Virginias and Carolinas. The entry list is headlined by Cup Series driver Josh Berry in the Kevin Harvick car. Late Model Stock stars Brenden Queen, NASCAR national champion Connor Hall and numerous CARS Tour contenders enter this race every year. Xfinity Series winner Jeb Burton has filed an entry.

Watch: Sunday, Novermber 26 at TBA

The Snowball Derby

It’s considered the biggest event in pavement short track racing and the list of attendees and competitors reflect it. There are six different divisions racing across four days but it’s headlined by the Snowball Derby 300-lap Super Late Model race which has an entry list featuring Cup Series drivers William Byron, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar doing battle against other national names like defending winner Derek Thorn, Ty Majeski, Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, Jake Garcia and Grant Enfinger. It’s a week-long celebration of the discipline with an equally impressive cast of Pro Late Model racers the night before.

Watch: Nov. 29-Dec. 3 on Racing America

Gateway Dirt Nationals

#DirtinDecember is just an incredible spectacle. It’s Super Late Model and Modifieds on a fifth-mile dirt track inside the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. The race attracts some of the biggest names in the discipline and the tight confines of indoor bullring racing has a way making names as well. It’s not always the prettiest racing but it’s a memorable, high-paying show that is unopposed within the racing world.

Watch: December 14-16 on FloRacing

Chili Bowl Midget Nationals

It’s been described as a kingmaker of American motorsports with the Swindells, Rico Abreu, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson all establishing a legacy in this event over the past three-plus decades. It’s early January and the Tulsa Expo Center plays host to one of the great events in racing with over 300 racers annually racing for 24 starting spots. While none of those legacy names are racing this year, a new generation starting to make their reputations like Logan Seavey, Tanner Thorson, Buddy Kofoid, Justin Grant, Thomas Meseraull and Jade Avidisian. There will no doubt be NASCAR participation as well in the form of Chase Briscoe and Ricky Stenhouse as there is every year.

Watch: January 8-13 on FloRacing

Wild West Shooutout

The reason Kyle Larson doesn’t race at Chili Bowl, at least for the time being, is that he has found a new home that weekend in the Wild West Shootout Super Late Model race at Vado Motorsports Park in New Mexico. All the big names of Dirt Late Model racing will be there like Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce, Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb and Cade Dillard. These races, five preliminary nights, each pay $10,000 to win with the finale paying $25,000-to-win. Modifieds and Xmods are also on the card each night.

Watch: January 6-14 on FloRacing

USA vs WA Speedweek + Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic

It’s considered the Knoxville Nationals for Australia and it has an entry list that reflects it. In addition to all the stars of dirt racing Down Under, the Classic also occasionally invites the biggest names of American Sprint Car competition too like Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Carson Macedo, Tyler Courtney, etc. over the years.

As for the Perth Speedweek, the cast this year already is expecting Sweet, Rico Abreu, Cory Eliason and Brock Zearfoss.

Watch: Both events air on DirtVision across December and January

ASA Speedfest

The annual non-points season opener for the ASA Super Late Models, this race now housed at Watermelon Capital Speedway features all the biggest names in pavement Super Late Model racing like Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, Matt Craig and Gio Ruggiero versus NASCAR notables like Chase Elliott, William Byron and Kyle Busch as their scheduels allows. The event is so far out that there is no known entry list but the racing is always tremendous and star-studed each year, making this a race to circle on the calendars.

Watch: January 20 on Racing America

Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.

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