Heartland Motorsports Park

Heartland Motorsports Park, originally called Heartland Park Topeka, sits about 8 miles south of downtown Topeka, Kansas, near the Topeka Regional Airport. The multi-purpose facility opened in 1989 and ran until it closed in 2023, with plans to reopen in 2026.

When it debuted, it was the first new auto racing venue built in the United States in two decades. The property includes a road course that can be arranged in four different layouts, from 1.8 to 2.5 miles long, plus a 3/8-mile clay oval, an off-road track, and a quarter-mile drag strip. After years of financial trouble and neglect, the track’s surfaces and buildings fell into serious disrepair. Its future looked bleak until 2003, when Raymond Irwin—who had owned Blackhawk Farms Raceway from 1986 to 2007—bought the facility and started major renovations.

In December 2015, Chris Payne and Todd Crossley of Shelby Development, LLC purchased the track. Payne, the company’s CEO, became the sole owner in January 2017. Two years later, in 2018, it was announced that Payne had also bought Kansas City International Raceway and I-70 Speedway, making them sister tracks to Heartland.

The drag strip hosted local clubs and the National Hot Rod Association. The road course was primarily used by the SCCA, the National Auto Sport Association, and marque clubs. From 2006 to 2008, the track was home to both the SCCA National Championship Runoffs and the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. Over the years, it also hosted ARCA, ASA, IMSA, AMA, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ O’Reilly Auto Parts 275, the NASCAR Winston West Series, the NASCAR Midwest Series, and the NASCAR Southeast Series.

In the fall of 2016, the full 2.5-mile road course and its pit road were completely repaved with a high-tech, polymer-enhanced asphalt.

On July 28, 2023, the track announced that due to tax disputes with Shawnee County, the final NHRA Nationals would take place August 11–13, 2023. Then, on September 19, 2023, the track announced it would shut down entirely.

On December 30, 2025, the International Hot Rod Association announced it had purchased the track and planned to reopen it. However, on July 10, 2026, the IHRA abruptly canceled all remaining events for the Nitro Drag Racing Series, including those at Heartland. Two days later, the facility was listed for sale by CBRE Group as a “data center redevelopment site.” On July 13, it was confirmed that the listing had actually originated in early 2024, before the IHRA acquired the property. CBRE has since removed the listing from its website.