I-70 Motorsports Park

History

I-70 Motorsports Park, also called I-70 Speedway, sits near Interstate 70 east of Odessa, Missouri. He sold it to Greg Weld of WELD wheels sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, and Weld converted it to dirt. Roberts, still holding the note, repossessed the track from Weld in late 1989. Along with sons Dennis and Randy, he paved it with asphalt and secured NASCAR sanctioning.

His third son Dan, a country music DJ on KFKF-FM and later Arrowhead Stadium announcer, began his broadcasting career there. The asphalt track measures a long 0.500 miles with a small dog-leg on the backstretch and is considered one of the fastest, highest-banked short tracks in the country. I-70 was an early adopter of a prototype SAFER barrier: during a World Cup race in the early 1990s, large styrofoam blocks were placed high on the retaining walls in all four turns.

All-Pro Series driver and former NASCAR Rookie of the Year Jody Ridley hit one, sending his car airborne over the wall in turn four and landing upside down. He walked away, but the barrier was used only a few more times at the track. Many NASCAR drivers considered I-70 their home track, including Rusty Wallace, Clint Bowyer, and Larry Phillips. James Ince, who served as Phillips’ crew chief and later became NASCAR Crew Chief of the Year with Johnny Benson Jr., also started there.

Other notable drivers who competed at I-70 include Mark Martin, Butch Miller, Bob Senneker, Dick Trickle, Mike Eddy, Johnny Benson Jr., Jamie McMurray, John O’Neal Jr., track champion Terry Bivins, Jenny White, and Jennifer Jo Cobb. Joe Shear once held the four-barrel Late Model track record, and Adam Petty, Richard Petty’s grandson, won an ASA race there. In 1990, actor and racer Paul Newman rented the track for a private practice session while filming in Kansas City, driving local cars including that of 1989 Late Model Track Champion Jay Truelove.

Bill Roberts sold the track to Ted Carlson in the mid-1990s, who later sold to Brad McDonald. The facility hosted stock car and kart racing, once offering twin-billing Saturday night shows on both dirt and asphalt. In 2023, Payne and his partner brought in Scott Higgs to invest in a drag strip next to the half-mile dirt oval. Construction began in May 2023 on Flying H Drag Strip, set to open in summer 2024 and anticipated to host an NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series event that year, though no national event has been scheduled as of the 2025 NHRA season.

Races

The World Cup was the track’s premier asphalt event, initially run with the All-Pro series before switching to the ASA Late Model Series—previously known as ARTGO and the NASCAR Midwest Series—for its North vs. South Showdown. From 1995 to 1999, I-70 Motorsports Park hosted the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200. Under the NASCAR banner, the Midwest Series (also formerly ARTGO) held three races there between 1999 and 2001, while the Southeast Series ran seven events from 1991 to 1998. The ARCA Racing Series visited once in 1994, with Randy Churchill taking the win. Since then, the track has also hosted the All Star Circuit of Champions, USAC National Sprint Car Championship, POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League, Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, and Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.