RICHMOND — The main event will be shorter this year, but LST Motorsports Park hopes the DKR 50 is better than ever.
Expanding on a successful inaugural $5,041-to-win go-kart race in 2022, the track formerly known as Richmond Karting Speedway expects an even larger field of Sr. Champ Karts to compete in Wednesday night’s 2nd annual DKR 50.
Once again, the race pays $5,041 to the winner, leaving it as one of the biggest purses in Maine racing circles of any kind.
“I’m guessing we’ll have between 40-50 entries,” track owner Steve Perry said Tuesday.
Last year, the race drew 36 drivers from across New England, with Brian Sullivan of Tolland, Connecticut, claiming the richest go-karting prize in the Northeast.
Perry said the DKR 50 has garnered interest in more than just this particular event, which is presented in partnership with Derek Kneeland Racing. Kneeland, a Windham native who started his racing career at the track as a child, currently works for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Kneeland is the spotter for one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers, Kyle Busch.
“Our weekly stuff has doubled from last year,” Perry said. “We’ve got new competitors coming to the track. It’s not just kids, either. It’s older people. People know about our rental kart program and how easy it is to get involved, and things really grew after this last year.”
LST Motorsports Park presents seven divisions weekly on Friday nights during the season. Six of those will compete Wednesday, including the Sr. Champs in the DKR 50.
“I think the really cool thing is that the support divisions get it,” Perry said. “You go to the Oxford 250, and people miss out on the idea of support divisions getting to race on big stage. But if you follow social media at all, you see that the guys and girls racing in those support divisions understand importance of being on the big stage like that.”
Like in 2022, the DKR 50 will consist of hot laps, time trials, heat races, a C Main, a B Main and the DKR 50 itself. Unlike last year, however, the race has been shortened by 10 laps.
By shortening the race, Perry said, it will eliminate the halfway break at Lap 30.
“They went green for the first 30 laps and then we gave them a chance to stop and think about things too much,” Perry said.
What ensued was a caution-marred second half of the race which went late into a weeknight.
By ridding the race of that planned stoppage, Perry is hoping things go much more smoothly.
“I’m sure it won’t go green-to-checkered, but at least it shouldn’t become the (crashfest) it was last year,” he said.
Attendance last summer for the inaugural DKR 50 was estimated at 700-800 spectators, Perry said.
Why was there so much interest in a form of motorsports that typically receives little media attention and even less fan support?
“Because we did what we said we were going to do,” Perry said. “You look at any situation, and not just in racing, but if people promise you something and don’t deliver, they’re not coming back and it’s not going to grow.”
Racing begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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