By Vern Hee

The Pahrump Valley Speedway opens its gates for opening day on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.

Chad Broadhead, owner and operator of the Pahrump Speedway, said this week’s races will feature two sanctioned International Motor Contest Association contests.

“This year we brought in a new class, the Hobby Stock class. This Saturday we will have two IMCA class races, Super Stock and Modifieds. They are IMCA sanctioned for 13 races this year in this class. Then the Modifieds are also sanctioned, for ten races this year. Our races being sanctioned means that our drivers that race in the sanctioned classes can compete for national points. The IMCA is the NASCAR of dirt,” said Broadhead.

The dirt track owner said next year there will be three sanctioned IMCA classes at Pahrump, Hobby Stock, Super stock and Modifieds.

For opening day, the announcer will be Ray Elam. Elam is a racer who has close to 40 years of racing. He has filled in as a guest announcer before.

This year the track is still looking to fill the spot of announcer in March, when a new announcer arrives. Until then, Ray is the man.

Broadhead said he has struggled with finding halftime entertainment. In the past, the track had demolition derby. Broadhead said, since new laws have come into being, the junkyards no longer have whole cars for people to use.

The track owner plans on trying to get some entertainment from the local high school. At the moment, he is talking to the high school dance team. He said he is open to any other ideas.

The track remains one of the best buys in town with adults only $10 and kids from 6-13 are only $6 while under 6 are free. Seniors can come and watch for $8.

The season starts in February and runs through summer and ends in November.