NEW SEASON AHEAD FOR MIDWEST RACING CENTRAL

Ready or not, the 2026 Midwest racing season is ready to go. After another long hard winter, the sound of race cars is about to fill the air around our part of the country.

Midwest Racing Central is your home for all things motorsports this coming season. Since our launch several months ago, we’ve worked hard to put to together a digital destination that will shine a light on the tracks, series, drivers and teams throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan. Our goal remains simple; to give fans a place to find information and insight into the Midwest racing world.

When we launched this outlet, the vision was to digitally replicate the glory days of the weekly papers that were the lifeline for racing information around the area. The trailblazers at Midwest Racing News, Checkered Flag Racing News and Hawkeye Racing News were our inspiration to create a destination for the digital age.

Our scope of coverage will include regional and national tours that visit the area during the season. While our primary focus will be on asphalt late model series like the Midwest Tour, ASA Stars National Tour, TUNDRA, Big 8 Series and Mid-Am Series, Midwest Racing Central will also report on the dirt world, whether it be open wheel cars or late models.

Weekly racing, which is still the backbone of many grass roots tracks around the area, will also receive coverage as we work with tracks to both promote and report on what happens in the area every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.

We also plan a number of special historic features and track spotlights to dive further into the fabric of the Midwest racing scene.

In addition to written content on the website, we plan to launch other multi-media initiatives including our weekly podcast “Midwest Racing Central Today.” Each week we’ll talk with track operators, drivers, team owners and media members to get an inside look at the sport from a variety of angles. You can find links to the podcast here on the site as well as our YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts.

Short track racing is in my DNA. It’s where I grew up both personally and professionally, sitting in the stands at places like Rockford Speedway, Raceway Park, Lake Geneva Raceway, Illiana Motor Speedway and Grundy County Speedway. That eventually led to working behind a microphone at Rockford and hosting a weekly television show on Chicagoland Television (CLTV), where we shined a spotlight on the local racing around the area.

It’s my personal goal to do what I can to not just help keep Midwest short track racing alive, but to help it thrive for many years to come.

I’m thrilled about the foundation we’ve laid at Midwest Racing Central and excited about what lies ahead. We’re glad you’re here and look forward to our plans to cover the 2026 season.

Pete Pistone is the founder and Managing Editor of Midwest Racing Central. Pistone has been covering motorsports for nearly 30 years including with WGN Radio, the Chicago Sun-Times, CBS Sports and Chicagoland Television (CLTV). He was the editor and featured reporter for RacingOne.com and also a member of the Motor Racing Network broadcast and digital reporting team for more than a decade. Pistone has been with SiriusXM since 2008. He currently co-hosts “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) along with Mike Bagley, which airs Monday through Friday from 7-10 am ET. He’s also the host of the “SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show,” which airs before every NASCAR Cup Series broadcast.