Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly known as Heartland Park Topeka, is a multi-purpose motorsports facility south of downtown Topeka, Kansas near the Topeka Regional Airport. It operated from 1989 until its closure in 2023. It was announced that the track will reopen in 2026.
History
When it opened in 1989, Heartland Motorsports Park was the first new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations (ranging from in length), a clay oval, off-road course and a drag strip. After several years of neglect from continual financial difficulties, the track surface and other facilities had deteriorated badly. The track's survival was in doubt until 2003, when Raymond Irwin, former owner (1986–2007) of Blackhawk Farms Raceway bought it and began major renovations.
In December 2015, Chris Payne and Todd Crossley of Shelby Development, LLC.The Topeka Capital-Journal, Payne becomes sole owner of Heartland Park Topeka by Kevin Haskin, January 26, 2017, Retrieved May 15, 2019. purchased the track. Payne, the CEO of Shelby Development, became the track's sole owner in January 2017. It was announced in 2018 that Kansas City International Raceway and I-70 Speedway were bought by Payne, and would become sister tracks of Heartland.
The drag-strip was used by local clubs and the National Hot Rod Association. The road-course was mainly used by the SCCA, the National Auto Sport Association and marque-clubs. The track was the home of both the SCCA National Championship Runoffs and the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships from 2006 to 2008. In the past, it has hosted ARCA, ASA, IMSA, AMA, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' race: O'Reilly Auto Parts 275, NASCAR Winston West Series, NASCAR Midwest Series and the NASCAR Southeast Series.
The full 2.5 mile road course (and pit road) was completely repaved with a high-tech, polymer-enhanced asphalt in the fall of 2016.
On July 28, 2023 it was announced that due to tax disputes between the track owners and Shawnee County, the final running of the NHRA Nationals would be held August 11–13, 2023. On September 19, 2023 the track announced that it would be shutting down completely.
On December 30, 2025, International Hot Rod Association announced that they purchased the track and are planning on reopening it.
On July 10, 2026, the IHRA abruptly cancelled all remaining events for the Nitro Drag Racing Series, including those at Heartland Motorsports Park. Two days later, the facility was listed for sale by CBRE Group as a "data center redevelopment site". On July 13, it was confirmed the listing originated from early 2024, and pre-dated IHRA's acquisition of the track property. CBRE has since removed it from their website.
Lap records The fastest official race lap records at Heartland Motorsports Park Topeka are listed as:
CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Grand Prix Road Course (2004–2007): Trans-Am 1:39.558 Tomy Drissi Jaguar XKR 2006 Heartland Topeka Trans-Am exhibition race Original Road Course (1989–2003): IMSA GTP 1:27.880 Wayne Taylor Intrepid RM-1 1991 Camel Grand Prix Formula Atlantic 1:35.819 Mark Dismore Swift DB4 1989 2nd Heartland Topeka East Formula Atlantic round IMSA GTP Lights 1:36.630 Parker Johnstone Spice SE90P 1991 Camel Grand Prix IMSA GTO 1:41.130 Robby Gordon Mercury Cougar XR-7 1990 Camel Grand Prix IMSA GTU 1:47.720 Bob Leitzinger Nissan 240SX 1990 Camel Grand Prix AAC 1:53.650 Kenny Irwin, Jr. Buick Somerset 1990 Camel Grand Prix
References
External links
Trackpedia guide to driving this track