News
Colder days and nights are descending soon upon the northeast United States, which signals an end to local dirt track racing. Through the miracle of the internet however, Live Streaming can now connect race fans to events happening all over the world, all year long.
The Orange County Fair Speedway's 2020 season recently concluded with the 59th running of Eastern States Weekend, an event that was Livestreamed across 2 days of racing. The event was viewed by thousands, with some tuning in from the west coast, Europe and even The Middle East. For a track that had only previously produced 2 livestreams of that scale, it was a massive undertaking. The result was nearly 300 Gigabytes or 16+ hours of raw footage.
Despite COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the 59th Eastern States Weekend at Orange County Fair Speedway, run Friday and Saturday, October 23-24, saw 208 race cars in four divisions on the historic Middletown, New York five-eighths-mile clay-surfaced track competing for more than $155,000 in prize money and special awards.
Mat Williamson Sweeps To Eastern States 200 Win At OCFS, Jimmy Phelps Claims Small Block 75, Twelve Year Old Tanner VanDoren Shocks Field With Sportsman ES 50 Win, Jim Hajkowski Wins Street Stock Thriller
Mat Williamson of St. Catherines, Ontario Canada passed leader Stewart Friesen with 56 laps remaining in the 59th running of the Eastern States 200 at Orange County Fair Speedway Saturday night, the repelled challenged from Mike Mahaney and Friesen to preserve the $25,000 win.
Day one of Eastern States Weekend wrapped up with near 100 drivers qualified for today’s events.
The day kicked off with qualifying for the Sportsman division. A unique twist for the sportsman competitors was after being split up into six groups, drivers only had to beat their fellow group competitors, instead of the overall field. Invading star Kyle Inman topped group 1 while former Sportsman regular Joey Bruning bested group 2. Track Champion Tanner VanDoran out ranked group 3 and invaders Zach Sobotka, Tommy Collins, and Alan Fink all rounded out groups 4,5,and 6.
WHY YOU NEED TO BE STREAMING DAY 1 OF ESW 2020
- 1. Over 200 cars have entered between all divisions
- 2. Over 50 Big Blocks have registered
- 3. Over 80 Sportsman are expected
- 4. The rosters are stacked with potential winners
- 5. Fewer than 40 will start in their Championship features
- 6. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEED STARTERS THIS YEAR!
- 7. QUALIFYING WILL BE INTENSE!
- 8. The ALL NEW TOP 12 STARTERS RACE, featuring the top 12 fastest big blocks in qualifying in a 20 lap feature for starting positions
- 9. It's only $10 when included in a 2-Day package deal for $40 ($30 for just Sat.)
- 10. TO SUPPORT YOUR FAVORITE TEAM!
To get an idea of just how stacked the field at ESW 2020 is, not only are the 4 big Oktoberfast winners signed up, fans will also be treated to the likes of powerhouse drivers like Mat Williamson, who just scored a huge win in the Short Track Super Series Speed Showcase 200. "Money" Mat Williamson was also OCFS's Centennial Race Weekend winner in 2019, taking home an astounding $100,000 pay check and earning his moniker. To further assert his dominance, Williamson would return to OCFS a few months later for ESW 2019 to win the Small Block 100-lapper. Can the Ontario native driver take home another big pay check on a long distance race? Not if fellow Canadian and NASCAR Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen has anything to say about it.
MORE THAN $21,000 IN SPECIAL AWARDS ADDED TO EASTERN STATES WEEKEND PURSE AND LAP PRIZE MONEY AT ORANGE COUNTY FAIR SPEEDWAY
Competitors in all four racing divisions---United Rental Equipment Big-Block DIRTcar Modifieds, H.O. Penn Small-Block Modifieds, Sportsman, and Street Stocks---will see their posted purse and lap prize money enhanced by more than $21,000 in special awards during the two-day 59th Annual Eastern States Weekend, Friday and Saturday, October 23-24 at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO ESW 2020 INFO PAGE
A Dirt Racing tradition keeps on running; Orange County Fair Speedway is happy to announce the 59th annual Eastern States 200 in October. The ES 200 is the oldest Modified Stock Car race in the USA having started in 1962. This year’s Eastern States Weekend will be trimmed to a 2 day event taking place on Friday October 23rd and Saturday October 24th. As always the action will include the Big Block Modifieds, Small Block Modifieds, Crate Sportsman and the Street Stock divisions. In the event of a rain out or delay, Sunday October 25th has been reserved.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed on public gatherings, Orange County Fair Speedway’s 2020 weekly racing series only lasted two months. But during that time there was plenty of exciting racing at the historic Middletown, New York five-eighths-mile clay-surfaced speedway and some outstanding performances by several drivers.
OCFS will be holding ONE FINAL special practice on Monday, Oct. 5th from 6-9PM for any interested teams looking to get in some seat time before DIRTcar's OktoberFast events. Please call the speedway office at 845-342-2573 to preregister (required). Space is limited!