Editor’s note: Due to inclement weather, Jennerstown Speedway’s season will begin on May 14.

On Saturday, May 7, Jennerstown Speedway will kick off its 2022 season and return to its NASCAR Roots as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series.

NASCAR has deep roots at Jennerstown Speedway, but the Jennerstown drivers have deep roots of their own. On Saturday, five different drivers will have family roots spanning three generations of racing at Jennerstown Speedway.

All-time Martella’s Pharmacy’s Late Model winner and defending track champion Barry Awtey is in the middle of his three generation span. Barry’s father, Bill Awtey, was a household name at the Speedway in its dirt and early asphalt years. He’s perhaps best known for his motor building skills and his knowledge of street stocks and charger cars.

RELATED: Watch Jennerstown’s 2022 season opener live on FloRacing

Bill’s knowledge and passion for cars lives on through his oldest son, Barry, who just won his seventh Late Model division championship all while carrying on his father’s legacy by helping others on a weekly basis.

In 2021 the speedway saw another member of the Awtey family at the speedway. Barry’s youngest daughter, Carley, became the third generation of the Awtey family to compete at Jennerstown Speedway.

Barry hopes to build on his family legacy in 2022 by extending his all-time win record as well as pursuing a staggering eighth Late Model championship.

The Awteys are not the only family with generations of success at the speedway.

The Hemminger family, consisting of grandfather Larry Hemminger, son Michael Hemminger and grandson Will Hemminger, have each won track championships at Jennerstown Speedway across several divisions. Larry also captured the 1993 National Dwarf Car championship.

Michael will once again chase a championship in the Martella’s Pharmacy’s Late Models. In 2021, Will won the inaugural One Stop Auto Sales Pro Stock championship at the age of 15, becoming the speedway’s youngest champion ever. Will is looking to defend his championship in 2022, but it won’t happen without a challenge from yet another third generation driver.

Josh Dunmyer, the grandson of Cliff Dunmyer and son of 1997 NASCAR Northeast Region champion and multi-time Jennerstown champion Jeff Dunmyer, will be competing this year in the One Stop Auto Sales Pro Stock division in search of his first championship.

Josh will carry the familiar family color scheme and the No. 07 with him throughout the year. He only contested a limited schedule in 2021, but showed great speed and promise in his first year in a full-size race car.

Also part of the multi-generational families at Jennerstown are the Price and Marhefka families.

Gerry Price Sr. and Rob Marhefka Sr. are both members of the Jennerstown Speedway Hall of Fame and their grandchildren are currently active as competitors at the track.

Brandon Marhefka represents Marhefka Motorsports in the Martella’s Pharmacy’s Late Model division. His father, Rob Marhefka, is a former winner in a late model and now serves as the family crew chief.

For the Price family, father Todd and son Steven will be back in action in 2022. Todd will drive the family-owned Late Model while Steve, who competes on a limited basis in the Late Model class, will chase a championship in the One Stop Auto Sales Pro Stock division.

“Part of Jennerstown’s success is due to the amazing support of all our drivers’ families and fans,” explained Jennerstown Speedway General Manager Billy Hribar. “The racing community is a huge family at Jennerstown and you don’t have to be blood relatives to be a part of it, but to see drivers’ family history span five decades is truly remarkable.”

Jennerstown Speedway’s 2022 points season will officially begin on Saturday, May 7. Grandstand gates will open at 4 p.m. and opening ceremonies will begin at 5:50 p.m.

For additional information, please visit Jennerstown.org.

A new era for Autodrome Granby under NASCAR sanctioning is starting on Friday evening with a 75-lap feature in the track’s Sportsman Superstar Series.

While not well known to motorsports fans in the United States, Granby has been one of the most popular dirt tracks in Canada since opening in the 1960s. Along with having healthy fields for their weekly divisions, Granby has also attracted competitors from Canada and the U.S. by hosting several events for major sanctioning bodies.

Having operated for two years at limited capacity due to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions, a capacity crowd is expected to descend onto Granby Friday night to watch more than 50 of the track’s best drivers battle it out for a shot at $3,000.

FLORACING: Follow all the on-track action at Autodrome Granby

Friday’s season opener kicks off the most ambitious schedule in Granby’s history with 21 races on the calendar. Among the notable events on the schedule include three days of racing around Fete Nationale, or Jean Baptiste Day, on June 24, as well as the year-end Rebel Weekend that will take place from Sept. 16-17.

Below is everything to know about Autodrome Granby.

Autodrome Granby

Track Profile

The vision Marcel Guillemette had when he first broke ground on Granby has evolved into a track cherished by nearly everyone in the adjacent town and throughout Quebec.

Originally going by the name Rebel Speedway, the facility experienced exponential growth after it was bought by Serge St. Sauveur, Normand St. Sauveur, Rene Pelletier and Bob Gatien in 1985, who formally changed the name of the track to Autodrome Granby.

For several decades, Martin Roy Jr. held the distinction of being the most successful driver in Granby’s Modified division with four track championships. David Hebert eclipsed that mark in 2017 and currently has six track championships after claiming another last year, while Francois Bernier follows closely behind him with five of his own.

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Despite being new to NASCAR sanctioning, plenty of drivers in the sanctioning body’s top three divisions have found success at Granby, with Stewart Friesen scoring a Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified win at the track back in 2018.

Other notable names that have visited Victory Lane at Granby include three-time World of Outlaws champion Sammy Swindell, former Richard Childress Racing development driver and Chili Bowl winner Tim McCreadie, as well as eight-time ARCA Menards Series winner Jimmy Horton.

More history will be added to Granby’s prestigious legacy on Friday night as Hebert, Bernier and plenty more local heroes will look to become $3,000 richer at the end of a grueling 75-lap Sportsman Superstar Series feature.

Below are the complete list of Modified track champions at Autodrome Granby.

Race weekends at Autodrome Granby have been unusually quiet these last few years.

While the unmistakable roar of the engines is still prevalent, drivers and track officials have regularly taken part in events with little or no fans in the grandstands due to strict restrictions implemented by the Canadian government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The pandemic status quo at Granby is finally set to be erased on Friday evening, as a full crowd will be welcomed back inside the facility to watch a Sportsman Superstar Series feature that is expected to have more than 50 cars on the final entry list.

With the season opener also serving as Granby’s first race under NASCAR sanctioning, assistant promoter Charles Lampron is confident that 2022 is going to be an exceptional return to form for the facility after two years of struggles during the pandemic.

“We haven’t had a normal season since COVID began,” Lampron said. “The fans are super excited to come back, and we wanted to kick off things in a big way with more money on the line for drivers. This was the perfect opportunity to get started under the NASCAR banner with FloRacing broadcasting as well, so we’re all very excited.”

FLORACING: Catch all of the on-track action at Autodrome Granby

The hardest aspect of holding races at Granby in a global pandemic for Lampron was adapting to rules that changed based on case and hospitalization numbers.

Granby initially could not have any fans on site once they were able to resume weekly racing. Even when restrictions started to ease, Granby’s staff had to remain vigilant by taking temperatures of the spectators that were allowed in while also enforcing mask mandates.

Alex Lajoie, whose success at Granby includes a track championship in the Sportsman class in 2019, said that competing in front of empty grandstands was one of the most surreal experiences of his career and hopes to never go through anything like that again now that Canada has the pandemic mostly under control.

Lajoie sees Friday’s Sportsman Superstar Series event as a perfect way for Granby to welcome back a full crowd of spectators and wants nothing more than to enjoy a victory with a diverse range of emotions from the grandstands to take in.

“It’s nice to race in front of a full grandstand,” Lajoie said. “When COVID began, it was so weird to win and climb out of the car to see nobody there. It was certainly strange but I’m excited to see so many fans and drivers [at Granby] on Friday night.

There were many points in 2020 and 2021 where Lampron was unsure if Granby would weather the storm and fully rebound, but he credited the perseverance of the track’s staff for temporarily adapting to the new environment by emphasizing the alternative of streaming and keeping everyone safe on race weekends.

For Lampron, that hard work was crucial for Granby’s discussions with NASCAR to blossom into a partnership while still in the pandemic. He considers himself fortunate that Granby has NASCAR support and is eager to start the first year of what he believes will be a successful relationship between the two.

“This has been in the works over the last eight years,” Lampron said. “NASCAR was in touch with us every year and they would sometimes have people come out to the track. The NASCAR name brings so much value and this was the right time for us to jump in.”

Anticipation has been building around Friday’s season opener at Granby since the plans were first announced, as many drivers from the track’s Modified division have built Sportsman cars to race for the $3,000 paycheck.

David Hebert, who recorded his sixth Modified championship at Granby last year, is among those that will be entering the Sportsman Superstar Series feature. He will be joined by many more Modified drivers that include Francois Bernier, who is second to Hebert in track titles with five.

Having Hebert, Bernier and several other Modified regulars in the field is a welcomed challenge for Lajoie. He knows the Modified drivers will be determined to open the year with a victory in front of a capacity crowd and wants to make sure his car is perfect ahead of Friday’s green flag.

“We’ll have to work hard,” Lajoie said. “There are going to be some late nights in the shop getting the car ready. Our car wasn’t perfect the last time we raced, so we’re going to make sure we have the right setup and arrive [at Granby] prepared to win.”

Celebrating a win in front of fans would be a cathartic experience for Lajoie, who was frustrated to see how the pandemic negatively impacted tracks all around Canada from financial and personal standpoints.

Although the pandemic remains a talking point in Canada, Lampron is ready to move on from the past two years and help organize an eventful 2022 season that reminds everyone as to why NASCAR and so many competitors are investing into the facility’s future.

“Our expectations are very high,” Lampron said. “The schedule has 21 events on it, which is the most we’ve ever had in one year. We’re going big and there are a lot of races for fans and drivers to enjoy. This is the most exciting season we’ve had yet and I think it could be the best year ever at Granby.”

Lampron added that the drop of the green flag on Friday night will be a rewarding payoff for everyone at Granby that has made sacrifices to sustain one of Canada’s proudest short track complexes.

No longer will an unnerving calm permeate Granby on race weekends, but rather the familiar sound of energetic fans cheering on the country’s best dirt track competitors.