The Racing Report is a five-part photo essay shot at short tracks in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania that will run in Farm and Dairy through the summer. The first installation sees photojournalist Matthew Chasney going to opening night at Mansfield Speedway, in Mansfield, Ohio.
On May 15, Mansfield Speedway, which had lain dormant since 2019, returned to life for the Comeback Classic before a sellout crowd. The original opening night, scheduled for May 2, was postponed due to rain and freezing temperatures, which have been the prevailing theme of racing in Ohio this spring.
Aside from unusually cold and rainy weather on Friday and Saturday nights here in the Buckeye State, this spring has been a hard one for Ohio race fans for other reasons. Historic tracks like Norton, Lorain County and Sandusky all shut down ahead of the 2026 season. So, the return of racing to this classic track was met with hopeful enthusiasm by fans on this crisp May night.
The historic Ohio 3/8-mile dirt race track originally opened in 1959. It was paved in 1999, and the track was a stop on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series tour in the mid-2000s. The track was dogged by financial problems and changes in ownership until it finally shut down in 2019.
In the summer of 2025, former NASCAR racer and entrepreneur Matt Tifft purchased the track and bet big on its revival. Tifft and his crew spent millions of dollars modernizing and extensively renovating the facility with the goal of making it a destination for motorsports, concerts and events. They hope that this diversification will lead to long-term sustainability.
The ticket on opening night featured 410 sprint cars, late models and modifieds. Mansfield native Kyle Moore took a popular win in late models, fighting his way back from a 12th-place start. Cap Henry chased down Danny Sams III to win the 410 sprint car feature. Ryan Markham of Ashland, Ohio, won the modified feature.
