I-70 Motorsports Park, also known as I-70 Speedway, is a multi-purpose motorsports facility near Interstate 70 east of Odessa, Missouri, USA. The track, first opened in 1969, and has since been completely rebuilt and renovated in 2021 under new ownership.
I-70 Speedway includes a 1/2 mile dirt oval racetrack. It hosts events for 410 winged sprint cars, non-winged sprint cars, super dirt late models, modifieds, monster trucks, flat track motorcycles, and motocross bikes.
Roberts sold I-70 Speedway to Greg Weld (of WELD wheels) sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s (?). Weld turned the track into a dirt track. Late in 1989 Roberts, who had continued holding the note on the track, repossessed I-70 Speedway from Weld. At that time, Roberts, along with sons Dennis and Randy, resurfaced the track with asphalt and got it NASCAR sanctioned. Roberts' third son Dan, a Kansas City area country music DJ on KFKF-FM and later a long-time announcer at Arrowhead Stadium, got his start in sports broadcasting at I-70 Speedway.
In 2006, a new 0.375mi (0.604km) dirt track was built on the site. The asphalt track is a long 0.500mi (0.805km). The backstretch has a small dog-leg. It is regarded as one of the fastest and highest banked short tracks in the nation. I-70 Speedway was also one of the first tracks to feature a prototypical SAFER barrier; during a World Cup race in the early 1990s, huge styrofoam blocks were placed high along the retaining wall in all four turns. All-Pro Series driver and former NASCAR Rookie of the Year, Jody Ridley, hit one of the blocks which sent him airborne over the wall in turn four upside down. Ridley walked away from the wreck, but this style of the barrier was only used in a few more races at I-70.
Actor and race car driver Paul Newman rented the race track in 1990, while he was filming in the Kansas City area, for a private practice session. He drove some of the local race cars including that of the 1989 Late Model Track Champion, Jay Truelove.
Bill Roberts sold the track to Ted Carlson in the mid-1990s. Carlson later sold the track to Brad McDonald. The track has hosted stock car racing and kart racing events. It used to offer a twin-billing Saturday night dirt track and asphalt track show. The dirt track is directly behind the original asphalt facility. On July 5, 2018, it was announced that I-70 Speedway was bought by Chris Payne, owner of Heartland Motorsports Park and would reopen in 2019. The half-mile asphalt oval at I-70 would be converted to a dirt track with a drag strip to be included on the property.[2] After delays due to negotiations with Lafayette County and the COVID-19 pandemic, the new complex reopened in 2021.
In 2023, Chris Payne and his partner entered into an agreement with Scott Higgs to invest in the development of a drag strip on the property next to the 1/2 mile dirt oval track. In May 2023, construction began on the drag strip. The Flying H Drag Strip is set to open to the public in summer of 2024. It was anticipated to host a NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series event in 2024.[3] As of the 2025 NHRA season, no national event has been scheduled.
Races
The major asphalt event held at the track was the World Cup. This event first featured the All-Pro series, but in later years it featured the ASA Late Model Series (formerly known as ARTGO and NASCAR Midwest Series) North vs. South Showdown.
World of Outlaws announced in December2019 that they would return to I-70 in 2020, on a new 0.375mi (0.604km) oval layout, surfaced with dirt. The effort was delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic, but a grand opening of the track featuring World of Outlaws occurred on April 30, 2021.[4]
