Former NASCAR driver restores Mansfield Speedway’s rich legacy, cements North Central Ohio town as motorsports mecca
MANSFIELD, OH, UNITED STATES, February 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — After sitting empty and abandoned for years, an iconic 67-year-old racetrack is about to reopen midway between Columbus and Cleveland in Mansfield, Ohio. With its first race slated for May 2, Mansfield Speedway will once again come alive with the buzzy sounds of cars racing around the track, cheering fans and animated announcers after a former NASCAR driver stepped in to build it a new lease on life. Following an April 12 Test & Tune event, gates officially open to the public Saturday, May 2 at 5 p.m. for Mansfield Speedway’s Comeback Classic.
Having held a variety of motorsports and multiple monikers since it opened in 1959, the once-vibrant motorsports facility faded to ruin. Race fans, drivers and families would pass the dilapidated track and lament what once was. That’s exactly what happened when former NASCAR driver and Ohio native Matt Tifft drove by on his way to nearby Mid-Ohio Race Car Course, considered a top-tier venue for racing enthusiasts and drivers alike. Tifft couldn’t get the memories Mansfield Speedway held for many — and the potential it still holds for families to experience racing — out of his head. Thus, he and wife Jordan Tifft acquired the property in 2025 with the goal of revitalizing the historic track.
The Tifft team is extensively renovating the 180-acre racing facility, installing a 70-by-40-foot Jumbotron, new grandstands and a new dirt track devoid of rocks or sand; essential in a sport where surface is everything. Tifft promises Mansfield will rival America’s top speedways and pledges to keep ticket costs low so everyone can enjoy the experience. Single tickets average $20, kids 10 and under are admitted free and season passes are $350, with tickets, schedules and complete details available at TheSpeedway.com. With space for 20,000 or more fans and weekend camping, plans in the works for an incredible array of experiences. Late-model sprint cars, car shows motocross, side-by-side, off-road ATV and RTV track events, monster and burnout events, concerts, a Freedom 250 Festival complete with July 4th fireworks and even open ride days are in the works. Knowing that it takes more than one weekly race to keep a venue thriving, Tifft’s crew plans to develop an ongoing calendar that targets every aspect of the motor and racing community and beyond with family-friendly excitement.
Plans may also include a motorsports museum to tell the story of Mansfield’s rich racing history, long home to legions of drivers, fans and supporters. Mansfield’s wildly popular Civil War-era horse races gave way to motorcycle races beginning in 1910 and auto racing in 1912. In the 1950s-60s one of the country’s most popular kart manufacturing companies, Rupp Manufacturing, maker of the Kool Kart went on to build early ATVs and snowmobiles. Early racing ephemera, including early Kool Kart models are on display at North Central Ohio Industrial Museum at Ohio State Reformatory. Opened in 1959 as a 3/8-mile dirt track, Mansfield Speedway later became a premier half-mile asphalt facility, hosting NASCAR Trucks from 2004–2008. It closed in 2008, then returned to dirt reopening in 2017 for just two seasons.
Just 15 miles from Mansfield Speedway, tickets are already on sale for this season’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course events at MidOhio.com. Opened in 1962 by Les Griebling, this premier natural terrain road course and 330-acre racing facility is known as the “Most Competitive in the U.S.” Its internationally revered 2.4-mile, 15-turn or 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuits host major series, such as IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR, Vintage Grand Prix, MotoAmerica Superbikes and AMA’s Vintage Motorcycle Days races and show.
Top-shelf motorsports join long list of one-of-a-kind experiences travelers find in Mansfield, Ohio. Breathtaking scenery set the backdrop for rural and hometown experiences, as well as outstanding public parks and gardens, Ohio Bird Sanctuary, hiking and biking the B&O Trail, golf and cross-country and downhill skiing. The Wine and Ale Trail Wine Trail is packed with memorable stops, including a blueberry farm and a historic mortuary and bank vault. The Shawshank Trail features tours of filming sites as well as Ghost Hunts and other tours at the one-of-a-kind Ohio State Reformatory. Surrounded by charming villages and towns, farm tours and other unforgettable agritourism spots, downtown Mansfield is filled with great restaurants, shops and cultural opportunities. Downtown, the historic carrousel district and the unmatched Buckeye Imagination Museum, where an entire floor is geared towards older kids and parents are favorites. Complete information on Mansfield’s many unforgettable visitor experiences is available at DestinationMansfield.com or (800) 642-8282, where visitors can also order a free visitors guide.
Destination Mansfield
Mansfield Visitors Bureau
info@destinationmansfield.com
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Mansfield Speedway undergoing major renovations; Opens May 2026
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