Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial Set for 66th Running
Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial Set for 66th Running
For the second consecutive season, the 500 Sprint Car Tour will head to Salem Speedway for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial presented by the Hoosier Lottery & Earl’s of Indy. The event will be the 66th running of the historic sprint car race. History was made in 2024 as Taylor Ferns became the first female to ever win the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial event.
The 2025 500 Sprint Car season has kicked off with a bang, as a different driver won each of the first three events. If you include the non points earning Little 500, a different driver won the first four 500 Sprint Car Tour sanctioned events in 2025. However, the last three races have all been dominated by Tyler Roahrig as he qualified fast time in two of the three events, and went to victory lane in all three. Now enter the great equalizer, the high banks of Salem Speedway. The daunting task of completing four corners of racing at Salem Speedway can either favor the season’s top competitors, or see a new face enter the fold as anything can truly happen.
Dakoda Armstrong, Bobby Santos III, Kody Swanson, and Tyler Roahrig have all gone to victory lane this season and will look to add another win to their 2025 total at Salem Speedway. Armstrong has yet to break through on the big tracks, with all of his 500 Sprint Car Tour victories coming at the quarter mile of Anderson Speedway. Santos III and Swanson have both gone to victory lane at big tracks this season with Santos claiming victory at Toledo Speedway (Half Mile) and Swanson winning the battle of attrition that was Winchester Speedway (Half Mile). Swanson finished second in last year’s event at Salem Speedway and currently drives for Nick Bohanon, the owner of Salem Speedway. Roahrig will not be in attendance at this year’s Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial, opening the door for a new winner following his three race win streak.
Taylor Ferns returns to the sight of her first pavement sprint car win as she enters the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial as the only female racer to ever win the event. An emotional victory for Ferns made for one of the most memorable victory lane moments, or moments in general, of the entire 2024 season. Ferns had a strong showing when the series visited Salem’s sister track, Winchester Speedway, back in June. Ferns brought home a second place finish and was able to lead some laps for the first time since her 2024 victory at Salem Speedway. Emotions will definitely be high going into Salem this Saturday for Ferns and her family, but the mission will still be the same.
The 66th Running of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial is set for Saturday, September 13th at Salem Speedway. The 500 Sprint Car Tour will be joined by Scrappers and Legends. Both the divisions will be competing on the ¼ mile course located on the infield of Salem Speedway. Pit gates will open at 12:00pm with hot laps beginning at 3:20pm. Qualifying will begin at 6:15pm and racing is set to begin at 7:00pm. Reserved seating tickets for the event are $30, general admission for adults is $25 and kids 6-12 are $5. Get your tickets online today by clicking HERE. All of the night’s racing action will be streamed live on DIRTVision. For those not currently subscribed to DIRTVision, you can choose your subscription package by clicking HERE.
