Start your engines — Car show, races coming to Newcastle this summer

From July 17–19, Newcastle will be bustling with activity. Over these three days, the city will host the Summer Classic Drags event, which will bring motocross, autocross and drag racers from locations both near and far.

According to Sandy Martin, the event took place in Sturgis, South Dakota, for over 20 years. However, that city recently abandoned the event.

“Sturgis has shut down all their summer events,” Martin said. “There’s no more summer events in Sturgis that the city is doing. They actually shut down their events center.”

Martin went on to explain that the event the city is best known for, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, is being taken over by “the county and the bar owners.”

During Martin’s decade-long tenure as president of the Newcastle Area Chamber of Commerce, she helped with events in nearby counties and made contacts with other event planners. As a result, when Sturgis decided to forgo putting on Summer Classic Drags, individuals involved with the event reached out to her. They asked if she would take it over and host it in Newcastle.

Despite the daunting nature of putting on such an event, Martin persisted, and near the end of last year, she gained the assistance of a board consisting of her and six other members.

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Martin said of the initial planning.

However, now that she has her fellow board members to help bring the event together, Martin says she feels more confident about success.

“They have gone above and beyond and helped. I couldn’t ask for a better board,” she said.

Members of the board include Martin, her husband, Todd Martin, Sean Crabtree, Lynn Busskohl, former mayor Pam Gualtieri, Public Works supervisor Greg Stumpff and city engineer Chuck Bartlett.

As previously reported, Martin hopes to “bring a substantial number of people and income to the community.” A highly successful gathering would bring in about 5,000 visitors, she said.

This would align with Newcastle Mayor Tyrel Owens’ three-step plan for revitalizing the city.

Owens’ plan includes events such as Summer Classic Drags that bring tourists to Newcastle, “livening up Main Street and attracting businesses” and bringing a larger enterprise, such as a manufacturer, to the city.

“No. 1, I’m super hopeful that this works out because I think it’d be great for the community. And, then, I just hope that we’re able to accommodate the number of people at the facilities we have in Newcastle,” he said.

Martin said she is aware of concerns about the planned event, saying she has heard concerns expressed about the anticipated volume of people who will show up for the event and the community’s ability to facilitate such an influx of visitors. However, she remains confident in her ability, the board’s abilities and Newcastle’s capacity to successfully host Summer Classic Drags.

“In some of the Sturgis events, you are looking at 3,000-5,000 people that come in. (Some) don’t think we can handle that, but Hulett has their day events where they bring in a couple thousand people. I think we’ll be fine. We just need to know what’s coming and let our business owners be aware that the volume’s going to increase and act accordingly,” she said.

Stumpff echoed this position and said that neighboring communities, such as Upton and Custer, will be able to help with accommodations. He also pointed out that “these people like to drive.”

Damage to streets is another concern that has been raised, but Stumpff said he is not too worried about this either. During each year’s Shine and Show event, burnouts have taken place on East Road by Dow Park and have not caused any damage, he said. He also said that the section of road that will be used for the drag races should be able to sustain this recreational use. This would be “2nd Avenue towards the port of entry.”

“(This) section of road … was recently chip sealed …, so the road is in good shape,” he said.

To further assuage any concerns, the board will hold a Q and A session at Pizza Barn on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 6 p.m. Martin said they will address such topics as which streets will be blocked off, how long each event will last and the cost of attendance.

Local car show and race fans may also welcome Summer Classic Drags considering that RPM Days, the Newcastle car-centric summer event that marked its ninth year in 2024, will no longer be taking place. According to County Commissioner Garrett Borton, one of the founders of the event, too many complications made continuing untenable. However, he was quick to state that the issues that led to ending the event had nothing to do with the patrons.

“We had some pretty decent complications with the competitors last year, and that was pretty much the final straw when it came down to continuing the event. It wasn’t on the spectator side. They’ve always been awesome,” he said.

Despite RPM Days discontinuing, Summer Classic Drags should satiate local car and race fans.

On Thursday, July 17, the festivities will kick off with a morning poker run. Then at 5 p.m., the drivers will participate in a meet and greet that will be held at the Weston County Events Center. A casino night, a bingo night and a silent auction will also take place.

On Friday, July 18, autocross will happen at the high school parking lot and will start at 8 a.m. Downtown on Main Street, starting at 6 p.m., a car show will take place and will feature a band and various vendors. The people’s choice awards will also be announced.

On Saturday, July 19, drag racing on Main Street will go from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. And the event will culminate with another band, an awards ceremony and a buffet, which will also be downtown on Main Street and will begin at 6 p.m.

Potential visitors may have another reason to attend. According to Martin, the event will be unique for the state.

“We are the very first Wyoming (city) not to do just one class of a car. We’re doing all classic cars,” she said.

Martin expects drivers and car owners from all over. Off the top of her head, she listed Florida, Canada, Utah, Texas, Montana and Nevada.