BRIEFLY: NO RACING SLATED FOR THIS SEASON AT BENTON TRACK

BENTON -- Due to a variety of reasons, it was recently announced that there would be no regular racing this year at Missouri International Racepark.

A MIR spokesman said there is still a chance that the track will host some special event races in 1998, but that is still up in the air.

MIR was built six years ago by the Simpson family and had hosted regular racing each of those years. Cape Girardeau businessman Richard Kirkpatrick took over operations of the track last year but he said he decided not to renew for this season.

Many of the local racers who formerly competed at MIR are this year competing at tracks in both Malden and Farmington.