Welcome

Welcome to Heartland Race News.com!


My name is Jason Orth, and I’m the editor, staff, and head bottlewasher of this new site. The goal of Heartland Race News is to provide a “one-stop” outlet for Southeastern Nebraska tracks, race teams, and sanctioning bodies to get information to fans. Along with that, I’ll include race reports, photos and commentary.


The goal is not to compete with some of the other websites on the net, but to complement them. You’ll find no message boards here and I don’t plan to install one anytime soon. Heartland Race News will focus on tracks in SE Nebraska, and the focus is not on any one class, but all classes of racing at those tracks: Sprints, Stocks, Karts, 4-Cylinders, Buses, whatever.


Much of the content will be reader-contributed. It’s free to send information, and I’m looking for any type of info you find interesting to race fans. Is there an upcoming race? Perhaps you want to congratulate a driver or a crew member? Maybe it’s a new sponsor for your track or car? We may even have a few interviews and rumors here and there. I’m looking for content that promotes racing, keeps people interested and the people and businesses that support it.


Heartland Race News wants to keep things thoughtful, positive, and promote racing in a time where our sport really needs it.


What’s my goal?


Well, if you thought it was making money, you’re kidding yourself. There isn’t a lot of money to be made here. But, what I want to do is get out and enjoy racing and do what I liked best, writing and taking photos. By doing this site, I stay informed of what’s going on and for the first time in about 20 years, don’t have to work at a track or on a car on a summer Saturday!


And who are you?


I’ve been around racetracks for nearly all of my 35 years on this Earth. I remember seeing late models at Mid-Continent (now Mid-Nebraska) Speedway when I was a little kid, then moving to Lincoln and watching the birth of the 360 Sprint class at Midwest Speedway and Eagle Raceway’s rise to one of the Midwest’s best tracks. From there my father, Dean Orth owned several sprint cars I had the privilege to work on: the #98 of Dennis Diekmann, to the Mike Cacak-piloted #30d, the “caution sign” Cliffs Notes #4A driven by Joe Wade and Ed Bowes, and various “BK” cars, the #4BK of Lonnie Jensen up to the #1BK driven by Don Droud, Jr. on the NCRA Outlaw Sprint tour in 1996.


In 1997 I went to the “third” side of the fence when my father and Craig Cormack took over Eagle Raceway. I started at the pit gate and moved on to scoring & lineups and writing press releases and race recaps. My dad left Eagle after the 1999 season, but I stayed on. In 2002 I became a full time employee at Eagle Raceway as the Assistant General Manager and PR Director. In 2004 I wrote releases and compiled points for the World of Outlaws Sprint series, while Craig was VP of Race Operations.


Craig Cormack closed Eagle Entertainment, LLC in 2005 and leased the track. From there, I decided that for once I would enjoy the races and get my Saturday nights back. So this year I’m going to pick and choose my races and do the part I enjoyed the most at Eagle Raceway, but didn’t always have time for.


The Format?


I’m going to work with a “blog” format. If you’ve been to hoseheads.com, you’ll see what I mean. A blog is a list of articles, sometimes the full text, or sometimes just summaries with links to the article. This format is a good way to keep current content on top and it’s easy for a one-man show to operate. If this grows enough, I may start an email list, an RSS feed and perhaps one day a print or PDF version. But for now we’ll keep it web-site based.


How often will you update?


I plan on updating as much as possible. Obviously during the race season updates will be more frequent, but my goal is at least 2-3 times a week during the season.


How do I get material posted?


Send me an email (the address and link is on the top right-hand corner of the page). I’ll take a look at it before posting. That said, not everything that gets emailed will automatically be posted. I don’t want to post unsubstantiated rumors, slams, or things not race-related. Giving a shoutout to your crew chief for making a great setup call is one thing, but telling us his dog had puppies is something else. Sending me information about the point leader getting DQ’ed is OK, but an anonymous email telling me that a dirty SOB is a cheater is not. Read the submission guidelines for details.

The obligatory disclaimer:

Heartland RaceNews.com accepts no liability for errors or delays provided by original or third-party sources. All material is copyright Heartland RaceNews.com unless otherwise noted. Material not copyrighted by Heartland RaceNews.com is used under the fair use guidelines of the U.S. Copyright Code and does not endorse, sponsor, or verify the content provided by third parties and leaves all liability to the originating presenter of the information.

Bottom line: it's up to you to check the dates, times, location, etc. I post what is presented for consumption. Mistakes, delays or problems may arise. It happens.


How can I place an ad?


I’m not going to post free classifieds, but if you want to buy ad space, send me an email and we’ll talk.


As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please email me!


Jason