[h=2]IHRA opener set for Immokalee[/h] Tuesday, 24 January 2017


Steven Cole Smith

The first weekend in February – that would be Friday the third, to Sunday the fifth – is the first-ever IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship. It's at the Immokalee Regional Raceway in Florida.
The what, where?
Immokalee, population about 25,000, isn't well-known even to most residents of Florida. After all, it really isn't on the way to anywhere. But it's what Immokalee is near that you might find appealing – it's in the same county, and the same metro area, as Naples and Marco Island, home of some of the nicest beaches in the state.
Collier County, in the southwest corner of Florida, is named for a family with some extensive motorsports connections. decades. Brothers Miles and Sam founded the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1933, which became the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in 1944. Miles, along with Cameron Argetsinger, and Briggs Cunningham founded the Watkins Glen race track. The massive car collection of Briggs Cunningham was purchased by the Collier family and is now part of the Revs Institute for Automotive Research in Naples, and is open to the public.


Aside from that, this part of Florida is a superb vacation destination – that just happens to have a national drag racing event attached on a weekend that is likely to be quite warm, when the rest of the country – well, isn't.
For a sample of what the region offers, check out its official website: Paradisecoast.com.



As for Immokalee itself, the name of the city was taken from the Miccosukee Indian word for "my home." It still is – the Miccosukee tribe, part of the Seminole Nation, built the new Seminole Casino Hotel, which has 81 deluxe rooms and 19 suites, as well as four restaurants and entertainment every night – later in February there's Dionne Warwick, America and The Spinners, and we just missed Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
And, did we mention, a drag race?



The website for Immokalee Regional Raceway is Immraceway.com. See you there!