Middleford Owner Greg Mitchell Thrilled With Modified Debut, Large Crowd, Great Racing

Greg Mitchell has been a member of the Delaware motorsports community his entire life. On Saturday, the sun shined on him as he soaked in the glory of having nurtured Middleford Speedway back to life and into the kind of facility he had only dreamed about when he purchased the shuttered track.

“I spent a lot of money, about a quarter of a million dollars, the last two years,” said Mitchell, who sold his long-time junkyard business. 

“Just put 380 loads of clay on the track. Last year, I bought some more property because I couldn’t get it zoned because I didn’t have an entrance to the track. I’ll never get that back, but I don’t care. I’ve been in racing for 50 years, was with Hal Browning for 25 years, I want to make things better, the best that we can.”

Before purchasing Middleford, Mitchell said he tried to buy Georgetown Speedway. He also started the Little Lincoln and Super Trucks classes using parts available through his junkyard.

After spending thousands upon thousands of dollars enlarging the track to a ¼-mile, fighting and winning with local authorities over noise and zoning restrictions, expanding parking areas and seating, and adding new clay, Mitchell sat in the front row of the packed grandstands on Saturday, eating an ice cream while watching the Modifieds run their first competitive laps around what he had built.

“I hired a real good lawyer, and he got us zoned so we could run V-8 motors here. Took me three years to get it done, but tonight it’s worth it,” said Mitchell.  “I’m not done either; this is just the audition, a practice for what’s to come. The Sportsman have run here three times now, but tonight was just the beginning for the Modifieds.”

Delaware Modified racing was built on big motors running on big, fast half-mile tracks. Middleford can now offer a new twist in the state.

“It’s big enough for sure, hope going forward this will be another option for us guys down here in Delaware with big cars to race,” said race winner Austin Hubbard, who started his career at Middleford some 20 years earlier.

“I’ve always wanted a smaller track down here to race, we’ve got two super speedways. It’s cool we now have a small track that looks like will turn out to be really good. If we get some more cars here, I think we’ll work in an extra lane, and it will be easier to pass. They’ve really got something good here.”

With nearby Georgetown and Delaware International Speedway not racing weekly, the Modified drivers on hand were hoping for more than one scheduled event next year.

“I got more land I just bought for parking and ten acres of woods on the other side, we might be able to do something with,” said Mitchell, who has found a niche in the state’s only true short track, a driver’s raceway, not a high-speed track.

“This track was built to be a 9/32 of a mile scaled right off of Georgetown,” said Mitchell. “This past year, people wanted me to make the turns wider for the V-8s. The turns were 60 feet wide, now they are 85 feet wide, straightaways are 80, were 60.”

The track surface was in excellent shape, and the racing left the drivers and fans wanting more in the future.

“If they can get a bigger field of cars, I think the track will widen out more and make the racing even better,” said Jordan Watson, who had Saturday’s race won before blowing his motor late in the going.

“The bottom got slick, but there was plenty of bite you could find up top. The track was really smooth, it wasn’t hard on tires, the racing was good and they had a great crowd tonight. I think this place is going to be great for Delaware.”

On what was a very positive night for Mitchell, the only downer was just ten Modifieds on hand for what could have been a starting field of 16.

“I think a lot of people just wanted to wait and see how it worked out,” said Watson.  “You always have your doubters: can you pass, track conditions, or whatever. But tonight it started out fast, it slowed up a little bit for the feature, but you could keep moving up. With a few more cars out there, I think you’d see more cars further outside. The ones here all learned something and will only be better next time.”

More cars had been expected, though some were lost from competition the night before at Georgetown. There was also Modified racing going on at two tracks in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania.

“I hope more guys come out and support them when they run next year,” said Watson.  “I think all they need is 14 to 16 cars max in a feature. Personally, I was impressed; the speed was more than I thought it was going to be. It races like a fast quarter-mile. You’re carrying really good momentum here, even though it doesn’t have a lot of banking. There is a lot of room to race.”

There have been as many as four different layouts of the speedway over the years, each one larger than the last, ranging from a 1/10-mile when it opened in 1983 to today’s ¼-mile. The track has been known as Delaware Motorsports Park, Seaford Speedway, and Middleford.

“I’ve actually raced here on four different tracks from the time I was seven years old in go-karts, to micros, and now this is a Modified,” said Watson.  “I won on all the others, would have really been cool to win it tonight on this new track, and I think we would have had we not had a parts failure in the motor. They’ve really done a nice job with this place, and tonight was a great test for them. Whoever did the track prep should also be commended because they put a great deal of effort into it.”

This is the third year for the current configuration. Over the winter, the turns were made wider, which shortened the size. While this was the first race held for the Modifieds, the Sportsman had staged two previous events.

“I give them all the credit in the world for trying something different and giving us the opportunity to race here. Hopefully, they give us a couple of races next year, and I’ll be back here to support them for sure. They did an awesome job on the track,” said Watson, who was running a big bore open small-block.

“It was new to everyone, but we put our heads together and we were really, really good. We were going to change motors last night and try to put something smaller in, but we didn’t. It was fun to race, was up on the wheel the entire time. People were wondering if you would be able to pass, but I think I proved you could.”

Georgetown’s big half-mile was cut down in size two years ago by moving in the corners at both ends. Other tracks have also reduced the size of their speedways.

“As a sport, the day of big tracks is getting tougher and tougher. A small track like this gives a guy an opportunity to build or buy something that isn’t super crazy expensive and be competitive,” said Watson.  “The average speed tonight was like 60 MPH. You still get good speed at the end of the straightaway, but you’re not going as fast. I really think there is a place down here for a small race track like this one.”

Despite breaking a rod on a very expensive engine, Watson was very upbeat afterward.

“I’m 36 years old, been racing all my life. I know it’s a roller coaster ride, as aggravated as I am that it happened, you have to shrug it off,” said Watson.  “We have one other motor that we can try and finish out the year with. It might stop us from racing some end-of-the-year events. Might limit us to just finishing out the year at Delmar (DIS). We’re a family team, it sucks that it happened.”

Mitchell was tight-lipped about scheduling for next year, but Watson and the drivers on hand hope the Modifieds get several dates.

“I hope they run here five or six times next year. There were times this season when we were off for three weeks here in Delaware,” said Watson.

“Weather played a factor, but our schedule in July and August was light, and now we’re getting piled on here at the end. It would be nice to have a place next year with a handful of races just 30 minutes from my home. It’s kid-friendly and a nice facility. I hope it works out for Greg and his family. I had a great time, even though it sucks it had to end like it did.”