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AFS Badger Midget Series and MARA Set For Davenport Speedway Friday

The Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association opens the 2026 season this Friday, May 8, at Davenport Speedway. It's Badger's first trip to the Hawkeye state since 2022 when they raced at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway. In 2021 the club was slated to run Davenport, but the event was rained out.

When they pull into Davenport, Zach Boden will have a leg up on the field as he already has one win under his belt with the Midget Auto Racing Association (MARA) where he took that club's opener two weeks prior at Lincoln Speedway. The Davenport go is a co-sanctioned event between the two sister organizations. Boden is ready. "We're excited to get back to Iowa at a place we've never been. We're looking forward to getting the Badger season back underway and seeing the fans in the stands again," he noted.

The last five years Badger's opener has yielded five different victors at four different opening night tracks. In 2021 the Dubuque Fair Grounds Speedway opened the season with a win by Andy Baugh. The following season Jake Neuman took Bill Ecker's #57 to Victory Lane, besting 27 entries on the night at Sycamore Speedway. Kankakee Speedway in Illinois was the place where Adam Taylor opened the season with the win enroute to the 2023 Badger Championship. Matt Rechek scored a popular hometown win in 2024 at the now defunct Beaver Dam Raceway.

Last year at Beaver Dam, Parker Jones charged from the outside of row-four to win the opener in a season where he'd break Landy Scott's consecutive win record within Badger. Jones went on to take his second consecutive series championship.

The Bumper to Bumper / Auto Value IRA Outlaw Sprint Series is also on the card Friday along with local classes and the night's activities will stream live on FloRacing.

Please check Davenport Speedway's pages for all official information regarding gate times and costs.

Article by Bill Blumer Jr.
Photo by Roy Ophime

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