At the end of August, it may seem like a good while before the start of the 31st annual Speedway Motors Tulsa Shootout, but ask any team, and they’ll tell you it’s crunch time to get everything lined up for the annual trek to take on the Tulsa Expo Raceway inside the River Spirt Expo Center.

Happening December 30, 2015 through January 2, 2016, the biggest New Year’s Party in all of Motorsports will see no change to the classes competing but instead, will see the 1,200cc Mini Sprints expand into a Winged and Non-Wing division.

“We’ve been getting a consistent number of drivers in the 1,200cc Mini Sprints, but it hasn’t grown in over the past five years like the other divisions have,” said Shootout Director Matt Ward. “We talked with several drivers, and one of the things we were told that keeps some teams from participating, is unlike the Micro divisions where you can run the same car in four classes, the 1,200 limits you to that class so unless you are able to bring a second car, or find a ride, your whole weekend consists of four races.

“We’re always looking at ways to make the event better and smoother and right now, we are just tweaking a few things to see what effect it has and go from there. We want to be fair to the drivers who continually support the Shootout because without them, this event wouldn’t be what it is today.”

With the change in the lineup for the 1,200cc Mini Sprints, Deming Speedway owner and promoter, Paul Lemley, has signed on as the tech inspector for the 1,200’s at the 2016 Speedway Motors Tulsa Shootout. Officials are working with Paul on the current rules to make sure everything comes together seamlessly. A press release concerning the rules package will be released in the coming weeks.

Classes for the 31st annual Speedway Motors Tulsa Shootout will include:

• Winged Outlaw

• Non-Winged Outlaw

• “A” Class Winged

• “A” Class Non-Winged

• “A” Class Restricted

• Junior Sprints

• 1,200cc Non-Winged Mini Sprints

• 1,200cc Winged Mini Sprints

• ECOtec/Ford Focus Midgets