Nov. 5: at Jacksonville
Reds hosting Game 5 of the World Series?
A three-game road swing begins against a Jaguars team that hasn’t beaten the Bengals since 2005.
Nov. 12: at Tennessee
The Nashville nightlife and short travel time should make this a popular road trip for Bengals fans. The average high temperature in Nashville on Nov. 12 is 62 degrees, in case you’re thinking about going.
Nov. 19: at Denver
This will be just the third time since 1992 the Bengals have played road games in three consecutive weeks. They handled the other two pretty well, going 3-0 against New Orleans, Houston and Tampa Bay in 2014, and 2-1 against San Diego, Pittsburgh and Baltimore (loss) in 2003.
Nov. 26: CLEVELAND
Getting to stay home and playing the Browns are two things to be thankful for to start the holiday season.
Dec. 4: PITTSBURGH (Monday night)
This will be the sixth prime-time matchup against the Steelers since the Andy Dalton-A.J. Green era began in 2011. The Bengals are 1-4 in the previous five.
Dec. 10: CHICAGO
The Bengals are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games at Paul Brown Stadium against NFC opponents.
Dec. 17: at Minnesota
The last time the Bengals won in Minnesota ... wait, scratch that. The Bengals have never won in Minnesota (0-5).
Dec. 24: DETROIT
The Bengals have lost four of the last five games they’ve played on Christmas Eve, including last year’s 12-10 defeat at Houston.
Dec. 31: at Baltimore
The Bengals play the Ravens in the season finale for the seventh time in eight years. This will be just the third New Year’s Eve game in franchise history (23-17 overtime loss to Pittsburgh in 2006, 21-13 playoff win against Seattle in 1988).
The United States Auto Club doesn’t make an appearance in the area until hitting the high banks at Eldora Speedway on May 12-13.
It could be a happy homecoming for Justin Grant. The former Piqua resident leads the USAC national sprint standings heading into today’s race at Plymouth Speedway and Saturday’s event at Montpelier Motor Speedway in Indiana.
Grant, who won the season opener at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., on Feb. 24, holds a two-point lead over Chad Boespflug and a 39-point lead over Chris Windom.
Earlier this season, Grant became the first driver in USAC history to score season-opening victories in both the USAC national sprint series and USAC national midget series in the same season.
The California native scored one of his biggest career victories at Eldora last September when he won the USAC sprint car feature at the 4-Crown Nationals. He also scored a sprint car win at Eldora driving for Piqua’s Mark Hery in 2015.
“This race has always been one of the big ones for me, if not the biggest one,” Grant said after his 4-Crown win. “I lived in Piqua for a long time and drove for Mark. We were fortunate enough to win a USAC race here together. But the 4-Crowns are on a whole ’nother level of special.”
Stewart update:
Joe Menzer of Fox Sports recently talked with Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart. Here’s what Stewart told Menzer about adding additional tracks to the three he currently owns or co-owns:
“The hard part, and it’s kind of a funny thing that we’ve gone through for about the last five years ... but no matter where we’re at in the country, someone always comes up to me and says, ‘I hear you’re going to buy our local dirt track.’ I don’t know where the rumors start — but according to those people who start the rumors, I own or am about to own about 120 tracks across the country . ... We have three of them — one in Kentucky, one in Illinois and one in Ohio. It’s a lot to manage what we’ve got already.”
Here’s what else is happening at area tracks:
Gem City Auto Racing hosts its second event at Kil-Kare on Sunday. The track hosts the late models, modifieds, sport stocks and compacts. Hot laps start at 11:30 a.m. and qualifying is 1:30 p.m. The trophy dashes and heat races follow with the features starting around 3:15 p.m.
Kil-Kare Raceway: Kil-Kare Dragway:
A test and tune session will be Saturday with gates opening at noon. Spectator admission is $5. Kids 12-under are free with paid adult. Points racing starts May 6.
Edgewater Sports Park:
A two-day bracket racing event has been turned into a Saturday show only, with the unpredictable spring weather cited as the reason. Saturday’s show features the NHRA-sanctioned Summit Racing Series with super pro, pro, sportsman, junior dragsters and motorcycles. Gates open at 2 p.m. with eliminations at 6:30.
Three divisions run the Saturday Night Speedfest at Eldora, which also boasts a new video board. Information displayed on the board includes the current event on the track (heat, dash, feature, etc.) and laps to go along the bottom. The top 10 cars are displayed top-to-bottom on the right side. The UMP modifieds, Eldora stock cars and Vores compacts are all in action Saturday. Gates open at 4 p.m., hot laps start at 5 and racing at 6.
Eldora Speedway: Shady Bowl Speedway:
The ’Bowl hosts the first points race of the season for late models, modifieds, street stocks, pure stocks and compacts.
Waynesfield Raceway Park:
The season opener features a five-division show with the non-wing sprints, UMP modifieds, AMSA mini sprints, tough trucks and compacts. Grandstands open at 5 p.m., hot laps start at 6 and racing at 7.