UMI Motorsports Park Track History

Field of Dreams

Situated in the hills of Clearfield County PA sits the most diverse track in motorsports. UMI Motorsports Park (UMIMP) is a short-course road racetrack with a ⅝ mile oval and an endless amount of autocross course options. Racers from across the United States and Canada travel to spend summer weekends carving corners and dodging cones. UMIMP’s high-energy events are fun and family friendly.

Home to the biggest night in Autocross

2022, KOTM 4.0 Winner Highlights.

King of the Mountain

UMIMP is home to the King of the Mountain Event. This event is by invitation only, so the competition is elite. The KOTM invite is only granted to the fastest drivers. It can also be won in events like UMI’s Autocross Challenge and UMI’s Muscle on the Mountain. Invitees have the opportunity to compete for the $25,000 purse and the title of King!

2021, King of the Mountain 3.0 grandstand audience.

2022, King of the Mountain 4.0 Parade lap.

A long History of Speed

Before becoming UMI Motorsports Park, this facility has had a history of racing going back 50 years.

1970s, Wedge Cars racing on the dirt track.

The Clearfield County Track

Beginning as a dirt track in the 1970s, the Clearfield County Track was a popular destination. Many racing careers flourished on the Pennsylvania clay with legends like Clate Husted, Dirty Dave Srock, Tom Merryman and Steve Peles racking up the wins. Wedge and late model race cars ran at unheard-of speeds and thrilled the crowds.

1970s, Local racing legend, Clate Husted and his First Gen Camaro.

1970s, Spencer Husted on the dirt track.

1970s, Local racing legend, Clate Husted and his First Gen Camaro.

1974, Bob Wearing’s 1971 Camaro.

1970s, Spencer Husted on the dirt track.

1990s, Stock Cars racing on the Asphalt track.

The Asphalt Years

In 1986, the track was paved with asphalt. This brought new life to the track with NASCAR sanction races. Fans would spend summer nights watching intense competitions. The NASCAR races brought many big names to the track, including Clate Husted, Glenn Gault, Chargin’ Charlie Cragan and Tiger Tom Eriksen.

2000, UMI’s future maintenance technician, Corey Timblin wins in his 1986 Ford Mustang.

1999, Don Betton wins in his 1986 Monte Carlo SS.

1998, UMI’s future engineer, Ramey Womer wins in his 1998 Monte Carlo.

1990s, Local racing legend, Clate Husted & his fans.

2002, Tracy Potter in his 1998 Port City becomes the last Late Model Champion on the asphalt before the track became dirt again.

1987, American motorsports racing drivers: Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader and Bobby Allison, at the park.

1990s, Asphalt paved track.

2000s, Dirt Track.

The Dirt Repave

As the interest in paved racing fell, the track was converted back into a dirt track in 2004 and the oval was shortened to ⅜ mile. With these transformations, popularity grew once more. Crowds would gather to watch brave drivers flat foot an 800hp super late model around the course. This chapter would last until 2010, and the track closed for the 2011 season completely.

2000s, The ⅜ mile dirt track.

The pavement slowly being hid under many truckloads of dirt.

The End of an Era

The 2012 season opened with the dirt scraped off. The paved track offered a glimmer of hope with the return of prestigious asphalt touring series races on The Big Half Mile. However, this hope was short-lived and by 2013, the grandstands were empty. For five years the track would sit mostly unused. Without racing events, the wind and weather took its toll and the track looked like a ghost town.

New Life to an old track

2022, The UMI Rig at LS Fest.

UMI Performance

Not too far away from Clearfield County in Philipsburg PA is the UMI Performance headquarters. The professionals at UMI design and manufacture aftermarket suspension components. To ensure quality, the parts were tested on the Team UMI cars in competitions during the motorsport season. But for more control of the testing environment they needed an official test site. This is when the president of UMI Performance, Ryan Kirkwood had an idea: Why not have our own track?

2016, The UMI Camaro testing parts at LS Fest.

2016, The UMI Green Machine testing parts at Northeast Muscle Car Challenge.

2016, The UMI LeMans testing parts at Midwest Muscle Car Challenge.

2017, UMI’s official testing track.

UMI’s Official Testing Site

In the fall of 2017, the track became the official testing site for UMI Performance’s American made products. As parts like the UMI Watts Link were being put to the test, Kirkwood looked around the empty park and saw the potential to run events again and bring new life to this piece of history. This is when the concept of UMI Motorsports Park was born.

UMI Motorsports Park

Coming off the first successful Autocross Challenge, held at the Mid State Regional Airport in August 2017, there was a perfect opportunity to run the second annual Autocross Challenge at the park. So the folks at UMI got to work. The rest of 2017 and most of 2018 was spent getting the track ready to run its first ever autocross competition.

2017, 1st Autocross Challenge at the Black Moshannon.

View before and after the UMI track renovations by sliding the arrow.

UMI Motorsports Park

In 2018, UMI Motorsports Park hosted its first event. The second annual Autocross Challenge exceeded expectations and the park’s potential was realized. The following year saw the addition of the King of the Mountain Race. This race was designed to attract drivers from all over the nation, and racers after a winning title.

2018, first Autocross Challenge at UMI Motorsports Park.

2018, 2nd Annual Autocross Challenge & the 1st event at UMIMP.

2018, Autocross Challenge Drivers Meeting.

2018, 2nd Annual Autocross Challenge.

2019, King of the Mountain 1.0 Parade Lap.

King Of the Mountain 1.0

UMI’s King of the Mountain race is an autocross with a real payout! A mix of vehicles and drivers battle for the prize and the title of King. King of the Mountain 1.0 ran successfully in 2019. Drivers battled for two days to qualify for the nighttime shootout. Once again the track lights were on and fans filled the grandstand and hillside to see the Clearfield track back in action!