The entire staff and management of Colorado National Speedway is saddened by the recent passing of Gene Heffley. Gene created Colorado National Speedway back in 1965. Gene is a member of the Colorado National Speedway Hall of Fame as well as a member of the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Gene Heffley moved to Denver from Missouri Valley, Iowa in 1957, after serving five years in the military. In 1951, he met and married his wife Gerda. They started a trucking company and had two daughters, Helen and Patti. By 1960 this couple was operating four trucks. A year later he began to operate a salvage business in the Denver metropolitan area and sold parts to two individuals that were building race cars. When one could not pay for the parts, they ended up with the race car. With some help from some friends, Harry McCool and Bart Manley, they ran the #70 car at Lakeside Speedway. That is when he really got hooked.

In 1964, one of their drivers was Hall of Famer, Sam Sauer. Later that year they all went to a big race at Hanford, California. It was the first time they had seen a real late model race and he and Gerda decided to build a speedway designed car for late models. But that was just part of the story. In 1965, using the money from their trucking company they purchased an 80 acre parcel of farmland. On that site they designed and built a speedway, and called it Colorado National Speedway. They worked every day possible mid-year until the track was able to run a very short season. In 1966, they raced a full season with the idea of making racing possible for anybody that wanted to participate. The track had four foot retaining walls for the safety of spectators and they continued to make improvements both on and off the track. During the years they added motorcycles, sprint cars and midgets to their racing program. In 1972, after Gene was diagnosed with cancer, they decided it would be best to sell Colorado National Speedway. They were truly pioneers in short track dirt racing.

See also... National Speed Sport News

Please make plans for this years Colorado National Speedway Awards banquet and celebration. This is the event where we honor our champions, rookies of the year, and all the other honors and congratulations that the 2012 season has produced. The details for the event are as follows.

WHERE: Red and Jerry's and Riverpoint Event Center 303-783-0655
1840 West Oxford, Sheridan, Colorado 80110

Please enter at Event Center Entrance. Wheelchair and handicap please use main entrance.

WHEN: Saturday November 10th at 6:00pm- 12:00pm.

COST: 45.00 per person.  Tables of 8 are $360.00 they will be reserved for your party.

FOOD & DRINK: Italian Buffet and dancing at Club Octane after Awards ceremony.

ACCOMODATIONS: Hotel- Rooms are on hold under "Colorado National" until 10/27 at  Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood - 303 980-6423 7390 West Hampden at Wadsworth Lakewood, CO 80227 $79.99 Room. 2 shuttles are available- times TBD. Bar open till 2am.

RSVP: Payment for this event must be made by November 1st. Please use this attached form to complete payment.

2012 CNS Banquet Ticket Order Form

The NAPA Toyota 150 which was run at CNS on July 28th 2012 featuring the K&N Pro Series West cars at Colorado National Speedway is scheduled to air on SpeedTV August 9th at 3PM (Eastern Time). Make sure to check your local listings as network schedules can vary. Don't miss this telecast of one iof the most memorable races from CNS in a long while. 2 time Daytona 500 Champ Michael Waltrip battled race winner Greg Pursley and other K&N stars in front of a packed house at CNS.