Mahoning Valley Speedway Park opened its 2026 season in impressive fashion Saturday night, as packed grandstands, a full parking lot and ideal weather created an electric atmosphere for the return of racing.

The energy in the stands carried over to the track, where Matt Hirschman won the Modified feature, Trisha Connolly captured the 4 Cylinder main event, Jill Snyder earned the Street Stock victory and Bobby Kibler Jr. claimed top honors in Pro 4 competition.

Promoter Bill Osborn praised the fans, drivers, sponsors and volunteers following the successful opener, while also recognizing the many workers behind the scenes who helped the night run smoothly.

“We hit it out of the ballpark,” Osborn said in a Facebook post by the track after noting about 500 people were in the pits, and another 1,100 filled the grandstands. “We will continue to bring this track up to the standard I want and make more improvements as we go to make this a place everyone wants to be at.”

Times News photographers Matt Breiner, Gavin Kester and Dave Tsky were on hand to capture the sights and excitement of opening night.

Mahoning Valley returns to action this Saturday with the 602 division, Hobby Stocks, Street Stocks, Late Models and a Junk Car Race with Twin 30s scheduled.