02/14/2026
Pocket Change Race August 28
Douglas County Dirt Track to host 2026 Pocket Change Race!
After taking a hiatus in 2025, one of the most unique events in dwarf car racing will make its return this summer, and also at a new venue for 2026. The 13th edition of the Pocket Change Race will be held Friday, August 28th at The Douglas County Dirtrack in Roseburg, Oregon, with the Southern Oregon Dwarf Car Association (SODCA) serving as the hosting club.
The Pocket Change Race is known for the main event winner going home with coins, and a lot of them. The last six events saw the winner go home with more than $2,000 in change that was collected over the prior year. A lot of green cash had also been raised to hand out to the rest of the field over the years. The Pocket Change Race, with grassroots money collection, has been one of the larger paying dwarf car races in the country over the years.
As was stated in November and during the winter by event founder and main money collector Andrew Kunas, this year's event will be a "soft return" and is not expected to be the larger event it was the last few years it was run and with it expected to be smaller this time around Andrew was open to having the race on a Friday night. The plan for this year was to find a regular event somewhere, on a weekend that featured few or no conflicts, and for the event to be run by the hosting club and otherwise be a normal night with whatever money Andrew collects being paid on top of and separately from the normal track/club payout.
The Friday night August date in Roseburg fit the bill. SODCA club members agreed to host and run the race, and with it being a special event they will make it non-points for their club and welcome any travelers. A representative from the Douglas County Dirt Track also shared their excitement for hosting the race, as they had expressed their interest in having the Pocket Change Race at their track for a time now. The 3/10-mile clay oval has seen several great dwarf car races on it since it opened in 2023 and should be a great fit for this event.
Thank you is owed to Jason Robustelli and Ryan Smith and the SODCA leadership, and also to Michael & Stephanie Crisp, Brian Crockett, Brad McMaster and Josh Tomlinson at the Douglas County Dirt Track. Andrew is looking forward to working with all parties involved in making the 2026 Pocket Change Race happen.
The race being on a Friday also avoids potential Saturday conflicts, and it will allow any interested travelers to head to Roseburg to race for the change before returning home for their own club's race the next night if they have one.
Some money has already been collected, much of it coming from the Western Auto Racing Promoters Association meetings in Portland in November. Change is around $350 at the moment but is expected to go north of $1,000 to win as always. Additional position pay including $500 (for now) from Andrew Kunas, $426 from Skagit Speedway, $349 from WARPA attendees has already been collected. Several other $100 bills were collected also. The first five will be heat race bonuses, coming from Mr. Dizzy, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation (via Skagit Speedway), NARC sprint cars, IRA sprint cars and the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. If there are less than five heats, the respective moneys will be converted to tow bonus. A $100 tow bonus comes from Clarkesville Speedway in Tennessee and another to be assigned $100 bonus comes from Coos Bay Speedway.
Also for the first time main event lap sponsorships will be sold, with $10 going to that lap's leader and the rest going to extra payout for the field. Of course, aside from getting as much cash as he can for all the racers, Andrew will be happy to get his hands on any and all loose coins he can find to go towards the winner's payday.
As money is collected and this year's race approaches, updates on bonus payout will be posted.
Willamette Speedway was the last host track for the Pocket Change Race, having the event in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Andrew wants to thank Cory and Sandra Penfold for being gracious hosts for three years. The Douglas County Dirt Track will be the fifth different track to have the Pocket Change Race, joining Willamette, Grays Harbor Raceway, Madras Speedway and River City Speedway.
The Pocket Change Race is part of the grassroots KBucks program, which aims to raise additional money to hand out to the racers. Since 2008, more than $117,000 has gone out to hard working race teams in dwarf cars, midgets, various divisions of sprint cars, and other classes of race cars.
