Sprint Car racing is fast becoming one of Colorado’s most popular sports, and two of its biggest representatives are ready to show it off at their home track with the return of the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) this Saturday.
Bryan Gossel has been a Sprint Car racer in the Rocky Mountain State for over 20 years, racing a multitude of events across several different series of both the Winged, Non-Wing, dirt and asphalt varieties. His son, 25-year-old Austyn Gossel, is in his second year following the national 360 Sprint Car circuit, carrying the torch for the future of his racing family.
Both are eager for the return of the national ASCS tour to their home state this Saturday, Aug. 16, at El Paso County Raceway. The 1/4-mile oval in the town of Calhan was the site of the last national Series visit in October 2017.
“I think it’s awesome, and it’s about time we got some good Sprint Car racing going here,” Bryan said. “We definitely have the fans for it.”
In the national Series’ absence, the ASCS Western Plains Region has sanctioned multiple events at El Paso — the last of which came this past May. Both the track and the regional series are run by BST Promotions leader Joe Bellm, who has been largely praised for his efforts to keep the dirt Sprint Car scene alive in the area.
“Now, we’ve got Joe Bellm, who’s kind of taken over a lot of the tracks in the whole region and promoting them,” Bryan said. “He loves Sprint Cars and Dirt Late Models. He knows that’s what puts butts in seats. So, I think we’re on a great path.”
The elder Gossel also credits Bellm for spawning a connection that helped put their Sprint Car program in the spotlight this year. National Sprint Car Hall-of-Famer Sammy Swindell has piloted Gossel Racing rides on both the dirt and pavement in 2025 — the first of which came at Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte, NE, in April, before the Western Plains Region event at El Paso County on May 3.
“I will give Joe Bellm a ton of credit — every time we’re there, he has sold it out, several times when the Sprint Cars have been there,” Bryan said. “When Sammy’s there, it’s standing-room-only.”
That night, Bryan drove from the outside pole to the win, Swindell finished runner-up after starting fourth, and Austyn completed an all-Gossel Racing podium with his drive from seventh to third.
“The race laps (data) might not say it, but I felt like I had probably the best car there,” Austyn said. “I was able to drive it in the corner harder get off the corner better.”
The Gossels look back fondly on the time they spent with the 69-year-old past World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion and put no price tag on the wealth of knowledge he shared with them.
“Just having Sammy in our stuff, and he stayed at our house for like a week, was just unforgettable,” Bryan said. “Having Sammy there working on the cars and getting them ready, we learned so many little things. I won, Sammy was second and Austyn was third, so to have all three of our cars on the podium was pretty emotionally epic. Just awesome.”
“He’s extremely, extremely smart. He’s got a fix for everything,” Austyn said. “Anything that we had a problem with he had a fix for.”
“Just being able to race with him was pretty cool,” Austyn said. “Even just watching some of the videos back from when I was racing with him — some of the things he knows from experience to make it to where I couldn’t pass him, I thought that was pretty cool.”
Since then, Austyn has taken the tips and tricks learned from Swindell and added it to his own repertoire in the seat, which have produced some above-average results in his recent ASCS starts, including back-to-back fifth-place finishes at Windy Hollow Speedway and Benton Speedway to cap the month of July. In June, he led the opening 13 laps of the national Series event at Batesville Motor Speedway before a collision with a slower car ended his night, though his ability to maintain speed under pressure shined through.
“The improvement that he’s doing, getting him the right tools and the right people around him to help him continue to grow and improve is so awesome to watch,” Bryan said.
This weekend, both Gossels will be vying for their first career national Series wins — Friday at WaKeeney Speedway in Kansas and Saturday at El Paso County. If Austyn is able to pull all the things he’s learned from his past season-and-a-half on the national circuit together and punch through for his first Series win in front of friends and family, there’s no telling when the celebration may end.
“My rig would be the last one to leave, I can guarantee you that,” Austyn said. “We’ll be having quite the party afterwards.
“That’d be a dream come true to knock out my first win in my home state.”
Don’t miss the Gossel Racing homecoming this Saturday, Aug. 16 at El Paso County Raceway — one night following the Series’ return to Kansas’ WaKeeney Speedway. Tickets for both events will be sold at the gate on race day.
Fans that would like to purchase tickets in advance to the El Paso County event can do so at the link below. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
