Springport: Ritter, MIller take Over Springport; Ritter Remains with Kalamazoo

SPRINGPORT, MI — The “worst kept secret” perhaps is finally official: Donnie Ritter is back at Springport.

Many rumblings throughout the winter made their rounds, but it was at the South Bend Auto Show that Top Row Racing Media officially learned directly from Donnie Ritter himself that the Ritter’s were the new owners of Springport Mid-Michigan Speedway. We did our part—we kept it quiet from our side of things while the process worked itself out.

The official announcement was made today on the Springport Mid-Michigan Speedway Facebook page where Donnie Ritter, former Promoter of Springport for eight years, would return with partner David Miller to take over the 3/8ths mile in Springport.

There is much work ahead of the team to get the track in racing shape and property ready for fans, drivers, and crew members, and Ritter is committed to completing the 2026 Kalamazoo season.

Fresh off the success of one of the best opening days in recent Kalamazoo Speedway history, a packed crowd of multiple thousands enjoyed the racing action at Kalamazoo with 90 cars across three classes of racing. Not only did the car counts increase last year with a highly successful, most attended Super Shoe, Ritter set a standard that has been the case in each of his stops at Galesburg and Springport.

Under Ritter’s leadership at Springport, despite head-to-head competition with the Owosso Nationals two years in a row, Springport’s Michigan Cup outdraw each event in car counts both times. While Mother Nature tried to rain on the weekend festivities, fans and drivers packed the property for one final weekend at Springport.

Stay tuned as a rebranding is set with a new logo to come and further plans announced. The 70-acre property offers many opportunities for Ritter and crew to take Springport into the next frontier of its history.

If anything has been proven time and again with Ritter at the helm, in the words of The Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.”