It’s not quite like jumping the green flag before it drops, but it is pretty close.

The auto racing season will get off to its earliest start ever at Brown County Speedway when action gets underway tonight at the local track.

“It is hard. It’s a little early in the year I’ll admit, but everybody loves to kick off,” said driver and track promoter Kent Arment of Aberdeen. “I think we’ll have a ton of cars for the opener, because a lot of places aren’t going, yet. … We’re going to get some extra guys down here, so I think we’re going to have a helluva field of cars, there’s no doubt there.”

New to the program this year is another division of cars with the addition of the Legends class. The cars made a brief appearance at BCS a year ago, but have been added to the weekly program of racing.

“With the Legends, I’m keeping a close eye on that class,” Arment said. “We’ll probably have 5-6 locals out there and then we’ll have some travelers. I’m hoping 12-13 for the opener.”

The Legends will join the other divisions which include Street Stock, Super Stock, Modified, Midwest Modified, and Late Model.

So how will it work to get a show done in a timely manner while adding a sixth class of racing?

“We’re working on that. I want to make sure the track is ready at 7 and not 7:15 for one. … We’re going to try to go green a little faster,” Arment said.

Another factor will be trying to keep the racing oval smooth and allow for more multiple lanes of racing.

“If that track’s good, we won’t have a ton of yellows,” Arment said. “I always blame that on me more than the drivers. Some of them are the driver’s fault, but I think a lot of it, if you can give a guy good racing surface and a couple of lanes to go, we don’t have a lot of yellows, and we can go green, white, checkered and knock them out quick.”

Arment said the plan is to also have shorter intermissions to keep the program moving.

Arment isn’t quite sure yet where the Legends will fit into the racing order, and said that it could change depending on what works best for the drivers.

“The order of events might be a little different at times,” Arment said. “We’re working on that right now, when we’re going to run them.”

This year’s schedule will once again feature all of the big shows of the past, including a night of sprint cars, the Andy Daly Special, the Rumble, the Big Buck Nationals and the Winter Nationals.

Arment said the Rumble will feature a tribute to longtime promoter Terry Voeltz, who passed away of cancer in the past year. He said the show will likely have a 66-lap feature race, in recognition of the car number Voeltz used when he was a driver.

The speedway will once again feature some of the top drivers in all of WISSOTA.

“There’s no slouches in Aberdeen,” Arment said.

Arment, who competes in both the Modified and Late Model Division, spends hours and hours at the track before the show starts, trying to prep the oval to make it the best for all drivers involved.

“First and foremost I just want to make it good on every class. It’s hard to do that. I work hard at it though, no one can say that I don’t, because I’m out there,” Arment said. “We’re beating the track up. We’re going to change it, we’re going to try it.”

With the unseasonal cool temperatures the area is experiencing this week, Arment knows it might get a bit cool tonight, but is excited to get the racing season underway.

“Bring a jacket and get ready for it. … I think it’s going to be a good show and I think I can get it in,” Arment said. “For the driver’s point, we have to get it rolling.”