King of the Wings & STARS Midgets at Grundy County-July 5th
 

KING OF THE WING SPRINT CARS AND STARS MIDGETS TAKE CENTER STAGE AT GRUNDY COUNTY ON JULY 5TH

By: Rich Murray

On Saturday night, July 5th, Grundy County Speedway will be the host of an open wheel racing extravaganza featuring the Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints and the D’Arcy GMC STARS National Midgets. This marks a rare appearance for sprint cars at the 1/3 mile, slightly banked paved oval in Morris, Illinois. Almost as rare of a treat for fans these days is the pairing of sprint cars and midgets at the same event.

The Super Sprint race is the third and final event of the Midwest portion of the King of the Wing Sprint Car Shootout schedule before the series travels to the west coast on Thanksgiving weekend in November for the final three races of the series. There is much on the line on this night at Grundy County Speedway as the driver earning the highest point total in the three Midwest races held in July will earn a cool $2500 and earns the title as the Midwest “King of the Wing.” The points earned during this race will go toward the overall championship which will net the driver who earns the most points a $5000 prize.

Also on the card for the night is the STARS National Midget’s “Freedom 50.” In last season’s “Freedom 50,” three-time STARS National Midget champion Jim Anderson came from the tail of the field to take the victory in the 50 lap feature. In 2011’s “Freedom 50,” Darren Hagen stalled the car early in the feature after accidentally hitting the kill switch. After having to restart the feature from the last spot on the grid, Hagen raced his way through the pack and made a last lap pass on Tracy Hines to take the win.

Don’t let the Independence Day fireworks show be the only highlight of your weekend. Grundy County Speedway is the place to be on Saturday, July 5th where the on-track action is sure to produce plenty of fireworks.

Is this the first appearance for Winged Sprints at Grundy? What is the track record?

Re: King of the Wings & STARS Midgets at Grundy County-July
 

As far as we can tell, the track record at Grundy County Speedway is 14.099, set by Mario Clouser in a midget on August 27, 2011.

Not exactly sure if sprint cars have ever ran a race at Grundy County before. If anybody can remember one, please share your memories from that show.

Re: King of the Wings & STARS Midgets at Grundy County-July
 

AVSS - I can't remember the year but recall it was a great show. I also remember a match race between a late model and a sprint car. Jack Calabrase was always good at coming up with little extras for the fans.

Cool info. Not much of a match though...;-)

Re: King of the Wings & STARS Midgets at Grundy County-July
 

Ticket prices for this event are $25 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and under.

Should be any pavement open wheel race fans dream! I can't wait!

I believe HOSS came to GCS in the early 2000s with the midgets. It was supposed to be a Saturday night show and it got rained out so they ran the race Sunday afternoon. If I remember correctly the sprinters were in the high 12s.

Re: King of the Wings & STARS Midgets at Grundy County-July
 

After a long day at the laboratory, the research team here at STARS has found that the race you are speaking of was held on June 25, 2000. It was the Auto Value Super Sprints and the winner was Ryan Katz. The UMARA Midget portion of the program was won by Gene Lee Gibson. :22:

There have been two occasions that the winged sprints have been to Grundy. The first year they set a track record around 13.1 and the following year the track record was lowered to around 12.9