5th Annual Battle at the Center Set for Saturday, December 20th
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series returns to DuQuoin, Illinois on Saturday, December 20th for the 5th Annual Great Clips Battle at the Center presented by K&N Filters. The one-day race will feature a 40-lap main event on the one-sixth Mini Magic Mile in the DuQuoin Southern Illinois Center.
The event is expected to draw an "All Star" cast of drivers. Tony Stewart (2012), Bryan Clauson (2011), and Casey Shuman (2010) are all past winners of the indoor event. Mother Nature claimed the victory in 2013, as the race was cancelled due to a severe winter storm.
The Southern Illinois Center is located on the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. Front doors open at 3:00pm. Hot laps begin at 5:00pm with racing immediately following. Tickets will be sold on the day of the event only. General admission tickets are $20.00 and children ages 12 and under are free.
Due to the limited pit space, pit spots will be assigned by date of entry. The Battle at the Center entry form can be found under the DOWNLOADS link located at the top of POWRi web site.
Really wish this race would be on Pay Per View as I can't justify a 7 hour drive one way for a one day race. I think one of the first few years was online via Jackslash?
I sure hope they kept a notebook of what they did for track prep the last couple years.... that A main in 2012 (I think) was crazy good and the one the year before was pretty close too....anytime you can have 2 grooves and that much passing on such a small flat little track you are for sure doing something right.
Honestly, They kept the track a little over watered the entire night. It was still good racing but about lap 20 of the feature that track was three lanes wide and fast as hell, I loved it!
This will be my first visit to the Battle at the Center. Was gonna go last year til Mother Nature intervened. Lookin for a good BBQ joint on the way down from Springfield area. Hillbilly's in Nashville looks like a good spot on our way. Any comments on it?
Originally Posted by chathamracefan:
This will be my first visit to the Battle at the Center. Was gonna go last year til Mother Nature intervened. Lookin for a good BBQ joint on the way down from Springfield area. Hillbilly's in Nashville looks like a good spot on our way. Any comments on it?
I hope Rico makes the trip east for this one!
17th Street in Murphysboro would be a bit out of the way, but its really good
Chatham, can't help you with Hillbilly's but we know of a little joint about 4 miles West of Rend Lake out in the country called Stringers. It gets a 4.6 average rating out of a possible 5 with 56 people weighing in. We give it a full 5 star rating. Do a Facebook search for Stringers Bar & Grill, Inc. if you do Facebook.
It'll be a little out of your way but we feel it'll be worth it. It's on Rt. 148 about 3-4 miles South of Sesser on the West side of the highway where Rt. 148 and Peach Orchard Rd. intersect. If you continue South on Rt. 148 after leaving Stringers it will take you to Rt. 14 and you'll go right, or West on Rt. 14 and that will bring you directly to the south entrance of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds which will take you about 20 minutes to get to the Fairgrounds from this place.
When we're in Southern Illinois over Labor Day Week for the Leffler Memorial and the Horn Memorial we camp at Rend Lake and a couple of the highlights of that week is eating at this place more than once. Nothin' fancy mind you, just a dam good place to eat and have a beer.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
I'm disguised as a responsible adult!...
