[Task Force]

HAMILTON BROTHERS READY TO TACKLE SPEEDROME
By Zach Tasker

This Saturday night July 25 sees what will be the biggest pavement midget event in the country for the 2015 racing season. The inaugural Tony Stewart Midget Classic will take place at the Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome and pay $5,000 to the winner. The tight confines of the 1/5-mile paved oval will stage an epic duel of a fully stacked field of talent in tribute to a multiple times Indianapolis Speedrome feature winner.

Danville, Indiana native Kyle Hamilton will make his return to midget racing in this event after spending the year in the USAC Silver Crown Series. “The Professor” is ready to get back to his roots “I have had a lot of fun working on the midgets. Deep down I'll always be a midget guy and it has been great to be back working on the smaller cars. I always like racing on the big stage. I'm a really laid-back guy so I need that extra adrenaline to get me going. The high payout doesn't hurt either. I love racing right here in Indy. It's been my home my entire life and to be able to race in front of all of my friends and family is great. I'm always telling everybody about it so to be able to show off the hard work to my buddies. I can't wait to see everybody out at the Indianapolis Speedrome!”

The driver of the #33 Curtis Motor Sales Special Spike/Esslinger has multiple USAC Honda National Midget series feature victories and hopes to add to that collection of trophies this Saturday. “With the new pavement at Speedrome, I'm sure there will be some things that I will need to pick up on in hot laps. My first ever race out of a quarter midget was at the Speedrome in a Kenyon Midget so I have a lot of laps there. I can't give out all of my secrets because I know there will be some tough competition that would gladly take them! I'm definitely going to be shooting for a win Saturday night. It isn't an unrealistic goal. If we can't pull off a win, we won't hang our heads but that is what we have been prepping for all week.” Unfortunately due to extensive crash damage at Iowa, Kyle won’t be able to take part in the USAC Silver Crown Series Rich Vogler Classic/JD Byrider 100 at the Lucas Oil Raceway on July 23.

However, Kyles younger brother Nick will be back in the saddle racing Saturday night as well. Nick, who drives the #32 Curtis Motor Sales Special Spike/Esslinger is usually overshadowed in racing circles by his older brother, but turned in a stunning drive in the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway this year in his rookie performance. The Danville, Indiana lifeguard finished 9th place in only his second ever sprint car start. He is looking to continue that momentum on the big stage this weekend “I'm super excited to be back in the seat of a midget as I'm sure everybody is. We were very happy with how the little 500 went coming from 30th to 9th and I think we have a great car for this race. I'm sure lines will change as the weekend goes with so many midgets on the track.”

Action gets underway Friday with practice from 4-8pm. At 7 am on Saturday pit gates will open with spectator gates opening at 9 am. Two Saturday practice sessions will run from 9-10:45 am and 11:15am-1pm. Qualifying is at 2 pm with a driver autograph session at 4 pm and racing starting at 5:15 pm. A full show of racing is on the card including a dash, heat races, b main and the 100 lap Tony Stewart Midget Classic. USAC will also have their 2015 hall of fame induction ceremony during the nights activities. For ticket information on what is sure to be an exciting event visit www.speedrome.com. To follow live updates all weekend on both Hamilton brothers progress like Kyle Hamilton Racing on Facebook.

[IN RACE FAN]

I'm looking forward to this event.

Does anyone know if Sleepy Tripp will be in attendance for the HOF ceremony?