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USAC SPICES UP NATIONAL SCHEDULES WITH ADDITIONAL RACES
Posted on Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 12
:37 EDT by tjslideways
From Dick Jordan: The United States Auto Club today announced enhancements to its National Championship schedules for its Silver Crown and Midget Divisions.
Tradition Returns To The Belleville Midget Nationals
The Thunder on Thursday Night will return to the Belleville High Banks once again in 2009. Traditionally a three-night event during it’s 31 years, fans at the “Belleville Midget Nationals” this year will be treated with Midget racing on Thursday night with a new USAC “All Star” race. This newly added race will feature twelve of the top USAC point leaders competing for just four spots in Saturday’s A Main Feature. The eight non-qualifiers will be forced to race into the show on Saturday, as Friday will be reserved for the stars of midget racing across the US including SMRS, POWRi and Badger as well as the USAC cars not competing on Thursday. The Thursday night twist will enhance the opportunity for competitors on Friday where the top four finishers will be locked into Saturday’s A Main as well.
Midget Week Date Added At North Vernon
Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Ind. will be the host of a USAC Midget event during Indiana Midget Week in 2009. The June 11 race will be one of five races in five consecutive nights of racing across the State of Indiana. Last year’s Midget Week averaged 47 competitors represented from midget organizations across the U.S.
Midgets in Bayou Country
It’s been 47 years since USAC has ventured to the state of Louisiana but the Mopar National Midget Series is headed there in October. The brand-new Monroe Motor Speedway in Monroe, La., which debuted its 3/8-mile paved oval in 2008, will host separate October 23 and 24 Mopar National Midget races. A 30-lap preliminary feature is slated Friday night, with a 40-lap finale Saturday. The only previous USAC events in the Pelican State were held in 1962 when Dan Gurney scored back-to-back victories in a Lotus in a pair of 125-mile USAC road races at the 2-mile Louisiana Hilltop Raceway in Bossier City near Shreveport. The birthplace of Delta Airlines and the home of America’s first Coca-Cola bottling plant, Monroe is situated in northeastern Louisiana.
Midgets & Silver Crown at Iowa
Iowa Speedway will host all three USAC National racing series in 2009, one of only three tracks listed on all three calendars. The others are Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. and Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. On Friday, June 19, the Mopar National Midget Series competes on the 7/8-mile paved Iowa Speedway oval as a prelude to the Sunday, June 21 Iowa Corn Indy 250 Indy Racing League event. It’s been two years since the Midgets raced at Iowa Speedway and a 30-mile Midget feature is on tap. On Friday, July 31, the USAC K & N Silver Crown Cars and the National Sprint Cars converge on the track for a USAC “doubleheader” in advance of that Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event. The USAC Sprint cars also last raced at the track in 2007 and a 30-lapper in slated, while Cameron Dodson won last year’s 100-mile Silver Crown race. Iowa Speedway holds the all-time world’s oval-track record for Sprint cars and Midgets. Darren Hagen posted a Sprint car lap of 146.145 mph and Bobby Santos III turned a Midget lap of 139.553 mph, both in 2006.
Sun Prairie Date Removed
The May 17 USAC Mopar National Midget race at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisc. has been removed from the 2009 calendar due to scheduling conflicts.
