[Mud Packer]

In Curt Cavin's column this morning in the Indianapolis Star he had a three line note. He said that "O'Reilly Raceway Park will host the return of USAC's Thursday Night Thunder program in 2011. A monthly night of sprint car racing will be held beginning May 12. There is no TV contract at this time".

So I guess the pavement races will continue for USAC. It will be interesting to see how many other tracks have dates?

[openwheelKT]

I just read that too in CC's Pit Pass column and was going to post the info.

It will be interesting to see the rules and USAC's plan to get more cars to show up. I'll attend the first one for sure. If the car count is good, I'll be there for each of those shows.

[staggerman]

With the USAC Sprints going all dirt there is still the plan to have a USAC Pavement Series. What I have heard is a series of 8-10 shows all in IN focusing on IRP, Winchester, Salem etc. I guess the real key is if they make any changes to make the pavement more cost effective but I have also read somewhere they were going to cut the purses for the pavement shows. Guess time will tell.

[Avon Open Wheel fan]

This is straight from the ORP website.

O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis and United States Auto Club (USAC) officials have announced that USAC Thursday Night Thunder will return to the lightning fast oval during the course of the 2011 season. The series will run monthly from May through October and will feature the USAC Sprint Car Series exclusively. The announcement was made at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando.

USAC Thursday Night Thunder is an iconic franchise in the history of open wheel racing and in the mid-1990’s was a ‘can’t miss’ event for racers and race fans across the Midwest. Current racing legends such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman got their start racing at O’Reilly Raceway Park during USAC Thursday Night Thunder events. When Thursday Night Thunder returns it can be assured that once again fans in attendance will be seeing the future of racing at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

“Fans of open wheel racing have long requested that USAC Thursday Night Thunder return to the O’Reilly Raceway Park schedule of events,” said Kurt Johnson, director of racing and operations at O’Reilly Raceway Park. “As home to 292 USAC since 1961 we believe these races will be a tremendous addition to the 2011 oval schedule and will allow fans to take in great racing during the course of the summer.”

The Thursday Night Thunder races will be May 12, June 16, July 7, August 18, Sept. 8, and Oct. 13.

“O’Reilly Raceway Park has always held a special meaning for me and for USAC’s legion of racing fans,” says USAC Competition Director Jason McCord. “I’m pleased we are able to renew the USAC Thursday Night Thunder concept and we can expect some great Sprint car competition. Two of my Sprint wins were at O’Reilly Raceway Park and my only Silver Crown victory came at the facility so from a driver’s perspective it’s a great place to race.”

The 2011 oval schedule will be full of exciting and thrilling events with the addition of the USAC Thursday Night Thunder series and the recent announcement of ARCA to the Kroger SpeedFest lineup in July.

“The O’Reilly Raceway Park oval has long been a proving ground to veteran and young racers alike. Bringing back USAC Thursday Night Thunder will be a major step in providing a full schedule of events to the patrons of the track,” continued Johnson.

O’Reilly Raceway Park is on numerous social media sites search O’Reilly Raceway Park on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and the Twitter handle is @oreillyraceway.

[Seadog]

Big guess here. Maybe USAC is promoting this and putting in what would be a sanctioning fee towards the purse? And maybe some sort of tire rule as discussed here before? Like I said, big guess...What do I know.

[Pavement Dave]

My sources tell me USAC has reduced the purse on the pavement side to make the show more affordable to track owners which will hopefully get more shows scheduled. The thing I didnt undertand was if this means teams will be running for less or USAC was reducing the sanctioning fee. Anyone know the details? The total purse for a USAC Sprint Car pavement is reported to be between $17,000-$18,500. If this rumor is true, it is about $2500 - $4000 less than the Must See series. Can anyone confirm this or know the whole story? Regardless USAC is doing what it needs to do to save the shows and I commend them for doing what it takes to keep pavement alive. I also heard that a tv package will be part of the ORP series but no other details were know.

[Vukie]

9 RACES AT 4 TRACKS FOR 2011 PAVEMENT SPRINTS

The 2011 USAC pavement Sprint car slate currently includes nine races at four tracks, including the return of the popular “Thursday Night Thunder” program at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Ind.

One of USAC’s most popular programs ever, the “Thursday Night Thunder” series produced sensational talent and racing action in the 1980s and a total of six pavement Sprint races are on the 2011 slate for the .686-mile paved oval.

The pavement calendar kicks off May 12 and is scheduled to conclude October 13, both races at ORP. In between, events are also scheduled at the Salem and Winchester (Ind.) Speedways and at the Toledo (Ohio) Speedway.

All four pavement tracks involved in the 2011 schedule have extensive USAC heritage. Winchester has hosted 138 USAC Sprint events, while Salem has witnessed 104, ORP 77 and Toledo 30.

2011 USAC PAVEMENT SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE

5/12 – Indianapolis, IN, O’Reilly Raceway Park
6/16 – Indianapolis, IN, O’Reilly Raceway Park
7/1 – Toledo, OH, Toledo Speedway
7/7 – Indianapolis, IN, O’Reilly Raceway Park
TBA – Winchester, IN, Winchester Speedway
8/6 – Salem, IN, Salem Speedway
8/18 – Indianapolis, IN, O’Reilly Raceway Park
9/8 – Indianapolis, IN, O’Reilly Raceway Park
10/13 – Indianapolis, IN, O’Reilly Raceway Park

[nowings4me]

Not all the "Thursday Night Thunder" talent was on the track. I seem to remember two guys in the booth that made even the most boring of races very fun to watch. I wasn't lucky enough to meet one of them, but the one that I do know is a true gem!! I am proud to say that I know him, and I appreciate the work that both of those guys did to make midget and sprint racing in this part of the country very popular for the entire country. I think in this economy, any press that open wheel racing can get is a great thing. I wish only the best for all of the participants and fans, because without them, the "thunder" will be quickly silenced.