"KING DOODLEBUG MIDGET CLASSIC" GOES INTERNATIONAL; MORE ENTRIES FOR "KNOXVILLE MASTERS SPRINT CLASSIC"
Sunday, May 24, 2009
"KING DOODLEBUG MIDGET CLASSIC" GOES INTERNATIONAL; MORE ENTRIES FOR "KNOXVILLE MASTERS SPRINT CLASSIC"
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (May 23, 2009) - On Friday night, May 29, Michael "Slim" Pickens of Auckland, New Zealand, and Matt Smith of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, will take Knoxville Raceway's Pepsi-sponsored "King Doodlebug Classic" for United States Auto Club (USAC) midget cars to the next level -- international status. Said Knoxville director of racing Ralph Capitani this week, "Fans are going to see the best in the world compete here this coming Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, as Americans Jerry Coons, Jr., J.J. Yeley, Bobby East, Josh Wise, Brad Kuhn, Tracy Hines, Kevin Swindell, Bryan Clauson and others take on the cream of the crop from Australia and New Zealand. Friday's 20-lap King Doodlebug Classic and Saturday's 25-lap Pepsi Knoxville Midget Nationals presented by Iowa Telecom should be real barn-burners!"
Over fifty (50) entrants from USAC, Southern Midget Racing Series (SMRS), Badger Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA) and POWRi have entered next weekend's two-day show at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World", including past King Doodlebug Classic winners Brad Sweet (2008), Darren Hagen (2007), Jerry Coons, Jr. (2004, '06), and Danny Stratton (2005), and past Midget Knoxville Nationals champions Brad Sweet (2008), Jerry Coons, Jr. (2004), and Mike Hess (2002). Other top-ranked entrants include Cole Whitt, Don Droud, Jr., Gary Taylor, Brad Loyet, Aaron Fiscus, Bryan Stanfill, Scott Hatton, Chris Windom, Kody Swanson, Levi Jones, Chad Boat, Shane Hmiel, Casey Shuman, Donnie Ray Crawford, A.J. Fike and Brady Bacon.
Bob Wente holds the one-lap qualifying record for USAC midget cars at Knoxville Raceway with a time of 22.22 seconds, set on July 31, 1968. USAC midget cars have never run 20- nor 25- lap feature races non-stop at Knoxville Raceway in the past, thus there are no existing USAC midget car track records for those distances on the half-mile dirt track.
In addition, defending Knoxville Masters Classic winner Randy Smith of Iowa, Allan Unruh of Kansas, and David Gailley of Texas have officially entered the seventeenth annual event this year, set for Friday, May 29. The Knoxville Masters Classic winged 360-cubic-inch sprint car race for drivers age 50 and over will pay $3,000 to win, and has already attracted such veteran entrants as Carl "Midge" Miller, Greg Rilat, Earnest Jennings, Lonnie Jensen, Judi Bates, Mike Peters, Wayne Redmond, Regan Kitchen and Joe McCarthy. Said Ralph Capitani this week, "I'm still hearing rumors of other late entries for this year's Masters Classic, including those for Shane Carson, Rocky Hodges, Roland Johnson and Tommie Estes, Jr. I expect we'll have a quality-laden field of 24 sprint car racing veterans taking the green flag for 22 laps on Friday night."
Randy Smith holds the one-lap qualifying record for the Knoxville Masters Classic with a time of 16.004 seconds, set on May 20, 2008. National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Rick Ferkel holds the 22-lap feature record with a time of 7 minutes, 54.8 seconds, set on June 10, 1995.
Knoxville Raceway will host an open track practice for the Masters Classic competitors on Thursday, May 28, from 7 until 9 p.m. The Knoxville Masters Classic & the Iowa Telecom King Doodlebug Midget Classic will take place on Friday, May 29, starting at 6:45 p.m. The eighth annual Pepsi Knoxville Midget Nationals and the winged 410-cubic-inch sprinters will conclude the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend of racing on Saturday, May 30, also starting at 6:45 p.m.
For information on the Friday and Saturday night races, individuals are urged to visit the track's web site at www.knoxvilleraceway.com. For tickets to the twentieth National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction banquet, to take place in the Dyer-Hudson Building on the Marion County Fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon, May 30, people are urged to call Lori DeMoss at 800-874-4488 or e-mail her at ldemoss@sprintcarhof.com. The banquet will again be emceed by Dave Argabright and Dr. Pat Sullivan. Tickets are just twenty dollars each, but they need to be reserved in advance.
(Pictured): Tracy Hines at last year's Midget Nationals (Conrad Nelson)
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