NZ Race World Challenge Qualifier!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
January 1, 2010, "Thunder Down Under" at Palmerston North, New Zealand, to be a Qualifier for Americans for 2010 Knoxville World Challenge
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (November 4, 2009) - The Robertson Holden
International Speedway in Palmerston North, New Zealand, is the second
speedway in Australasia to confirm that it will host a 2010 Knoxville World
Challenge qualifier for Americans. The 30-lap "Thunder Down Under"
international sprintcar series event will take place on January 1, 2010, and
it will serve as a qualifying site for Americans for the 2010 World
Challenge race during the 50th annual Knoxville Nationals. Said Knoxville
director of racing Ralph Capitani, "We are excited to be welcoming
Palmerston North into our family of World Challenge qualifying tracks. I
expect Ricky Logan and Jonathan Allard won't be the only Americans competing
there on January 1st, as NZ$4,000 to win and a guaranteed starting spot in
the Friday, August 13, 2010, Knoxville World Challenge will be on the line."
The Thunder Down Under event, featuring a NZ$12,000 total
purse, will join the $30,000-to-win January 23-24, 2010, Grand Annual
Sprintcar Classic at Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, as official
qualifying events for Americans for the seventeenth edition of the World
Challenge during the fiftieth Knoxville Nationals. International sprint car
drivers from Australia, Canada and New Zealand will continue to be eligible
for the Knoxville World Challenge simply by competing in the Knoxville
Nationals. The starting line-up for the 2010 World Challenge will remain a
sixteen-car inversion based upon a driver's qualifying night points.
Confirmed domestic drivers for the Palmerston North show include current New
Zealand champion Dean Brindle and 2007 national champion Jamie McDonald.
Some of the other confirmed drivers include Ian Easton, Greg Pickerill,
Graeme "Skinny" Colson, Peter Huijs, Bernie Gillion, Kerry-Anne James,
Martin Halcrow, and Nelson Hartley.
For more information on the Knoxville Raceway and its World Challenge, fans
are urged to visit www.knoxvilleraceway.com
(Pictured): 2009 World Challenge Winner Lynton Jeffrey
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