Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Southern Iowa SprintWeek to Feature 10 Straight Nights of Sprint Car Racing
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Cox Design & Metal Fabrication of Altoona will again sponsor the Southern Iowa SprintWeek, to be held August 4-13. The point championship will be determined after ten straight nights of non-winged and winged, 360- and 410-cubic-inch sprint car racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa and the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville. As a result of this announcement, the promotional partners of the fourth annual “Mr. Sprint Car” title competition, McTwo Promotions, the Marion County Fair Association, and the National Sprint Car Museum, have confirmed that the 2005 Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Southern Iowa SprintWeek champion will receive $2,500 and the runner-up will receive a record $1,000. Versatile Ricky Logan of Arkansas (2002) and Shane Stewart of Oklahoma (2003, ’04) are the past champions, respectively, of this unique prize in sprint car racing.
The 2005 Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Southern Iowa SprintWeek point championship opens at Knoxville on Thursday and Friday, August 4-5, with the 15th annual American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) sanctioned Knoxville 360 Nationals for winged 360-cubic-inch sprint cars. The twin $2,000-to-win qualifying night features on Thursday will offer Southern Iowa SprintWeek points, as will the $10,000-to-win Friday night finale which will be broadcast nationally on the Speed Channel in a tape-delayed basis. John Deere ATV-Steenhoek Implement and NAPA Auto Parts are associate sponsors.
Saturday, August 6, is Cox Design Southern Iowa SprintWeek event number three at Knoxville with Casey’s General Stores Night. The track’s regular 410 c.i. sprint car field, which is annually enhanced by many invaders, will compete in their traditional $3,000-to-win “Saturday Before the Nationals” program. The $2,500-to-win 360 show that night will be an invitational, named the “Casey’s Night Before the Tournament”, and will feature Knoxville 360 Nationals competitors and those drivers invited to run the Sunday night Brodix Tournament of Champions (ToC). Drivers may only compete in one division on Saturday night, either the 410’s or 360’s.
A record twenty sanctions will participate in the Sunday, August 7, $5,000-to-win Brodix Tournament of Champions: American Sprint Car Series (ASCS), ASCS-Gulf South, ASCS-Midwest, ASCS-Rocky Mountain, ASCS-Sooner, ASCS-Southern, Eagle Sprint Touring Series (ESTS), Empire Super Sprints (ESS), Knoxville 360’s (KNOX), National Championship Racing Association (NCRA), National Racing Alliance (NRA), Northern Sprint Tour (NST), Patriot Sprint Group (PSG), Southern Ontario Sprints (SOS), Sprintcar Control Council of Australia (SCCA)-Avalon/Premier, Sprint Invaders Association (SIA), Sprints On Dirt (SOD), United Racing Club (URC), Winged Outlaw Warriors (WOW), and WISSOTA Promoters Association (WISSOTA). The Montana Sprint Tour (MST) had been invited to participate in this year’s seventh ToC, but they have regrettably suspended operations for the season. The Brodix ToC has become 360 sprint car racing’s international version of baseball’s All-Star game, where the best of the best from the United States, Canada and Australia are invited to compete against each other.
The focus of the “Mr. Sprint Car” title hunt will then head 26 miles east to the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds in Oskaloosa for the Monday, August 8, Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting and Weld Racing. The wildly successful event is promoted by Terry McCarl and Bill McCroskey of McTwo Promotions, and will pay $5,000 to the winner. However, it will pay $50,000-to-win if one of the front row drivers accepts the challenge to start at the back of the pack.
On Tuesday, August 9, the same Osky track hosts the non-winged 410’s for the $30,000-to-win Ultimate Challenge. This innovative event kicks off Emmett Hahn’s new non-winged O’Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT circuit. McCarl and McCroskey advertise this Tuesday night show, which is presented by Wesmar Racing Engines and Sander Engineering, as the ‘one night stand for 30 grand’.
The ten straight nights of racing is concluded back on the Marion County Fairgrounds with the 45th annual Knoxville Nationals, presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers on August 10-13. The prestigious event will pay a record $140,000 to the winner of the finale on Saturday, which will again be seen live on the Speed Channel. The Wednesday and Thursday preliminary night features pay $12,000 to win each, while the Friday night Clean-O World Challenge invitational for the best drivers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, pays $10,000 to win. Associate sponsors include Weld Racing, Northland Motor Oils & Lubricants and Factory Motor Parts Company.
Those seeking information on the fourth annual Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Southern Iowa SprintWeek should contact Tom Schmeh at tschmeh@sprintcarhof.com.
Cox Design & Metal Fabrication, Inc. is an Iowa corporation formed in January of 1988 specializing in the design and fabrication of a variety of metals, and whose web-site address is www.cox-design.com. For ticket information about the August 8-9 events in Oskaloosa, fans are urged to call 515-957-0020. For info regarding the August 4-7 and August 10-13 events at Knoxville, fans can call 641-842-5431 or visit the track’s web-site at www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
The history of the Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Southern Iowa SprintWeek is as follows:
2004 - 1., Shane Stewart, Oklahoma, 217 points ($3,000); 2., Kerry Madsen, New South Wales, Australia, 183; 3., Zach Chappell, Oklahoma, 182; 4., Tim Kaeding, California, 165; 5., Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma, 160.
2003 – 1., Shane Stewart, Oklahoma, 238 points ($2,500); 2. Erin Crocker, Massachusetts, 186; 3. Travis Rilat, Texas, 183; 4. Kerry Madsen, New South Wales, Australia, 177; 5. Terry McCarl, Iowa, 175.
2002 – 1., Ricky Logan, Arkansas, 202 points ($1,500); 2. Jason Johnson, Louisiana, 186; 3. Daryn Pittman, Oklahoma, 171; 4. Brad Furr, California, 170; Kasey Kahne, Washington, 160.
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