Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters Classic Entries Arrive
Friday, May 12, 2006
Entries for the 14th annual Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters Classic are arriving in the Knoxville Raceway track office on a daily basis, including two recent ones from ‘rookie’ candidates. Those age fifty and over that will be making their Masters Classic debut at Knoxville in a winged 360-cubic-inch sprint car are Bobby Becker of Denton, Nebraska, and Joe Kouba of Lino Lakes, Minnesota. Joining them as pre-entrants for the Friday, June 2, event are Masters veterans Bill Smith of Minnesota, A.J. Weaver of Texas, Dale McCarty of Missouri, Randy Droescher of Iowa, Edd French of Texas, and Earnest Jennings of Oklahoma.
Jennings will be wheeling his own Jennings Garage-sponsored J&J chassis sprinter, while French pilot Bill Lenoir’s Smiley’s Racing Products-sponsored Avenger sprint car. Droescher, who won last weekend at the Lake County Speedway, runs the Dianne Droescher-owned Ethanol-sponsored Trostle machine, and McCarty has entered Mitchell Alexander’s Grawmondbeck’s-powered Maxim. Weaver will be competing in his own Precision Flange & Machine-sponsored, Wesmar-powered J&J sprinter, while Smith in his own Smith Machine-powered Schnee chassis. Becker has entered his own Dairy Queen-sponsored Wolfweld machine, and Kouba will run his Gillund Enterprises-sponsored, Woodke-powered Stevenson sprinter.
Also expected to compete in this year’s Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters Classic are past champions and challengers such as Roger Rager, incoming National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Sills, Shane Carson, Jerry Crabb, Tommy Scott and Jerry Potter. Wally Pankratz, veteran open-wheel racer and son of 2006 NSCHoF inductee Bob Pankratz, is also actively seeking a ride for the Masters Classic. The top ten finishers in this year’s 15-lap, $1,000-to-win Masters Classic will also be eligible to compete against the top ten finishers of that night’s 15-lap, $1,000-to-win Young Guns Invitational, featuring the best of Knoxville’s weekly winged 360 c.i. sprint car warriors. The night’s Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters vs. Young Guns Challenge finale will also be 15 laps and pay $1,000 to win. The fourth annual United States Auto Club (USAC) Pepsi/Mt. Dew King Doodlebug Midget Classic will also be held that night during the seventeenth annual National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend.
The format for the Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters/Young Guns Challenge is as follows: time trials for all Masters (age fifty and over) and Young Guns (invited Knoxville ‘Top 25’, as of points on May 22, 2006) with the top 15 from each locked into their respective features; 8-lap consolation races for non-qualified Masters and Young Guns with five more drivers from each qualifying for their respective features; 15-lap, 20-car, $1,000-to-win Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters Classic with the top 10 qualifying for the Challenge race; 15-lap, 20-car, $1,000-to-win Hoosier Tire Midwest Young Guns Invitational with the top 10 qualifying for the Challenge race; and the 15-lap, 20-car, $1,000-to-win Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters vs. Young Guns Challenge finale.
The Saturday, June 3, program will again feature the track’s weekly 410 c.i. sprint car division and the fifth annual USAC-sanctioned Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Nationals. The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction banquet will again be held on Saturday afternoon in the Dyer-Hudson Building on the Marion County Fairgrounds. Those seeking more information on the Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters vs. Young Guns Challenge are urged to visit the track’s web site at www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
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