Stenhouse Jr. Returns to Midgets and Gary Wright is Back This Weekend at Knoxville!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Stenhouse Jr. Returns to Midgets and Gary Wright is Back This Weekend at Knoxville!
(Bill W) One of the most exciting weekends of racing of the year is upon us here at the Knoxville Raceway! The always popular Pepsi USAC Knoxville Midget Nationals presented by Iowa Telecom headlines a card that also includes the best in the 360 sprint car racing business on Friday, and the intensity of our weekly 410 sprint car class on Saturday. Put them all together and it’s going to be a wild weekend!
When the midgets come, you can count on three and sometimes four-wide racing action! Defending Knoxville Midget Nationals champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads the USAC midget field back to Knoxville and this will be one of his few open wheel forays in 2008 in the RFMS Racing #32! Will this be his last open-wheel Knoxville start? Ricky is headed for stock car land, and currently leads the ARCA/Remax series point standings by a whopping 95 markers in his rookie season driving for Roush Racing! You will find Ricky is as great a person as he is a driver!
Tracy Hines leads the current USAC National Midget point standings driving the Tony Stewart Racing #21. Bobby East, the son of former Knoxville Raceway regular, Bob “The Beast” East, is second in the current point standings, followed by youngsters Kody Swanson and Cole Whitt, veteran Dave Darland, Billy Boat’s 16 year old son, Chad, last year’s “King Doodlebug” Darren Hagen, the exciting Brad Sweet in Kasey Kahne’s #49, former USAC sprint car champion, Levi Jones, and the always on the gas, Brady Bacon.
Other entrants include 2004 Midget Nationals champion Jerry Coons Jr., 2003 champion, Chad DeSelle, 2002 champion Mike Hess, Kevin Swindell, New Zealand great Michael Pickens, former National Midget Driver of the Year, Brad Kuhn, veteran Scott Hatton, and many more!
Gary Wright leads the American Sprint Cars on Tour into Friday night’s show! Wright is the all-time leading feature winner with ASCS, and has won over 300 times in a sprint car. The future first ballot National Sprint Car Hall of Famer leads Jason Johnson in ASCoT points by 38. Wayne Johnson has won two in a row in Knoxville weekly competition and heads into this weekend third in points ahead of Zach Chappell, Travis Rilat, Garry Lee Maier, Eric Baldaccini, Nick Smith, Kenneth Walker and Jack Dover.
The intensity is building each and every week in the 410 class as well, and things may boil over on Saturday night! “The Dude” Danny Lasoski continues to lead in the standings, but is yet to grab a feature win. “The Tornado” Billy Alley is riding second in the standings, followed by Justin Henderson, a surging Mark Dobmeier, Skip “Action” Jackson, Calvin Landis, “Zoom Zoom” Dusty Zomer, “Blackjack” Brian Brown, Travis Cram, and a host of others! Anybody can win on any given night, and it just keeps getting better!
For more information on the upcoming weekend visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Weekend Overview
Thursday, June 19
Event: Practice
Time: 7-9:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Friday, June 20
Event: Pepsi USAC “King Doodlebug” Midget Classic + American Sprint Cars on Tour 360’s presented by Iowa Telecom
Time: Hot laps at 6:45 p.m.
Admission: Reserved - $22 adults, $11 children; General Admission - $20 adults, $10 children
Saturday, June 21
Event: Pepsi USAC Knoxville Midget Nationals + Knoxville Championship Series 410’s presented by Iowa Telecom
Time: Hot laps at 6:45 p.m.
Admission: Reserved - $22 adults, $11 children; General Admission - $20 adults, $10 children
Other Things You Should Know:
Gas Money Giveaway
Every race night, two lucky fans will receive $25 to go towards their gas! Both general admission and reserved ticket holders will be included in the random draw.
This Week’s Autographs
Driver’s will be signing autographs Friday and Saturday between 5 and 5:55 p.m. right behind the grandstands. On Friday, local 360 driver Joe Beaver will be joined by others competing that night. On Saturday, 410 drivers Brian Brown and Dusty Zomer will be joined by midget competitors as well.
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Have your birthday or anniversary announced over the P.A. at Knoxville by e-mailing your information to bstickel@knoxvilleraceway.com. Please get your request to us by Thursday!
More Information
For more information on the weekend’s activities, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or call 641 842-5431!
(Pictured): Last year's Midget Nationals Winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
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