Cox Design Iowa SpeedWeek to Feature 10 Straight Nights of Sprint Car Racing Between Knoxville & Oskaloosa
Monday, July 14, 2008
The seventh annual Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa SpeedWeek is underway, as it is being held on July 31-August 9 in south central Iowa. 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.
The promotional partners of the “Mr. Sprint Car” title competition, McTwo Promotions, the Marion County Fair Association, and the National Sprint Car Museum, have confirmed that the 2008 Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa SpeedWeek champion will receive $2,500, the runner-up will receive $1,000, and the third place finisher will receive $500. Ricky Logan of Arkansas (2002), Shane Stewart of Oklahoma (2003, ’04), Billy Alley of Nebraska (2005), Jason Johnson of Louisiana (2006) and Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma (2007) are past champions, respectively, of this unique prize in sprint car racing.
The 2008 Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa SpeedWeek point championship opens at Knoxville on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 31-August 1-2, with the 18th Annual Arnold Motor Supply Knoxville 360 Nationals, presented by Vermeer Manufacturing, for winged 360-cubic-inch sprint cars. The $2,000-to-win preliminary night features on Thursday and Friday will offer Iowa SpeedWeek points, as will the $10,000-to-win Saturday night 360 Knoxville Nationals finale. In addition, the regular Casey’s General Stores-sponsored 410 c.i. sprint car feature will award SpeedWeek points and drivers may compete in both the 360 c.i. and 410 c.i. sprint car divisions on that Saturday night.
To date, twenty-six sanctions will participate in the Sunday, August 3, $5,000-to-win 10th Annual Brodix Tournament of Champions: Alberta Sprint Tour (AST), American Sprint Cars on Tour (ASCoT), American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Coastal, Gulf South, Midwest, Northern Plains, Northwest, Patriot, Rebel, Rocky Mountain, Sooner, Sprints On Dirt and Southwest regions, Big Sky Sprint Tour (BSST), Empire Super Sprints (ESS), Knoxville Championship Cup Series (KNOX), National Championship Racing Association (NCRA), National Racing Alliance (NRA), Northern Lights Dirt Series (NLDS), SRA Brodix Sprintcar Series (SRA), Sprint Invaders Association (SIA), Southern Ontario Sprints (SOS), Sprintcar Thunder Series/Sprintcar All Stars (STS-SAS), United Sprint Car Series (USCS) Mid-South Thunder and Southern Thunder tours, and Winged Outlaw Warriors (WOW). 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 4, 13th annual Musco Lighting Front Row Challenge. 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 5, the same Osky track hosts the non-winged 410’s for the $30,000-to-win seventh annual Searsboro Telephone Company Ultimate Challenge. This innovative event is part of the United States Auto Club (USAC) National Sprint Car Series. McCarl and McCroskey advertise this Tuesday night show as the ‘one night stand for 30 grand’.
The ten straight nights of racing is concluded back on the Marion County Fairgrounds with the 48th annual SuperClean Knoxville Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, on August 6-9. The prestigious event will pay a record $150,000 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 MyRaceLife.com World Challenge invitational for the best drivers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, pays $10,000 to win. Associate sponsors include NOS Energy Drink, Weld Racing, and MyRaceLife.com.
Interestingly, this year’s Iowa SpeedWeek will be bookended by two non-point open-wheel events: the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series race at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Wednesday, July 30, and the Casey’s General Stores-sponsored United States Auto Club (USAC) K&N Silver Crown Series race (for traditional ‘dirt championship’ cars) at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, on Sunday, August 10.
Those seeking information on the seventh annual Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa SpeedWeek should contact Brian Stickel at Knoxville Raceway. 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 4-5 events in Oskaloosa, fans are urged to call 515-957-0020 or visit www.terrymccarl.com. For information regarding the July 31-August 1-3 and August 6-9 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 Iowa SpeedWeek is as follows:
2007 – 1., Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma, 266 points ($2,500); 2., Kaley Gharst, Illinois, 252 ($1,000); 3., Brian Brown, Missouri, 249 ($500); 4., Shane Stewart, Oklahoma, 192; 5., Jonathan Allard, California, 182.
2006 – 1., Jason Johnson, Louisiana, 309 points ($2,500); 2., Billy Alley, Nebraska, 247 ($1,000); 3., Brian Brown, Missouri, 227 ($500); 4., Don Droud, Jr., Nebraska, 201; 5., Gary Wright, Texas, 187.
2005 – 1., Billy Alley, Nebraska, 303 points ($2,500); 2., Kerry Madsen, New South Wales, Australia, 258 ($1,000); 3., Daryn Pittman, Oklahoma, 235; 4., Jesse Hockett, Missouri, 227; 5., Jesse Giannetto, Iowa, 214.
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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