USAC reveals 2017 National schedules

By USAC PR (Indianapolis, IN) — Two of the most storied dirt tracks in the United States return to the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car calendar in 2017.

On June 3, the series invades the legendary half-mile Knoxville Raceway for the first time since 2011. The Saturday night event coincides with National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend at the Iowa dirt oval.

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway, the only venue on this year’s 47-race slate that was on the Sprint Car schedule in USAC’s inaugural year of 1956, will host its first series race since 1996 as part of the 11th edition of “Eastern Storm” on June 15.

PHOTO CREDIT: Neil Cavanah Photo

In addition, the USAC Sprints call Tri-City Speedway home once again, where the series hasn’t visited since 2006. The May 19 date at the Granite City, Ill. track will also feature the USAC Midget National Championship. July 30 marks a return visit to Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri. USAC’s lone appearance there came in 1989 when the late Rich Vogler won a rare winged race for Hoffman Auto Racing.

Furthermore, the series will make initial appearances at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway on Apr. 21, Pevely, Missouri’s Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on May 20 and Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway on June 2.

Traditional USAC stops on the 2017 horizon include the season-opening “Winter Dirt Games” for three-straight nights at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida. Eldora Speedway’s docket features multiple showcase events with back-to-back nights of #LetsRaceTwo on May 12-13 alongside the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars. Fast forward to Sept. 23 when the Rossburg, Ohio half-mile is the showplace for the 36th running of the “4-Crown Nationals” that also features USAC’s Silver Crown and National Midget divisions as well as the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.

Western Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track pays homage to a pair of USAC racing heroes from year’s past. The 47th running of the “Tony Hulman Classic” hits the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds half-mile on May 24 while the “Jim Hurtubise Classic” is earmarked for September 15.

The “Eastern Storm” and “Indiana Sprint Week” series have become institutions in their respective regions of the country, annually playing to large crowds and some of the most intense racing seen all year long. It will be no different in the five-race Eastern Storm series that runs from June 13-18 in the “Keystone State.” The first two nights will be held at a pair of tracks to be announced at a later date. Williams Grove serves up a feast of racing action on June 15, then a one-day break from action before closing out the mini-series at Port Royal Speedway on the 17th and Susquehanna Speedway on the 18th.

The 30th annual “Indiana Sprint Week” series consistently produces as one of the country’s premier events. Its schedule of events remains just as consistent. Once again, ISW launches at Gas City I-69 Speedway on July 7 with Kokomo Speedway and Lawrenceburg Speedway rounding out the first weekend of racing July 8-9, respectively. A two-day sabbatical gives way as the action roars back to life for the final four-race stretch of ISW at Terre Haute, Putnamville’s Lincoln Park Speedway, Bloomington Speedway and Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway on July 12-13-14-15.

The sole non-points, special event of the USAC Sprint season occurs on Aug. 23 as a prelude to three more consecutive nights at Kokomo and “Sprint Car Smackdown VI” on Aug. 24-25-26.

Lawrenceburg hosts a duo of events – one in the spring and one in the fall – as does Tri-State. The three-eighths mile Lawrenceburg oval brings the series to town for both the Midwest opener on Apr. 1 as well as the Midwest closer on Sept. 30. Bloomington Speedway’s red clay will fly when USAC makes a visit on Apr. 14 which kicks off a double-header weekend that moves to Tri-State the following night at the “Spring Showdown” on Apr. 15 for the first of two shows at the quarter-mile paperclip co-sanctioned by MSCS. The series makes the trek back to Tri-State for the “Haubstadt Hustler” on Sep. 16.

Additional dates include trips to Indiana’s Montpelier Motor Speedway and Lincoln Park Speedway on Apr. 22 and June 30, respectively, as well as a date at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kans. on July 29.

The series closes out its campaign with a multitude of events in conjunction with the USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Car Championship for a pair of annual events headquartered in the western U.S. First up is the 50th annual “Western World Championships.” The golden anniversary of the famed event that has been a staple of the southwest since 1968 takes place at Queen Creek’s Arizona Speedway on Nov. 3-4.

The season closes out with the three-night spectacular known as the Budweiser “Oval Nationals” presented by All Coast Construction on Nov. 9-10-11. The 22nd running at southern California’s Perris Auto Speedway pits the best from the National and CRA scenes against each other for bragging rights in what is annually the highest-paying purse of the year.

2017 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Feb 23: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)
Feb 24: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)
Feb 25: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)
Apr 1: Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)
Apr 14: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)
Apr 15: (M) Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)
Apr 21: Plymouth Speedway (Plymouth, IN)
Apr 22: Montpelier Motor Speedway (Montpelier, IN)
May 6: TBA
May 12: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
May 13: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
May 19: Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, IL)
May 20: Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 (Pevely, MO)
May 24: Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)
Jun 2: I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, NE)
Jun 3: Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA)
Jun 13: (E) TBA
Jun 14: (E) TBA
Jun 15: (E) Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Jun 17: (E) Port Royal Speedway (Port Royal, PA)
Jun 18: (E) Susquehanna Speedway (York Haven, PA)
Jun 30: Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)
Jul 7: (I) Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)
Jul 8 (I) Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Jul 9: (I) Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)
Jul 12: (I) Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)
Jul 13: (I) Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)
Jul 14: (I) Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)
Jul 15: (I) Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)
Jul 28: TBA
Jul 29: Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS)
Jul 30: Randolph County Raceway (Moberly, MO)
Aug 23: (SE) Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Aug 24: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Aug 25: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Aug 26: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Sep 15: Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)
Sep 16: (M) Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)
Sep 23: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
Sep 30: Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)
Oct. 6: TBA
Oct. 7: TBA
Nov. 3: (C) Arizona Speedway (Queen Creek, AZ)
Nov. 4: (C) Arizona Speedway (Queen Creek, AZ)
Nov. 9 (C) Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA)
Nov. 10 (C) Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA)
Nov. 11 (C) Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA)
——————————————
(M) represents an event co-sanctioned by MSCS
(E) represents an Eastern Storm event
(I) represents an Indiana Sprint Week event
(C) represents an event with the USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Cars

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET TOUR TRAVELS COAST-TO-COAST IN 2017 CAMPAIGN

By USAC PR (Indianapolis, IN) — Twenty-seven dates in seven states serve as the ingredients for the 2017 USAC Midget National Championship schedule.

Among the events are four distinct tours that make up the bulk of the schedule such as June’s “Indiana Midget Week,” July’s weekend trip to Illinois as well as an August tour of the Heartland of America and “Pennsylvania Midget Week,” which offers a total of eight races in a busy Summer stretch.
The 13th annual “Indiana Midget Week” kicks off with the first of six straight nights of racing action on June 6 at Montpelier Motor Speedway, followed by Gas City, Lincoln Park, Bloomington, Lawrenceburg and Kokomo to round out the series that continues to grow in popularity each year since its debut in 2005.

The series resumes with a weekend getaway to the Land of Lincoln on July 1-2-3. First up is Macon Speedway whose roots with USAC date back to Don Branson’s victory at the one-fifth mile bullring in 1959. However, the series will make its comeback to the track after a decade absence on the first of July. A date is scheduled for July 2at a track yet to be determined, which will be followed up by the USAC National Midgets’ first venture to the one-sixth mile Illinois State Fairgrounds Multi-Purpose Arena – an outdoor venue in the capital city of Springfield located on the grounds nearby the one-mile dirt oval that the USAC Silver Crown Championship competes on each August.

The USAC National Midgets’ tour of the Heartland kick starts the month of August on the first with “Tuesday Night Thunder” at Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway followed one night later by the “Chad McDaniel Memorial” at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kans. on Aug. 2. After a single day off, drivers and teams get back at it on the Belleville High Banks in Kansas for the 40th annual “Belleville Midget Nationals” on Aug. 4-5.

Susquehanna Speedway opens “Pennsylvania Midget Week” on Aug. 13 with dates at Path Valley Speedway Park and Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway set for the following two nights on Aug. 14-15. Aug. 16 is a day of rest before the mini-series’ final event hits the track at a yet-to-be-determined venue on Aug. 17.

Traditional dates dot the remainder of the series calendar for 2017 with the season set to begin indoors on March 18 at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin. The “Kokomo Grand Prix” in Indiana provides the first multi-event weekend for competitors on Apr. 7-8.

Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois moves to an earlier slot on the schedule – May 19 – for a twin-bill with the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship.

The ever-popular “4-Crown Nationals” goes into its 36th year at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway as the largest showcase for all three of USAC’s national divisions on one card in a single night. The famed event includes the National Midgets, Silver Crown, National Sprint Cars and the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.

The fifth-annual “Jason Leffler Memorial” at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Illinois provides the largest winner’s payday of the year on Oct. 20.

For the second consecutive year, the National Midgets pair with the Western States Midgets to conclude the 2017 USAC outdoor racing season with the 77th running of the prestigious “Turkey Night Grand Prix” oceanside at California’s Ventura Raceway.

2017 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Mar 18: (N) Southern Illinois Center (Du Quoin, IL)
Apr 7: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Apr 8: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
May 19: Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, IL)
Jun 6: (I) Montpelier Motor Speedway (Montpelier, IN)
Jun 7: (I) Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)
Jun 8: (I) Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)
Jun 9: (I) Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)
Jun 10: (I) Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)
Jun 11: (I) Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)
Jul 1: Macon Speedway (Macon, IL)
Jul 2: TBA
Jul 3: Illinois State Fairgrounds Multi-Purpose Arena (Springfield, IL)
Jul 22: TBA
Aug 1: Jefferson County Speedway (Fairbury, NE)
Aug 2: Solomon Valley Raceway (Beloit, KS)
Aug 4: Belleville High Banks (Belleville, KS)
Aug 5: Belleville High Banks (Belleville, KS)
Aug 13: (A) Susquehanna Speedway (York Haven, PA)
Aug 14: (A) Path Valley Speedway Park (Spring Run, PA)
Aug 15: (A) Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (Newmanstown, PA)
Aug 17: (A) TBA
Sep 23: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
Oct 6: TBA
Oct 7: TBA
Oct 20: (P) Wayne County Speedway (Wayne City, IL)
Nov 23: (W) Ventura Raceway (Ventura, CA)
——————————————
(N) represents an indoor event
(I) represents an Indiana Midget Week event
(A) represents an event with the USAC/ARDC Midgets
(P) represents an event co-sanctioned by POWRi
(W) represents an event with the USAC Western States Midgets

USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RIDES INTO THE DESERT AT PHOENIX IN 2017

By USAC PR (Indianapolis, IN) — Phoenix International Raceway, a venue synonymous with USAC Silver Crown racing for more than two decades, returns to the 2017 schedule after an eight-year absence.
The highly-anticipated return of the big cars to the mile in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun arrives on Saturday, April 29 on the same bill as the IndyCar Series race later that night.

The roar of champ car engines fell silent at PIR after Cole Whitt’s victory in 2009 on the racy, triangular-shaped paved track, but the series is back this season as it embarks on its 47th season of competition with a schedule as balanced as it’s ever been. Six dirt and five pavement events are on tap for the 11-race docket for 2017.

The series opens on the dirt at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track on Apr. 2 for the “Sumar Classic.” On May 25, the 63rd running of the “Hoosier Hundred” makes it traditional stop at the Indiana State Fairgrounds mile. In June, amidst the “Eastern Storm” series for the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars, the Silver Crown cars take on Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway on June 16.

The series closes out the 2017 calendar with three-straight races on the dirt, beginning with a pair of events on the two legendary mile tracks in Illinois. The “Bettenhausen 100? at Springfield’s Illinois State Fairgrounds on Aug. 19 is the longest-running of all Silver Crown events with roots dating back to 1934.
The Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, host of the Sept. 3 “Ted Horn 100,” is one of just three racetracks on the series’ 2017 schedule to have been on the schedule in every single year of USAC’s existence since 1956 (Indiana and Illinois State Fairgrounds).

The season closes with the Sept. 23 “4-Crown Nationals” at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio – the only event in which one can witness all three of USAC’s National Divisions (Silver Crown, National Sprint and National Midget) at the same track on a single night.

The pavement portion of the schedule is an array of flat and high-banked surfaces ranging in size from a half-mile to a full-mile. Phoenix serves as the pavement season opener as well as the series’ sole visit to the west on Apr. 29.

Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana is the lone track scheduled to host multiple Silver Crown events this season with the “Carb Night Classic: The Race Before the 500? on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend on May 26 and the “Rich Vogler/Hall of Fame Classic” on July 20.

The final two races hit the high banks of two of the Midwest’s most history-rich racetracks in Ohio’s Toledo Speedway and Indiana’s Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery. Toledo’s July 28event honors the city’s greatest racing hero and 1973 USAC National Sprint Car champ with the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness “Rollie Beale Classic.”

The Silver Crown cars return to Salem for the final round of pavement for the season one year after making their first stop at the .555-mile, high-banked oval since 1988. As it has since 1958, the event honors the lives of National Sprint Car Hall of Famers and Indianapolis 500 veterans Joe James and Pat O’Connor.

2017 USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Apr 2: (D) Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)
Apr 29: (P#) Phoenix International Raceway (Phoenix, AZ)
May 25: (D) Indiana State Fairgrounds (Indianapolis, IN)
May 26: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis (Brownsburg, IN)
Jun 16: (D) Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Jul 20: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis (Brownsburg, IN)
Jul 28: (P) Toledo Speedway (Toledo, OH)
Aug 12: (P) Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery (Salem, IN)
Aug 19: (D#) Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, IL)
Sep 3: (D) Du Quoin State Fairgrounds (Du Quoin, IL)
Sep 23: (D) Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)
——————————————
(D) represents a dirt event
(P) represents a pavement event