by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN - Sept. 3, 2008. This Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Racing Season is entering the final weeks. Three key races to be held in less than 5 weeks will produce the last spell bounding excitement of open wheel racing in 2008. Results forthcoming from those races in combination with those from throughout the season will allow a champion to be crowned. Only seventeen points separate drivers Kyle Cummins and Hud Cone who now head the MSCS Championship chase. Cummins has an ace up his sleeve in that he is currently one of the drivers with perfect race attendance who can collect valuable bonus points for not missing any of the races held. Both are former champions and know how to run up front and finish races.

The first of the three races is set for Saturday night September 6th at the third mile Clay County Speedway. An appearance by the series there in August provided Brady Short with an opportunity for his first ever MSCS win. It also brought forth a field of 32 sprints. A dozen Illinois drivers with lots of experience on the prairie dirt took advantage of the westward trek by MSCS and
competed. Illinois drivers Mike Hess and Bret Tripplett both finished in the top five that night.

A check in the MSCS Record book revealed that MSCS competed at the speedway back in the 2001 inaugural season for the series. Three races were held at what was then a relatively new track. Feature wins were recorded by Hud Cone, Terry Babb, and Donnie Gentry. Gentry’s win came on this very weekend of that season and helped propel him to the MSCS Championship that season.

Features this year have been very competitive. Although names on the list of potential winners varies from race date to race date, that list is extensive. In the 11 races held thus far 15 different drivers have finished in the top threes spots. Multiple winners include Robert Ballou, Hunter Schuerenberg, Brady Short, and Jon Stanbrough. Daron Clayton also has a win. Others have been close but missed by a spot or two. Kyle Cummins has been in the top three 4 times, Jeff Bland Jr. 3 times, and Hud Cone twice. The checkered flag has been waving overhead on some outstanding drives that just fell short of victory.

Three races remain for yet another and 6th different winner to emerge. This Saturday night the purse pays $2,000 to win. Wins this season seem to have come along in short streaks. Three drivers have put together back to back winning performances. Hunter Schuerenberg now has his chance to be the first to win three in a row. The Clay County race is also the last chance for sprint car racing teams to test the MSCS competition before the big ones arrive to the close out the season. On September 27th at Haubstadt and October 4th at Lawrenceburg the victory prize is $10,000. Those two races in Indiana have the potential to attract lots of teams as well as high dollar teams!

Clay County Speedway is located at Flora, IL, along U.S. 45 about 2 miles North of U.S. 50. The phone number at the track is 618-682-6825 to call for race day information. Hot laps are at 6:30 P.M. and racing follows at 7:30. UMP Modifieds, Stocks, and Hornets will also appear on the program.

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN - Aug. 20, 2008. This weekend the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car teams will be unloading in the pits at Twin Cities Raceway Park at North Vernon, IN. The August 23rd date is the only appearance of the series at the track this season. Some of the MSCS regulars will be eyeing uncharted turns on the 3/8’s mile, but to others this will be a track made familiar by visits earlier this season or at special events in prior seasons.

According to track promoter Mason Fleetwood the Lawrenceburg based sprint cars ran at Twin Cities Raceway seven or eight times earlier this season while construction was finalized to the new 3/8s mile Lawrenceburg Speedway. With MSCS again slated to sanction the Lawrenceburg Nationals in the area on October 4th, sprint fans can expect a good representation of drivers from across the Hoosier state and from the expanded horizon offered by the series which showcases talent from as many as nine other states.

The feature event Saturday night at Twin Cities Raceway will pay $2,000 to win and $200 to start. Drivers who do not possess an annual MSCS license can buy one at the track or a purchase a temporary permit to compete the one night. The spec tire rule is another requirement. Drivers must run the Hoosier DT-3 on the right rear. Competitors need to be at the track in time to draw before 5:30. The pit gate opens at 3 P.M. E.D.T.

Fans can purchase tickets to the stands at 4 o’clock. That is when the main gate opens. Hot Laps are set for 6 with racing at 6:30. The MSCS sprints will be joined by 5 other classes for a varied racing program. MSCS does not qualify to form heat races but uses a pill draw. The top finishers in each heat transfer to the feature along with the necessary number of drivers finishing at the front of the B-Main to create a 20 car starting field for the feature. A 21st starting position is offered to the first eligible MSCS driver not transferring to the feature and on the provisional list Fans should plan to arrive early. Serious racing gets underway at the drop of the first green flag and the MSCS sprints are always up first in the order of events.

Kyle Cummins of Princeton, IN, will be heading into action Saturday night as the 2008 MSCS Points leader. He also ranks as the Defending Champion. Hud Cone, the 2003 MSCS Champion, is currently second in points. Cone shaved 4 points off the 30 point lead Cummins had going into the Clay County event a week ago. Cone was 4th in that feature. Cone has 5 Top Five feature finishes so far this season. Cummins has 4 Top Five feature finishes. Cummins has finished second twice in a feature. Cone has a second to his credit also. Both are looking for that first MSCS win of the season.

In 2008 the nine feature held so far have been captured by four drivers. They are Robert Ballou (3), Jon Stanbrough (3), Brady Short (2), and Daron Clayton (1). Short was the last driver to extend this list of Who’s Who in Midwest Sprint Car Racing by taking the Hoosier Sprint Nationals and the $10,000 prize to begin August and then follow that up with a win at Clay County last week. So it is Short who is now on the hot streak! Six of the top ten drivers at the Hoosier Sprint Nationals competed last weekend for that $2,000 to win top prize. MSCS currently averages 32 cars per event.

Haubstadt, IN - July 25, 2008. The Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series will return to action with two consecutive days of racing beginning August 1st. The series will visit Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY, that Friday before racing the next night August 2nd at Tri-State Speedway at Haubstadt, IN.

A lot is in the offering! Two thousand dollars awaits the feature winner on Friday night and Saturday night the Fourth Annual Hoosier Sprint Nationals will pay $10,000 to the winner. The total purse for the two nights of racing will be the most offered so far any weekend this season. The Hoosier Sprint Nationals title is also a big addition to any driver’s career resume. The three Nationals held have produced three different winners.

Friday night’s Paducah event will showcase the MSCS Sprints along with support from some of the classes that race the track regularly. MSCS does not qualify but the excitement begins with hot lap sessions beginning at 6:30 and racing to follow at 7:30. Forty- five different sprint drivers have tested the high banks at Paducah in the two seasons MSCS has competed there.

The honor of winning MSCS features so far this season has belonged to a select group of three drivers. Jon Stanbrough has won three, Robert Ballou has won two, and Daron Clayton has a single win. Mother Nature has prevented three others from being held.
Robert Ballou led the way back in June when the MSCS sprints were last at Paducah. In 2007 Cory Kruseman took the PIR feature in an infrequent appearance with the MSCS series that included a stop at the Hoosier Sprint Nationals in Indiana the next night where he finished fourth.

MSCS racing at Paducah International Raceway has displayed a California connection. It’s evident that Golden State drivers have been prospecting for wins in the Bluegrass country. Robert Ballou, who is from Rocklin, California, now races out of Camby, IN. Cory
Kruseman is from San Jose, California. But drivers will be expected
from all over the country as teams embark to race MSCS all of Hoosier Sprint Nationals weekend.

In 2008 the Midwest Sprint Car Series has enjoyed driver support from 5 adjoining Midwestern states as well as from states as far away as California on the West Coast and New York on the East Coast. Non- wing sprint car racing is a coast to coast attraction best exemplified by the extreme, wheel to wheel racing right here in the Midwest. To offset some of that travel expense MSCS pays $100 tow money to all drivers that do not make the feature on a given evening.

The fourth annual Hoosier Sprint Nationals will be a fifty lap race just like its predecessors. The added distance adds to the challenge. That is 200 turns the leader has to take on dirt without error and valuable, extra laps for drivers deep in the field to move up. Last year Hunter Schuerenberg took the $10,000 prize and the Hoosier Sprint Nationals title. Hunter is coming off of another big career win as he just won the Indiana Sprint Week finale in USAC competition at Tri-State Speedway July 19th.

In the brief but exciting history of the Hoosier Sprint Nationals current MSCS Points leader Daron Clayton won the race in 2006. Shane Cottle was second that year as well as in 2007. Kevin Briscoe won the Hoosier Sprint Nationals the first year which was 2005.
Clayton’s June 7th, 2008 victory at Tri-State Speedway propelled him into the lead on the MSCS All Time Feature Win List with 8.

MSCS is Racing the first weekend of August! It is a MUST SEE WEEKEND! Racing will be on the big 3/8’s mile Paducah International Raceway the first night and for the big prize of $10,000 at Haubstadt the second night.

Provided by Eldon Butcher, MSCS Information & Publicity

Haubstadt, IN - July 12, 2008. The mid point on the 2008 calendar was reached recently during the week that June became July. It was also scheduled to be the mid point in completing the 2008 Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series schedule. The June 28th date at Tri-State Speedway was to have been the eighth date on the original 16 race schedule. That event was held but it was only the sixth race to actually be conducted. Races at Brownstown, IN, and Jacksonville, IL, could not be held due to rain. Rainfall also took out the July 3rd event at Union County Speedway. So far 1/3 of the season’s races have fallen victim to rainfall.

The rained out programs have had an affect on some of the sponsorship packages offered this season. The Hard Luck Get a Grip on Dirt Award sponsored by Gamesters, the manufacturer of the GRP Chassis, was to be drawn for following the 7th race of the season. The “seventh race” should have happened by mid season. It is coming up next! With six races in the books only one more race remains for drivers who have encountered hard luck to enter the drawing. Gamester will provide a certificate worth a $500 discount on the purchase of a new chassis from them. Drivers who have had frames damaged in MSCS crashes are reminded to get their entries filled out and deposited in the box on the sign-in table. It is each driver’s responsibility to complete the entry form.

The additional GRP Chassis Award for 2008 requires that drivers must have been in competition in at least 60% of the races held with a 9th appearance required before individual entries could be accepted. If one or more of the rained out races are rescheduled and made up or replaced with a new date at another track, the actual number of races required could be affected. That change will be announced at a driver’s meeting once it is clear if the requirement is going to be affected.

One award scheduled to be awarded at mid season has been sent out. Driver A.J. Anderson of Stateline, IN, earned the Holiday World & Splash’in Safari tickets compliments of the amusement park at Santa Claus, IN. This is the first year the park has participated! As announced in May the tickets were awarded to the driver who finished highest in the feature after transferring by winning the B-main that night. Anderson was 7th in the MSCS Feature after winning the B-Main on May 25th.

Chase Stockon started off the season by finishing ninth in the feature at Terre Haute after winning the B. Jerry Ruble, Ricky Williams, and Hud Cone also won B-Mains this season to transfer. A.J. Anderson and Chase Stockon were the only two to race their way up into the top ten that same night. All these drivers have been in the Top Ten in points in this or past seasons which testifies to how tough the competition can be during the heats and the B-Main to make the feature on any given night.

As sprint car drivers take a midseason stretch from MSCS competition before heading back into contention at Paducah International Raceway on August 1st, numerous drivers have already benefited from contingency prizes given out following each race. Robert Ballou, Jon Stanbrough, Brady Short, Daron Clayton, Hud Cone, and Kyle Cummins have picked up certificates from Saldana Racing after first or second place finishes in the features held.

Chase Stockon, Kevin Thomas Jr., Hunter Schuerenberg, Ricky Williams, John Memmer, and Jeff Bland Jr. have earned certificates from Keizer Aluminum Wheels as the Hard Charger of the Race. No driver has yet to repeat as the Hardcharger this season. So far the feat has been a youthful endeavor. All of these 6 drivers are 20 years of age or younger.

Jesse Hockett, Chase Stockon, Jon Stanbrough, Kevin Thomas Jr., Hunter Schuerenberg, Ricky Williams. Robert Ballou, and Jeff Bland Jr. are Rod End Supply certifcate winners. Thomas Meseraull, Bret Tripplett, Dustin Morgan, Ricky Williams, and Daron Clayton have won Wilwood Tough Brakes Award. Rookie Ricky Williams has won the Wilwood Tuff Brakes Award twice.

The Hoosier Sprint Car Series is sponsored by Hoosier Tire Midwest. Points leaders this season have included Robert Ballou, Thomas Meseraull, and Daron Clayton. The season promises to be very competitive for all the top spots. Bell and Hinchman are involved in offering post season awards in continuing sponsorship roles with the series.
Bell will be making an award to the driver finishing fourth in points this season. That has been a hot spot in the standings.

Six different drivers have occupied the busy fourth spot. Every time the standings have been released a different driver has been listed. Currently Ricky Williams holds the spot. He also leads the Rookie points which also involves a Bell contingency award. Other drivers in the fourth spot this season have included Kyle Cummins, Chase Stockon, A.J. Anderson, Danny Holtsclaw, and Damion Gardner. AFCO Racing Shocks currently ride on the cars of four of the top five drivers in the standings. AFCO provides $500 worth of contingency prizes at the end of the season.

August will soon be here. That is now the month in which the Hoosier Sprint Nationals is held at Tri-State Speedway. This year the big event is set for August 2nd. The $10,000 to win prize adds immediacy to the success rate of the winning MSCS Sprint Car Team. MSCS continues in its goal to be a rewarding series for participants and fans alike.

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN. - June 30. In addition to a short work week, add the availability of a quick start to a great holiday racing weekend. Get ready for a Thursday night race! Promoter Tom Wieck at Union County Speedway is offering sprint car and open wheel modified fans just such an opportunity.

The Fourth of July is on a Friday this year. On the eve of our country’s 232nd birthday the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series will be rocketing into a speedway located at two of the most appropriately named places ever envisioned to hold a Fourth of July weekend special event. Union County Speedway is just 3.3 miles west of Liberty, Indiana, on Highway 44. It is south of Richmond and northwest of Cincinnati. But get there any way you can! That is
July 3rd.

This will be the next destination of the major MSCS sprint car teams. It is another stop on the “Road to Destiny” for race drivers engaged in close point battles for the 2008 MSCS Series Championship sponsored by Hoosier Tire Midwest. Following last weekends racing Daron Clayton moved up to the top spot replacing teammate Thomas Meseraull as the points leader. Kyle Cummins turned in his best performances of the season to move up to second spot in the standings. Cummins was third in the feature the night before at Paducah. Meseraull dropped to third in overall points after a B-Main incident took him out of competition Saturday night. He was running second at the time and working on a sure transfer spot to the main event.

The six feature races conducted so far this year have produced three different winners. Jon Stanbrough has 3 wins in his four appearances and was second in the other feature. Robert Ballou has been a factor on the bigger tracks. He has two wins. The first came at Terre Haute on the half mile and the second at Paducah this past Friday on a three eighths mile. Union County Speedway is a 3/8’s mile banked configuration. Daron Clayton has the other win. That win on 6/07 at Tri-State Speedway against KISS competition propelled him into the lead in the MSCS All Time Feature Winners list with eight (8).

The MSCS car count varied a bit this past weekend with 24 Friday and 41 Saturday. But both races were held in the face of uncertain weather. The existing quality of the regulars enhanced with some new faces made for some exciting match-ups. The average car count for the season is 35 and different tracks in different regions attract more and more competitors anxious to take on the MSCS travelers. MSCS has a payoff policy that provides $100 to every driver failing to qualify for the feature. That has to help offset travel expenses with diesel fuel now climbing towards 5 bucks a gallon at the pump.

The race at Union County pays $2,000 to win. The timing of this race at Union County at the mid season mark provides a level playing field for participants. Very few drivers in the series have turned many if any laps on that oval. The feature is set to go for 25 laps. Gates will open at 4:30 P.M. Hot laps are at 7:30. Racing begins at 8:15. There is plenty of time to get to the races after work and not miss a single, exciting lap.

HEADING TO PADUCAH and BACK TO HAUBSTADT

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN - June 19, 2008. The Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series is set to swing back into action Friday night June 27th at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY. The fast, high banked 3/8’s mile track provided a thrilling race with the first visit of the Non Wing MSCS Sprints last summer. California driver Corey Kruseman surprised the MSCS regulars by taking the feature that night with a field of over 30 cars and drivers serving as viable and strong contenders.

This year the 410 Sprint Cars will have relatives on the same program in the form of the midgets of the O’Reilly POWRi Series. This series is involved in sanctioning midgets as well as outlaw micros and is based in Southern Illinois. The POWRi Midgets will share the program with the MSCS Sprints Friday night and again the next night at Tri-State Speedway. The two organizations and two lightning fast classes of cars will headline both programs. The micros will also be on the card at PIR. The two tracks are some 130 miles apart with 4 lanes most of the way.

The potential of conducting races with both sanctioning bodies in competition was explored at a meeting between officials of the two groups late in 2007. These two shows present the first opportunity for everyone involved to enjoy the real benefits of this new co- operative sanctioning effort. Saturday June 28th the MSCS Sprints make their fourth appearance of the season at Tri-State Speedway. The same night the POWRi Midgets will be making their first and only 2008 appearance at Tri-State Speedway. It will be a double barreled spectacle race fans will not want to miss!

The dual program is a BONUS for open wheel fans who appreciate race cars designed and built in the traditional forms of early racing in the Midwest. With the presence or availability of a second car, some drivers may find an opportunity to drive in both classes. For example former MSCS Champion Hud Cone has already competed with both organizations this season and in the UMP Modifieds. On June 7th Hud finished fourth in the MSCS sprint feature at Haubstadt and followed that with a fourth place in the modified feature the same night. He is currently 10th in MSCS Points. Drivers as versatile may see an advantage to running for both feature purses the same night.

The Sprint feature both nights pays $2,000 to win and $200 to start. With the current rising fuel costs the MSCS practice of providing $100 tow money to drivers unable to qualify for the feature is another plus for drivers and owners to include these two shows on their team’s season itinerary.

Thomas Meseraull still leads the MSCS Points standings with over 120 points to be up for grabs in this next racing weekend. Truckers’ Teammate Daron Clayton is second and won the last feature held in which the series was involved. Both cars carry variations of the number ten! Currently eight of the top ten drivers have made the tow to every race held this year. These two shows are pivotal as the series nears the mid season mark on the schedule which figures to be the special event set for Union County Speedway at Liberty, IN, Thursday night July 3rd. All total that is three races in seven calendar days!

 

TWO CHALLENGES IN ONE WEEKEND WAIT ON MSCS REGULARS

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN - May 30, 2008. In June the first of three double- up racing weekends scheduled for this season will arrive. MSCS drivers will have the opportunity to compete twice in the same weekend. June 6th the non wing sprint car series will visit the Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois. That show is on Friday. The next evening the MSCS racers will be back in action at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN, which rates as the closest thing to home dirt for the series regulars. Both races will climax with special 30 lap feature events. Both tracks are banked quarter mile facilities.

The event scheduled for Morgan County Speedway is the Budweiser 2nd Annual Western Illinois Classic. The POWRi Midgets and Micros will also be on the racing card with the sprints to create a first class open wheel shootout! Racing usually gets underway about 6:45 at the fairgrounds. It is the only appearance scheduled for the MSCS sprints at Jacksonville this season. Thomas Meseraull currently leads the MSCS series in points. He is a former midget driver who came to the Midwest from California last season and is already finding success in the sprint car ranks.

Promoters Billy and Kim West will have the welcome mat out at the Morgan County Speedway. Illinois drivers are very familiar with the facility which is the home of Shaheen’s Back to the Past Sprint Car Event each fall. Two weeks of extra preparation at the track in advance of the Western Illinois Classic are underway to help insure a great race. Jon Stanbrough won in last year’s inaugural June outing for MSCS at Morgan County. That race attracted 36 sprints from a 6 state area. The average MSCS car count per event this season now stands at 37.

On Saturday night June 7th Tri-State Speedway will present the King of Indiana Sprint Series. This series was originated in 2001 to give Indiana sprint car track promoters an opportunity to present a special show which was sure to attract the best drivers competing in the state and thereby crown the true King of Indiana sprint car drivers. The first title holder was Dickie Gaines and since then Jon Stanbrough has won the crown three times which includes back to back championships in 2006 and 2007. He also took the feature at Gas City on May 16th to start out this season with equal success.

That same Saturday night at Haubstadt many MSCS sprint car drivers will be in the field competing for the $2,500 to win. Drivers competing with a MSCS license or one-time permits will receive co-sanction MSCS points as well as KISS points. The two groups competed together last season at Haubstadt with the resulting feature ranking as one of the best ever witnessed at the track. The checkered fell over Daron Clayton, Jon Stanbrough, and Brady Short in that order after a terrific battle with the lead changing lap after lap.

It will be interesting to see how many teams catch both shows. KISS competitors and Hoosier sprint fans can add another night of racing at Kokomo Speedway Sunday, June 9th. However, the next scheduled race for the MSCS series will not happen until June 27th when the group visits Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky.

 

MSCS BACK AT HAUBSTADT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN - May 19, 2008. Action at Tri-State Speedway will switch to Sunday evening for the next event on this year’s schedule. Coming up on May 25th is the annual Memorial Day Weekend Race at the quarter mile track. The Midwest Sprint Car Series and UMP Modified class will provide a double header of open wheel racing for spectators to enjoy. Racing is set to get underway at 7:30 P.M. with hot laps an hour earlier.

This will be the second racing event to be held this season at the Haubstadt oval. The MSCS feature will pay $3,000 to the winner Sunday night and a minimum of $200 to the 21 drivers who start the special 30 lap feature. All the sprint car drivers in competition will also have their third opportunity to earn MSCS points this season. Thirteen more MSCS sanctioned events remain before this year’s Champion will be crowned.

The two Midwest Sprint Car Series features held in 2008 have produced two different winners. Robert Ballou won the opening event at the Terre Haute Action Track and Jon Stanbrough picked up the win the next weekend at Tri-State Speedway. Neither driver was present at the track or in the MSCS field when the other driver won the feature. A showdown looms at some point this season. Stanbrough has been picking up big wins one after another in competition across the state during the first three weekends of May.

The Midwest Sprint Car Series points are as tight as could be predicted early in the season. The top four drivers are just 7 points apart in the standings. One heat race finish could juggle the standings and create a new leader. Competitive points begin each night with the heats! Thomas Meseraull replaced Robert Ballou as the points leader after the May 10th Tri-State event.

The entire top ten in the MSCS Points standings got a quarter mile face lift as a slightly different field assembled for the second event. The top ten had seven name changes. Only new points leader Thomas Messeraull, Mitch Wissmiller and Danny Holtsclaw remained in the top ten from the intial list of top drivers. Chase Stockon moved up from twelfth to tie Mitch Wissmiller for second in points. Holtsclaw currently ranks fourth.

Thomas Meseraull has been driving the 10T and running as a teammate to Daron Clayton in the 10C. The two sprint cars make up the Truckers’ 24 Hour Race Team and are owned by Roger and Barb Tapy. Clayton won last season’s Memorial Day event at Haubstadt and is 5th in MSCS points so far this season despite some bad luck which has sidelined him during the two features.

Meseraull came into MSCS competition late last season making just two appearances. The driver is a convert from the midget ranks. Although he now lists Indianapolis, IN, as his home, he comes to the Hoosier state from San Jose, California. Messeraull competed in the midget ranks in Northern California winning the BCRA Championship in 2004. The Bay Cities Racing Association has a rich history dating back to 1942 and has produced great champions like Freddy Agabashian, Mike McGreevy, and Bill Vokovich Jr. over the decades. Meseraull has now moved on to the Midwest like so many of his predecessors.

Fifty-five different drivers have already competed with MSCS this season. It is a coast to coast list with drivers from New York to California choosing the Midwest to further their racing careers.

 

MSCS HEADLINES TRI-STATE SEASON OPENER

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN. May 7, 2008. Opening night at Tri-State Speedway will feature the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series along with the UMP Open Wheel Modifieds. The race scheduled for Saturday May 10th will be the first at the oval which is set to begin the 51st year of operation. It will be the second outing for the MSCS Sprint car series which will appear at the Speedway just 6 days after an eventful opening round at the Terre Haute Action Track this past Sunday.

The MSCS sprint car pilots are a perfect match for the high banks of Tri-State Speedway. The track is fast, the turns challenging, and the competition always keen. Terrific Track preparation and race night vigilance by Tom Helfrich and crew combined with the lore and tradition of decades of racing excitement at the speedway combine to draw the best competitors from throughout the Midwest and beyond.

The hottest driver on dirt and on the MSCS circuit right now is Robert Ballou. The 19 year old driver currently has three consecutive feature wins in the MPHG Prpmptions Maxim Sprinter. The streak continued at Terre Haute this past Sunday evening and started with victories last fall at Florence, KY, and Lawrenceburg, IN. This young driver who used to call Rocklin, CA, home has earned $16,000 in just over a 100 laps around 3 different tracks. He now races out of Camby, IN, and leads the MSCS Points.

Waiting for Ballou and or any other combatants of equal and near equal talent are the 120 turns in the feature at Tri-State Speedway Saturday night. The feature is 30 laps and pays $3,000 to win. The same purse at Terre Haute attracted 42 cars! The last 5 laps at Terre Haute were worth the price of admission thanks to a determined Jesse Hockett.

Of further interest is the fact that in 2007 five of the MSCS races at Haubstadt produced 5 different feature winners. It is a difficult place to bring a streak to or start one. Those five winners were Mat Neely, Daron Clayton, Jon Stanbrough, Hunter Schuerenberg, and Chris Windom.

Daron Clayton in winning the MSCS-KISS Challenge at mid season in 2007 was the only driver to eek out a second MSCS victory at Haubstadt. Tri-State Speedway continues to be the stronghold for the mighty and bold, the bastion of the underrated or sometimes overlooked, and the training ground and launch pad for the young guns in the sport. The 2007 MSCS Champion Kyle Cummins and 2007 MSCS Rookie of the Year John Memmer launched sprint car careers off these same banks to the delight of the local fans.

The pit gates will open at 3 o’clock for competitors. The stands are to open about 4:30 for the fans in line. Hot laps are at 6:30 with racing getting underway at 7:30. The new season brings new opportunities presented with a sound that is the ultimate roar, the glimmer of new paint and familiar numbers, and a renewed acquaintance with the thrill and speed of each and every lap. That is sprint car racing!

 

DON SMITH CLASSIC FIRST UP AT THE ACTION TRACK

by Eldon Butcher

Haubstadt, IN.  April 19, 2008.  The Terre Haute Action Track will reopen on May 2^nd with the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series in competition.  This is the only time that the MSCS Sprints will appear at Terre Haute this season.  It will also be the season opening race for the series as well as the track.  The feature will pay $3,000 to win and start 24 cars.The Terre Haute Action Track is under new management and will once again become active this season after being idle most of 2007.  The MSCS appearance is the first in a lineup that has four different sanctioning bodies providing 6 open wheel racing programs at the track.

DHK Promotions LLC already have all wheels turning in a plan to turn things around.  They are on a mission to upgrade the facility, restore the track to its former reputation as one of the nation’s leading dirt tracks, and keep the fans close to and involved in the action.  

The promotional partnership includes Brian Dorsett, Davey Hamilton, and Mike King.  Dorsett, now a Terre Haute businessman, is a former major league baseball player.  Dorsett wore uniforms for teams in both the American and National leagues including the Yankees and Reds.  Davey Hamilton is well known to IRL fans and has competed in the Indianapolis 500 nine times collecting 3 top ten finishes.  Mike King is known as the Voice of the 500 and the Indy Car series.  He will also be announcing at the Action Track.  Their motto is that the Action Track is where EVERY RACE IS A CLASSIC.

The MSCS race on Friday May 2^nd will be the Clabber Girl “Don Smith Classic” presented by Indiana State University.  Don Smith is the Chairman of the Board and President of First Financial Bank at Terre Haute.  Smith is being recognized for a lifetime of involvement in racing.  He is fondly remembered as the promoter of the Action Track back in the 60’s.  That era is especially memorable to sprint car fans and this race is the first step towards rekindling that Spirit of Greatness.

Grading is underway at the half mile track.  Former sprint car great Bubby Jones is in charge of track restoration and race preparation.  Sediment in the turns is being removed to expose all the surface of the infield guard rails.  Concrete will replace guard rail along the inside of the front stretch.  Fans will once again be able to watch pit activity as cars will be pitted behind the new barrier in full view of the grandstands.  The surface of the track is being corrected with the front straightaway being raised some 18 inches with tons of new dirt already applied.  This track will be race ready!

Action is set to get underway with heat races beginning at 7 o’clock Friday night.  The MSCS sprints will be the only class of cars in competition.  However the Midwest Old Timers Vintage Race Car Club will take part in the program and turn some laps allowing fans a chance to reminisce.  Fans are reminded that this promotional team is bringing back the infield family pass for $25.  Single infield tickets are just $10 each.  Seats in the bleachers and grandstand range from $15 to $25.  Please go to the tracks new website at www.theactiontrack.com for further details.

____________

IMPORTANT!

     A rain date has been set for this event.  If rain forces the postponement of the event Friday night May 2^nd  it will be held Sunday May 4th with everything moved up two hours on the schedule to allow everyone to get home earlier in the face of work week responsibilities.  Heat races will begin at 5 P.M. with the pit gates opening at Noon.  Everyone has two chances to see one great race - THE DON SMITH CLASSIC

 

HAVE A SPECIAL NEED FOR SERIES INFORMATION
HAVE NEWS THAT WE CAN USE?

Relevant information which would be of interest
to MSCS Members, Followers, and Supporters
should be forwarded to:

Eldon Butcher,
MSCS Director of Publicity
E-mail:  ebutcher@gibsoncounty.net
Phone:   (812)749-9715
Address: RR3, Box 61
         Oakland City, IN
         47660-9315