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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH7lUnqAcII&feature=youtu.be
WORLD OF OUTLAW SPRINTS - 34 RACEWAY THIS FRIDAY NIGHT - JUNE 7th
This is shaping up to be a FANtastic event! Heartland Harley Davidson in Burlington will hold a Drivers meet-n-greet Thursday night before the event from 5pm - 7pm with a few World Of Outlaw Sprint Car drivers and our local 305 & 360 sprint car drivers as well. Food & drinks will be served and FREE PRIZE GIVEAWAYS to include World of Outlaw Race tickets for the 34 Raceway event!
Friday, June 7th
Pit gates open 2:00pm, Grandstands 4:00pm, Hotlaps 6:30, Qualifying 7:00pm
TICKETS GOING FAST!
General Grandstand Admission tickets may be purchased at a discounted price of $30 at your local participating O'Reilly's Auto Parts Stores.
Reserved Tickets (Including Pit Pass Combos) can be purchased on-line at slspromotions.com or by calling Amy Laue at 319-750-3454
THIS IS A SPRINTACULAR EVENT... YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS!
See you at the races!
Amy Laue
Owner/Promoter
34 Raceway
West Burlington, IA
www.34raceway.com
[email protected]
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By Matt Levins
The Burlington Hawk Eye June 5, 2013
MIDDLETOWN, IA — Sammy Swindell has traveled many roads during his 33 years on the World
of Outlaws Sprint Series career. He has criss-crossed the United States from coast
to coast and raced at more tracks than he can remember.
But the path most familiar to the Germantown, Tenn., veteran is the one that leads
to victory lane. Swindell, who joined the World of Outlaws during its inaugural
season in 1978, has won 289 feature races on the series. For his career, Swindell
has won three series championships, was the 1983 Knoxville Nationals winner and has
won the King’s Royal three times. He has 619 sprint car victories to his credit.
Swindell, one of the originals on the World of Outlaws circuit, will be searching
for his next victory on Friday night when the World of Outlaws comes to 34 Raceway.
It will be Swindell’s third trip to the 3/8-mile oval dirt track and the series’
third. The World of Outlaws made stops at 34 Raceway in 2008 and 2009.
For Swindell, it will be another trip down a road well traveled. He hopes by the end
of the night to find himself once again in victory lane.
“I remember racing there, but I’ve raced at so many places they all kind of blend
together. You go to places once or twice and then you don’t go back for five or 10
years, it’s hard to keep track of them. I’ve been to a lot of places,” said
Swindell, 57. “A couple weeks ago, we were in New Jersey for a race and we were
heading to Charlotte, N.C. There were a couple roads we had never been on before, so
we went that way. We’ve been to quite a bit of the country. There isn’t much that we
haven’t seen. It’s a different life.”
Swindell got his start in the business at an early age, watching his father drive
modifieds at tracks near their home in Memphis, Tenn. In 1971, at age 15, Swindell
inherited his father’s modified when his Dad built a new car. That year, Sammy
Swindell first hit the dirt track at Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. By the
end of the year, he had 11 feature wins under his belt.
A legend was borne.
“I raced a lot in Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee back then,” Swindell
recalled. “I grew up around it. Going to sprint cars was just a natural progression.
I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a race car driver and I wanted to
be successful at it.”
Swindell got his first big break in 1978. Swindell, who switched full-time to sprint
cars in 1974, was at a race in Knoxville when he learned about a World of Outlaws
race in Dallas. It was the first race for the series and Swindell said back then it
was just another race. He decided to make the trip South and give it a whirl.
“We used to run a lot of Friday nights there. It was billed as a big event. It was
supposed to be a big race,” Swindell said. “I only ran 10 or 12 events that year. It
was a new thing and the people I was working for wanted to travel to a lot of
places. I never really dreamed how big it would turn out to be.”
Swindell, who picked up a pair of World of Outlaws feature wins that year, won his
first season championship in 1981, breaking Steve Kinser’s string of three straight
titles. Swindell would go on to successfully defend his season championship the next
year.
Despite racing with and against Kinser for 35 years, Swindell said the two World of
Outlaws originals never really got that close.
“When we’re out on the road, we’re both very competitive. There’s not too much down
time and they usually travel a different direction than we do,” Swindell said. “The
only place we ever cross paths is at the race track and that’s business time. That’s
just the way it is most of the time. We don’t have a lot of time between races. We
all have our own agendas.”
Swindell has many fond memories of his years on the World of Outlaws circuit. He won
two championships in 1981 and 1982. Despite taking a few years off here and there,
Swindell has consistently been one of the top drivers on the circuit. Last year he
had more feature wins and led more feature laps than any driver on the tour.
“All those are good memories,” Swindell said.
Perhaps what Swindell takes the most pride in is watching his son, Kevin, compete on
the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season.
“It’s what he’s always wanted to do,” Swindell said. “A lot of kids don’t get the
opportunity to follow their dreams and go in the direction they want to go. I hope
he stays involved and goes on from there. It’s tough to get there and it tough to
stay there.”
As for himself, Swindell said he plans to run with the World of Outlaws for as long
as he can. After all, that has been his dream since he first climbed behind the
wheel of his first race car 42 years ago.
“I’m going to race for as long as I think I can win,” Swindell said. “If I get to a
point where I don’t feel like I can win, then I’ll know it’s time to step aside.”
Swindell hopes that won’t be any time soon. Come Friday night at 34 Raceway, he’s
going to do what he’s done for nine months out of the year for the last 42 years.
“I hope to come out there and get a win,” Swindell said. “We’re coming there to win.
That’s what we do.”
Amy Laue
Owner/Promoter
34 Raceway
West Burlington, IA
www.34raceway.com
[email protected]
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