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ENGISN AND SASSELLI TRY TO HOLD OFF
HUNT FOR 2011 USAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
SACRAMENTO,
CALIFORNIA (November 18, 2011) – The battle for the 2011 USAC Western Sprint Car Series
and USAC Western Classic Racing Series championships will come to a head on
Thursday night as Audra Sasselli and Geoff Ensign try to fend off Tony Hunt for
their respective titles in the prestigious “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at TOYOTA
Speedway in Irwindale, Calif.
The points
battles between Sasselli, Ensign, and Hunt will be just one part of the show on
Thursday night as a star-studded field that could number as many as 30 cars is
expected to vie for the $16,000 purse.$2,500 will be awarded to the race winner in the 40 lap under card for
the USAC National & Western Midgets 98 lap feature on the half-mile
pavement oval.
Hunt, the
six-time USAC champion, finds himself in an unfamiliar position of trying to
play catch up against two drivers trying to earn their first career USAC
championships.Fresno’s Sasselli leads the title despite
not winning a single feature all season in the pavement only USAC Western
Sprint Car Series.Sasselli finished
second in all three events at Madera Speedway and benefited from Hunt’s DNF at
Shasta to pick up a 20 point advantage in the series.
On the USAC
Western Classic side, Hunt leads the pavement points but Sebastopol’s Ensign leads the points by 18
markers on the strength of the 2011 USAC Western Classic Racing Series dirt
championship.Ensign was the highest
finishing Western Classic car in six of the eight races held, only loosing at
Santa Maria and the “Mini Gold Cup” at Chico where he failed to finish both
times.
Ensign’s
most memorable start on pavement came against Hunt at Madera on September 17 in the “Harvest
Classic” when he went toe-to-toe with the champion before finishing
fourth.The USAC rookie leads Hunt by 18
points going into the Turkey Night looking for his second USAC crown of the
season.
Joining
them on Thursday night will be most of the USAC Western Sprint Car regulars
including the Western Speed team of rookie 18 year-old Cody Gerhardt and Tim
Skoglund both of Fresno.Ensign’s Ted Finkenbinder Motorsports teammate Tim Barber of San Franscisco
is expected along with Fair Oaks’ Shauna Hogg, Clovis’ Luis Ramos III, Santa Rosa’s Brian McClish, Marvin Mitchell,
and Bill Logan.
The USACRockyMountain series will be well represented
with at least Jim Waters and Ryan Burdett expected, while Meridian Speedway
regulars Mike Murgoitio and Robert Beck have entered.Californians Mike Meier, Rick Hendrix, and
Nick Rescino, Jr. are all expected to return to the series.
Former USAC
Western Sprint Car Series standouts Kody Swanson (2010 Turkey Night winner),
Tanner Swanson, and JoJo Helberg are all expected and will be joined by USAC
National stars such as Tracy Hines and Aaron Pierce.2010 King of California Kyle Larson will try
to add to his record-breaking 2011 season as he will come to TOYOTA Speedway
with 21 wins on the year across all disciplines of open-wheel racing in North America.
Activities
get underway on Wednesday night with practice held from 3 p.m. –
7 p.m.On Thanksgiving Day, activities will get
underway early with the pit gate opening at 10 a.m. and the drivers meeting at 11 a.m.Practices begin at 12 p.m. followed by qualifying at 3:30
p.m., an
autograph session at 5:15 p.m. on the front stretch, with racing
to follow.
Ticket
information at is available at www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com with presale tickets
available online.
More
information on the USAC Western Classic Racing Series is available on Facebook
at keywords “USAC Western Classic Racing Series”.The United States Auto Club is online at www.usacracing.com
www.stevenblakesley.com
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