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Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 12, 2007) –
Teams planning on competing in the upcoming
20th Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented
by Hoosier Tires at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, AR, have just this weekend
remaining to save $50 on the entry fee.
Entries for the $20,000 to win event that are postmarked by October 14 are
just $200. Entries submitted after October 14 will be $250.
The 20th edition of the prestigious event is set to take place atop the
high-banked, ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval on Thursday through Saturday, October
25-27, after a Test 'N Tune session on Wednesday night, October 24.
This year's edition of the Short Track Nationals offers $20,000 to win and
$2,000 just to start Saturday night's championship feature. And the ultimate
winner could walk away with over $45,000 in winnings by successfully
completing the COMP Cams Challenge, which would entail surrendering a front-row
starting position and charging from the tail of the field to take the win.
Over the past week, the entry count for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on
Tour National series season-ending event has climbed to a total of 70, with
the latest entries including 1998 STN king Tim Crawley, two-time ASCS Sooner
Region champion Kevin Ramey, past ASCS Sooner Region champion Danny Jennings,
past Knoxville Raceway champion Jake Peters and newly-crowned ASCS Midwest
Region champion Natalie Sather.
Other entries received include Double X Raceway champion Tyler Blank, A.G.
Rains, Marshall Skinner, Jack Dover, Brad Bowden, Jimmy Brooks, Chris Sweeney
and Andy McElhannon.
It was also announced that Rob Chaney of Wooster, OH, will fill the seat of
the #23 entry that was previously listed as a "TBA". Also, the #4am machine
normally driven in ASCS Sooner Region competition by Travis Jenkins has been
entered with the driver for the STN to be determined.
With six top-ten STN finishes in a dozen career championship feature starts,
Crawley joins forces with car owner Mike Ward for an assault on a second STN
title. Ward won the STN as a driver in 2000. Crawley has claimed 14
feature wins in 2007.
Jennings, also a five-time State Fair Speedway champion in Oklahoma City,
takes the wheel of the No. 14E machine regularly driven by Texan Todd Evans.
It will mark just Jennings' second I-30 Speedway appearance since finishing
11th in the 1998 STN championship finale.
Ramey, who made the STN championship finale three consecutive times from
1999 to 2001, settled for ASCS Sooner Region runner-up honors for the second
year in a row after taking Sooner titles in 2003 and 2004. Ramey finished third
in the 2001 edition of the Short Track Nationals.
After racking up three consecutive Knoxville Raceway titles from 2004 to
2006, South Dakota's Jake Peters has just recently returned to action after
opting to sit out for a while to recover from injuries sustained earlier in the
year. Peters made the STN championship feature starting grid in 2002.
Sather, the 22-year-old from Fargo, ND, recently became the first female
champion in American Sprint Car Series history by capturing the ASCS Midwest
Region championship. Sather is set for her first STN attempt with legendary crew
chief Kenny Woodruff spinning the wrenches.
The West Memphis, AR, duo of A.G. Rains and Marshall Skinner have each
started three STN championship feature events, with Rains top run a tenth in 2001
and Skinner's best run an eleventh in 2003.
Young guns Dover of Springfield, NE, and Bowden of Hernando, MS, are both
set for their second STN attempts after posting ASCS Regional wins in 2007.
Tyler Blank, the track champion at Double X Raceway in California, MO, is
set for his maiden voyage at the Short Track Nationals, with ASCS Gulf South
regulars Jimmy Brooks and Chris Sweeney both making their first STN attempts as
well. Young shoe McElhannon, from the Memphis area, makes his second STN
try after competing in the 2005 edition.
The current list of 70 entries includes drivers from 19 different states as
well as Canada.
Pertinent Short Track Nationals Information:
What: 20th Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier
Tires.
Where: I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR). I-30 Speedway is located seven
miles southwest of Little Rock off I-30 Exit 126 (Alexander).
When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 25-27, 2007. $20,000 to win
the STN finale on October 27, with $2,000 to start the STN championship
feature. Rain date is November 1-3.
Past Winners: Jason Johnson (2006), Tim Montgomery (2005), Gary Wright
(2004, 2003, 1999 and 1995), Paul McMahan (2002), Jason Sides (2001), Mike Ward
(2000), Tim Crawley (1998), Wayne Johnson (1997), Pete Butler (1996), Terry
Gray (1994), John Gerloff (1993), Steve Kinser (1991, ’89 and ‘88) and Sammy
Swindell (1990). 1992 finale was rained out.
The Entries: Entries postmarked by October 14 are just $200. Entries
after the October 14 deadline are $250. Entry forms are available at
_http://www.i-30speedway.com/driverentry.htm_
(http://www.i-30speedway.com/driverentry.htm) or by calling the track at 501-455-4567.
Current Entries:
#0 Glenn Styres (Ohsweken, ONT)
#00 Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL)
#1m Andy McElhannon (Hernando, MS)
#1x Don Droud, Jr. (Lincoln, NE)
#01 TBA
#01x TBA
#2m Bryce Vowan (Forest City, AR)
#3 A.G. Rains (West Memphis, AR)
#4am TBA
#B4 Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX)
#4x Jan Howard (Byhalia, MS)
#5ma Mallory Armfield (St. Joseph, MO)
#5$ Danny Smith (Sapulpa, OK)
#6 Mike Dussel (Rising Sun, OH)
#6b Dale Blaney (Fowler, OH)
#7m Kevin Ramey (Fort Worth, TX)
#7s Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN)
#8 Jeff Wingate (Centertown, MO)
#8s Steve Short (Farmington, MO)
#8x Chris Williams (Memphis, TN)
#10 Terry Gray (Bartlett, TN)
#11x Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron, KS)
#12 Jerrod Hull (Sikeston, MO)
#12x Robbie Standridge (Springfield, IL)
#d12 Tim Shaffer (Aliquippa, PA)
#14 Coleman Gulick (Binghamton, NY)
#14E Danny Jennings (Norman, OK)
#14T Tyler Brown (Vilonia, AR)
#15b Brad Bowden (Hernando, MS)
#15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX)
#15s Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK)
#18T Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS)
#R19 Scott Winters (Butterfield, MN)
#20 Josh Howard (Byhalia, MS)
#21 Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO)
#21p Daryn Pittman (Owasso, OK)
#21T Kent Lewis, Jr. (Willis, TX)
#23 Rob Chaney (Wooster, OH)
#23b Brian Bell (Cordova, TN)
#26 Marshall Skinner (West Memphis, AR)
#28 Jonathan Cornell (Sedalia, MO)
#35 Brad Best (Tulsa, OK)
#40 Ernie Ainsworth (Southaven, MS)
#41 Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA)
#47 Dale Howard (Byhalia, MS)
#50z Zach Chappell (Talala, OK)
#51 Jimmy Brooks (College Station, TX)
#51 Lee Sowell (Nesbit, MS)
#51b Mike Boston (Crete, NE)
#53 Jack Dover (Springfield, NE)
#57x Jake Peters (Sioux Falls, SD)
#58 Wade Oliver (Milan, TN)
#64J Johnny Miller (Burleson, TX)
#66 Kenny Taylor (Clinton, AR)
#71 Tim Simmons (Splendora, TX)
#71J John Jacob (Aurora, CO)
#74e Claud Estes (Godley, TX)
#75 Tyler Blank (California, MO)
#76 Jay Russell (Elwood, KS)
#86s Eric Schrock (Lake Ozark, MO)
#87 Brian McClelland (Tulsa, OK)
#88 Tim Crawley (Benton, AR)
#93 Bob Schaeffer (New Castle, CO)
#93c Chris Sweeney (Channelview, TX)
#94 Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK)
#94s Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND)
#94T Steven Tiner (Elverta, CA)
#95 Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK)
#97 Mike Brecht (Leipsic, OH)
#98 Andrew Korte (Centertown, MO)
The Series: This year's edition of the Short Track Nationals will be the
season-ending event for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National
series. The 16th year of competition for the American Sprint Car Series will
culminate with the champion, to be determined at the Short Track Nationals,
receiving $50,000.
Current top ten in ASCS National points: 1. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 3,990,
2. Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 3,922, 3. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA)
3,876, 4. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 3,712, 5. Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK)
3,280, 6. Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK) 2,512, 7. Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK)
2,008, 8. Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 1,701, 9. Andy Shouse (Oklahoma City,
OK) 1,559, 10. Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 1,485.
The Format: A version of the popular Sprint Bandits format of heats and
qualifying races will be in place for all three nights of competition. Each
night, Heat Races will be aligned according to the pre-race draw, with the
passing points system in effect.
Approximately half of the STN entrants will battle through Thursday's
qualifying program, with the other half racing through Friday night's qualifying
program. Those not locked in after the first two nights (top three from each
night) will race through a full card of Heats, Last Chance Races and
Qualifying Races on Saturday night to fill out the October 27 STN championship finale.
Each qualifying night, the top 32 in passing points from Heat Race
competition will be inverted in four Qualifying Races with the balance of each
Qualifying Race lined straight up with 33rd in points on back filling out rows five
and beyond. The top twenty in combined finishing/passing points from the
Heats and Qualifying Races will set each preliminary night's feature lineup.
The top three feature finishers from each qualifying feature are locked into
Saturday's main event.
With six cars locked into Saturday’s $20,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start main
event, the top twelve drivers in combined passing points from Saturday’s Heats,
Qualifiers and Last Chance Races will fill positions seven through eighteen.
The final two slots of the STN finale will be awarded to the two remaining
drivers that have accumulated the most points through Heat, Qualifying, Last
Chance and Feature racing action over their qualifying night and Saturday
night.
Drivers must compete in either Thursday’s prelim or Friday’s prelim to be
eligible for passing points on Saturday.
The Dash will be aligned by a pill draw conducted in “Cheater’s Day”
fashion. Thursday’s winning driver will draw the first pill then give that pill to
the driver of his choice. Friday’s winner will draw the second pill and
give that pill to one of the remaining drivers, and so on until the lineup is
determined.
The drivers finishing first and second in the Dash will have the option to
take the COMP Cams Challenge, with the first-place finisher getting first
option. Any driver accepting the challenge will start at the tail of the field
and has the opportunity to pocket an extra $25,000 by racing from the tail to
win the race.
The race winner can also collect an additional $1,000 from Huggins Cams if a
Huggins Cams decal is displayed on the car.
The Trade Show: This year’s rendition of the Short Track Nationals will
also include the Third Annual Short Track Nationals Trade Show & Midway. Fans,
drivers & crews will have the opportunity to visit vendor displays, which
will be open each day. The deadline for guaranteed vendor space is Monday,
October 22.
The Tickets: Advance tickets are on sale through Wednesday, October 24, no
advance sales after that. Those ordering in advance by credit card receive a
discount, with all three nights just $45. Two-day advance tickets are
available as well at the same price as day of show. Day of show cash prices are
$15 on Thursday and Friday and $27 on Saturday. To order tickets in advance or
for more information, call the track at 501-455-4567.
For more information regarding the 20th Annual O'Reilly Short Track
Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires, contact I-30 Speedway at 501-455-4567.
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