By T.J. Buffenbarger
Since the ASCS Lucas Oil Sprint Car tour presented by MAVtv and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series schedules were announced I had this weekend circled on my calendar. Amidst an extraordinarily busy time in the region for sprint car racing the stars lined up properly for ASCS to appear at Hartford Motor Speedway on Friday night and the World of Outlaws Saturday at I-96 Speedway.
Being around an hour and 15 minutes from Hartford and 25 minutes from I-96 this is a dream weekend. The top series for winged 360 and 410 racing in my backyard is something I never thought could happen.
There are few tracks in the region that could make the ASCS program work, but Hartford has a great shot of making this an annual event. The Hartford area is sprint car crazy, and the ASCS format and the mix of tour regulars, area teams from the Great Lakes Super Sprints giving a bit of home versus away team feel, and some of the outsiders coming in are going to make this really special. Throw in the new, wider Hartford racing surface and Friday’s program just oozes with potential for an excellent event.
Familiar names like Johnny Herrera, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Wayne Johnson, Logan Forler and Brad Loyet will be joined by up and coming stars like Tommy Bryant, Kyle Bellm, Josh Baughman, Seth Bergman, Aaron Reutzel, Blake Hahn, and Matt Convington.
The World of Outlaws tour has been extremely competitive this season. Nine of the top 12 in points have feature wins this season that features a tight race at the top between Brad Sweet and Donny Schatz. Daryn Pittman, Shane Stewart, and Joey Saldana are also having great seasons and are within striking distance of the top position in the points standings.
One of the fun parts of the I-96 Outlaw show will seeing which teams might surprise us by showing up. I-96 World of Outlaws programs tend to draw a surprise team or two every season. This year could be the same as we learned earlier this week Brian Smith will be filling in the Fausey 1ST for Gary Taylor all weekend with the Outlaws due to Taylor’s work commitments this weekend.
With a great weather forecast, two of the best sprint car tours in the world, and both races practically in my back yard I am ready to cover some races.