By Steve Inch
SELINSGROVE, Pa. –Selinsgrove Speedway will present a rare Sunday night special event at 6 p.m. April 28 featuring the 410 sprint cars in the Ray Tilley Classic sponsored by Icon Legacy Custom Modular Homes plus the Grit House Route 35 Challenge Series for super late models and roadrunners.
The 30-lap tribute race honoring the memory of the track’s former four-time sprint car champion will pay $4,088 to win and $400 to start out of a total purse of $18,388. Time trials, heat races, and a B-main will be the qualifying format for the sprint cars.
The super late models will compete in the track’s first Grit House Route 35 Challenge Series race of the year in a 25-lap main event paying $2,500 to win. The roadrunner division will round out the three-division racing card with a 12-lap race.
Pit gates will open at 3 p.m. with grandstand gates at 4 p.m. Qualifying will begin at 6 p.m.
The late Ray Tilley of Pine Grove clinched four career sprint car titles (1965-66 and 1968-69) at Selinsgrove Speedway at the wheel of the Bud Grimm Special No. 88 and remains on top of the track’s all-time sprint car win list with 69 career victories. Tilley passed away on Aug. 9, 2011, from complications of a stroke at the age of 77.
The Tilley Classics in 2012 and 2014 were cancelled due to weather. The 2013 race was won by Brent Marks of Myerstown. Greg Hodnett of Thomasville was the 2015 winner and Danny Dietrich of Gettysburg scored the victory in the 2016 race. Lucas Wolfe of Mechanicsburg was the winner in 2017, with Mark Smith of Sunbury taking the checkers in last year’s race.
There will be no racing at the Snyder County oval Saturday, April 27. The speedway’s Saturday night schedule resumes at 7 p.m. May 4 with the return of the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series in the Eleven Oaks Farm “Battle of the Grove II” for 360 sprint cars plus limited late models.
Purse for 30-Lap 410 Sprint Car Ray Tilley Classic SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2019: 1) $4,088 2) $1,600 3) $1,400 4) $1,200 5) $1,000 6) $700 7) $675 8) $650 9) $625 10) $600 11) $500 12) $475 13) $450 14) $425 15-24) $400 TOW: $100
Also Racing: Super Late Models, Roadrunners
Pit Gates Open: 3pm
Grandstand Gates Open: 4pm
Race Time: 6pm
Admission for Sunday, April 28, 2019: Adults $20; Students (12-17) $10; Kids 11 & Under FREE; Pit Passes $30