From Dick Jordan
The first race of USAC’s 55th season of racing competition is less than a week away! Ford Focus Midgets will be competing at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park on Thursday and Friday, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! Qualifying is scheduled Thursday night and a 40-lap feature is on tap Friday.
The special non-points event is part of a racing program also including Modifieds, Mod-Lites and Hornets. The Ford Focus feature offers $1,500-to-win.
The race concludes a New Year’s weekend which also includes the inaugural American Shorttrack Racing Expo at Tucson’s Desert Diamond Casino I-19 December 31-January 2.
Tucson’s Alex Bowman was USAC’s National Ford Focus Champion in 2008 and Jerry Coons, Jr., one of only five USAC Triple Crown Champions in club history, also hails from Tucson.
Friday’s race marks the return of USAC racing to the 3/8-mile paved oval after a five-year hiatus. Bobby East swept a USAC National Sprint/Midget “doubleheader” there in late 2004.