By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (April 26, 2010) – Bust open those record books, as some history is about to be made in the southern portion of Texas this coming weekend.
A pair of tracks will host traditional Sprint Cars for the first time ever as the Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless Series launches the 2010 championship chase along the Gulf coast of Texas.
On Friday night, wingless 410-ci Sprint Cars take to the sticky, high-banked, ¼-mile Golden Triangle Raceway Park gumbo clay oval near Beaumont, TX, for the first time. Then, on Saturday night, more new ground will be broken at Houston Raceway Park’s ¼-mile dirt oval in Baytown.
This weekend’s action marks the first wingless, 410-ci Sprint Car events held in the Lone Star state since May of 1988.
It also is the first of two consecutive weekend doubles of Sprint Bandits TNT, with Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX, and then I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, AR, hosting the series on May 7-8.
Leading the way into this weekend’s pair of $3,000-to-win, $300-to-start events is Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon, who captured the TNT title in 2009.
Bacon, the versatile 20-year-old that is also contending for winged Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint Car honors, has topped six of ten Sprint Bandits TNT events contested over the past two seasons. The expanded TNT slate of 2010 consists of a dozen events.
Bacon will take on a stout field of contenders this weekend that will also include past TNT champions Robert Ballou and Jesse Hockett. Ballou, a native of Rocklin, CA, now residing in Indiana, took top TNT honors in 2007, while Warsaw, Missouri’s Hockett was crowned TNT champion a year earlier in 2006.
In addition to Bacon and Hockett, other Lucas Oil ASCS National contenders expected to shed the wings for the TNT weekend include Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) and Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX).
At least a pair of top ASCS Gulf South Regional contenders are expected to strip the wings and bolt in 410-ci powerplants as well, including 2005 Gulf South champ Ray Allen Kulhanek and Wes Miller.
And with a $500 bonus up for grabs on both nights for the top finishing entry powered by a 360-ci engine, look for a number of other Gulf South regulars to join the fray as well.
Also set to contend for top TNT honors is Arizona native Casey Shuman. Now living in the Indiana hotbed of wingless Sprint Car racing, Shuman will try to make it two wins in a row for the Shuman family in the Lone Star State as his father Ron Shuman topped the last wingless 410-ci Sprint Car event held in Texas at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway in May of 1988.
Friday’s action at Beaumont’s Golden Triangle Raceway Park fires off at 8:00 p.m., with Saturday’s card at Baytown’s Houston Raceway Park going green at 7:30 p.m.
Beaumont’s Golden Triangle Raceway Park is located 9.5 miles west of I-10 on US 90. For more information, contact the track at 409-752-7200.
Baytown’s Houston Raceway Park is located east of Houston on I-10 to Exit 799, then south to FM 565, then west to the speedway entrance at Gate 3. For more information, contact the track at 281-383-7223.
Past Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT Champions:
2005 – Levi Jones
2006 – Jesse Hockett
2007 – Robert Ballou and Tim Kaeding
2008 – Dave Darland
2009 – Brady Bacon
Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT Career Feature Wins:
Brady Bacon 6, Robert Ballou 6, Levi Jones 5, Cory Kruseman 3, Dave Darland 2, Jesse Hockett 2, Brady Short 2, Jerry Coons, Jr. 1, Dickie Gaines 1, Darren Hagen 1, Bud Kaeding 1, Brad Sweet 1, Chris Windom 1.
Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT on the Web:
Those unable to catch all the action in person can listen to every Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT event live at www.racinboys.com.
Official results, championship point updates, photos and race notes will be available at www.sprintbandits.com.
Additional information regarding the Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless series is available at www.sprintbandits.com.