By Dick Jordan
Defending USAC Young Automotive Rocky Mountain Sprint Car Champion Mike Murgoitio and 2007 USAC Champion Ryan Burdett appear to be the odds-on favorites when the 2010 series debuts this Saturday at Rocky Mountain Raceways in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Murgoitio, of Meridian, Idaho, won four time in eight starts last year, while Burdett finished third in the 2009 standings despite the aid of a feature win! Murgoitio has six career Rocky Mountain feature wins and won last weekend’s winged sprint race at his home track, while Burdett has five career Rocky Mountain victories.
This year marks the eighth season of USAC Rocky Mountain Sprint racing and all but six of the 115 USAC races contested in the Beehive State since 1972 have been held at the 3/8-mile banked paved oval formerly known as Bonneville Raceway Park.
In addition to Murgoitio and Burdett, other former USAC winners at the Salt Lake City oval expected to compete Saturday are two-time series champion Jim Waters, Brian McClish, Jeff and Mark Bergener and Jim Campbell.