From Indianapolis Speedrome®
The World’s Home of the Figure 8® has a long tradition of premium short track competition. The tight, compact fifth-mile has always been known as a drivers track in the racing community. The Speedrome has had a long list of drivers who went on to gain national success over its near 70 year history. Recently, two young drivers from the track’s rich and storied open wheel Midget series history won on a major stage in marquee events. 2010 will see the open wheel tradition return with USAC racing at the Speedrome. The first of six race events is May 26th with action each evening starting 7:15pm. To see a full schedule, you can log on to www.speedrome.com.
Reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie-of-the-year Justin Allgaier captured his career first series victory March 20, 2010 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. He led his teammate across the line for the first 1-2 sweep for Penske racing in this division. This rising stockcar star won his first Speedrome feature early in 2001. He added several more Kenyon Midget triumphs during the campaign on his way to championship honors. After years racing in other types of cars, he stepped onto the stage in the ARCA Remax Series. During the 2008 campaign and with his family’s funds for racing nearly gone, Justin drove brilliantly to the series title and more importantly drew the attention from legend Roger Penske. This landed him in his current #12 ride seen on national television nearly every Saturday. Speedrome Nation will be there every step of the way rooting him on towards another crown.
Dakoda Armstrong made quite an impression on the racing community with his recent victory at the Talladega Superspeedway in the ARCA Remax Series. After winning the pole position in qualifying, he drafted his way to the front in the late stages to claim his initial ARCA win. From nearby New Castle, Indiana, Dakoda and his family came to the Speedrome in 2000. He started in the Bandolero division winning 6 times over the first two seasons. A few years later he turned to the USAC Kenyon Midgets where he became the sanctioning bodies youngest ever champion at the age of 14 when he won the Speedrome title in 2004. Several successful seasons in the Midgets led him to stockcar starts in the K & N Filters East series for NASCAR before landing this ARCA ride. We wish the soon-to-be High School graduate good luck on his rise up the racing ladder.
The list of former Indianapolis Speedrome® open wheel feature winners to find a prominent victory lane is a strong one. Racers like two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, the late NASCAR Truck Series winner Kenny Irwin Jr, 1983 Speedrome Midget champion John Andretti, and ARCA winner Shelby Howard are just a taste of the resume. The USAC wins category at the track includes the legendary names of Mel Kenyon, Rich Vogler, Sleepy Tripp, Mack McClellan, Ted Hines, Michael Lang, Tom Bigelow, and many more. Who will join the record books?
The USAC Regional Midgets, Ford Focus Midgets, Ford Focus Young Guns, and Mopar .25 Midgets are back at the Indianapolis Speedrome®. The dates, all Wednesday nights, for this heralded racing return are May 26th, June 2nd, June 9th, June 23rd, June 30th, and July 7th. Each event will see test drives and a driver school in the afternoon before preliminary heats begin at 7:15pm. The feature lineup is 40-laps for Ford Focus Midgets, main events for the Mopar .25 Midgets, a traditional 50-lapper for the Regional series, and the capper 20-laps for the new Ford Focus Young Gun cars. Each USAC event will also be special for the latest innovation, a live broadcast. The programs will all be streamed in real time on their web site www.usacracing.com. This unparalleled showcase will see some of the best blossoming talent develop on a true drivers track.