By Steve Inch
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The month of September will again be one of the richest months in the 66-year history of Selinsgrove Speedway with more than $80,000 in prize money being posted for the 11th Annual Mach 1 Chassis National Open for 358-360 Sprint Cars on Saturday, Sept. 3, and the Jim Nace Memorial 29th Annual National Open for 410 Sprint Cars on Saturday, Sept. 17.
Mr. Brian Scandle, President of Mach 1 Chassis, recently announced the leading racing chassis fabrication company based in Mechanicsburg will add $15,000 to the $21,500 purse posted by the track again this year, establishing the $36,500 race as one of the most prestigious 358-360 sprint car events in the United States.
The 35-lap 358-360 Open will pay $8,000 to win and $500 to start. The top five positions combined will pay out more than $22,000, with $1,000 to finish tenth. Daryn Pittman of Indianapolis, Ind., is the defending winner of the 358-360 Open.
Joining the 358-360 sprint cars on Sept. 3 will be the pro stocks in a $500-to-win race. Track gates will open at 5 p.m., with qualifying slated to begin at 7 p.m. The rain date for the 358-360 Open, if needed, will be Sunday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. over the Labor Day holiday.
The Jim Nace Memorial 29th Annual National Open for 410 Sprint Cars was one of the most anticipated sprint car races last fall and will be the speedway’s crown jewel event again this year on Saturday, Sept. 17.
For the second year in a row, the 410 Open will honor the life and racing career of the late Jim Nace, the track’s only five-time sprint car champion who died in November 2009 following a seven-year battle with cancer.
The National Open’s distance of 44 laps and $44,000 purse, tributes to Nace’s race car number at the start of his career, will be divided into two 22-lap segments and two complete payoffs, with $6,000 to win each segment as an homage to the No. 6 sprint car Nace campaigned most recently as both a driver and a car owner before his health forced him to retire from racing.
Should one driver win both of the 22-lap segments, a $14,000 bonus will be awarded, pushing the winner’s total to $26,000 and the event’s purse to nearly $60,000, which would be the speedway’s third highest-paying sprint car race in its 66-year history, behind the 1989 and 1990 National Opens. The $26,000 figure honors the Camel Express No. 26 sprint car Nace drove to a majority of his career championships and victories in central Pennsylvania.
In last year’s race, Pat Cannon of Etters won the first segment but came up only one position short of collecting the $26,000 payoff when he finished second to Lance Dewease of Fayetteville in the second segment. Dewease was declared Selinsgrove’s National Open champion for the third time in his career.
The late models will also be on the Sept. 17 racing card in a 25-lap feature paying $1,500 to win.
The rain date for the 410 Open, if needed, will be Sunday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m. for sprint cars only.
For the latest news, results, and race status, visit selinsgrovespeedway.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. The speedway office can also be reached at 570.374.2999.