By Dick Jordan
Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway has long been the home of spectacular Sprint car racing in the state of Indiana and 2012 will be no exception with today’s announcement of a three-night “Sprint Car Smackdown 1” AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car extravaganza August 23-25.
Prize money, including contingencies and lap money is expected to total over $100,000 for the August 23-25 events at the recently-reshaped and contoured quarter-mile dirt oval. A victory on the final night will be worth $10,000 and the final feature will offer $1,000 just to start!
Preliminary night competition will be held on Thursday and Friday and a rain date of Sunday, August 26 has been established if needed. Complete racing programs are scheduled each night, with preliminary nights including time trials, heats and semi and a $5,000 feature winner’s paycheck. The 30-lap Thursday and Friday preliminary features will offer $500 to start.
Qualifying races and the 40-lap finale on Saturday will conclude the three-night “Sprint Car Smackdown 1.”
“Kokomo is one of the favorite tracks on our calendar for teams and fans alike,” says USAC’s Jason McCord. “We’ve been needing a major event in this region for quite some time and this will be just that. We have to thank the O’Connor family for stepping up to the plate and starting what will hopefully be an annual destination for everyone in the sprint car community. We hope everyone can make it out for what will surely be three competitive and entertaining nights of great Indiana sprint car racing.”
A total 29 USAC Sprint races have been held at the historic track, beginning with Rich Vogler’s victory in July of 1982. Hunter Schuerenberg won this year’s “Indiana Sprint Week” feature at Kokomo.
Reserved seats will go on sale this December, so stay tuned for more information from USAC and Kokomo Speedway by visiting the websites at www.usacracing.com and www.kokomospeedway.net.