From Tim Tuttle
KENNEDALE, TX — (March 5, 2012) — Cowtown Speedway promoter Jeff Martinez expects a Texas-sized entry list with a star-studded cast of drivers for the Midget Stampede when the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series visits the quarter-mile track on March 16-17.
Bryan Clauson, Brad Loyet, Brad Kuhn, Jerry Coons Jr. and Brady Bacon have committed to the event, which has a purse exceeding $40,000.
There also is strong local interest. Texans entered include Kevin Ramey of Fort Worth, Justin Melton of Flower Mound, George White of Fort Worth, Bobby Ruffin of Crandall and Paul White of Waco.
Clauson, of Noblesville, Ind., has been the National Driver of the Year in the past three seasons. He won three POWRi Midget features in five starts in 2011.
Loyet, of Sunset Hills, Mo., has been POWRi National Midget champion the past two years and earned his first in 2007. He had four feature victories in the series last year. Loyet also won the American Sprint Car Series Warrior Region championship in 2011.
Kuhn was the POWRi champion in 2006 and 2009. The 30-year-old from Avon, Ind., is a two-time National Midget Driver of the Year. He won five POWRi races and was third in the championship in 2011.
Coons Jr. is a multi-time national champion in different types of open-wheel cars. The 39-year-old from Tucson, Ariz., was the National Midget Driver of the Year in 2007.
Bacon has won national races in several divisions. The 22-year-old from Broken Arrow, Okla., is focusing on the Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint Car Series this season.
The Midget Stampede is also the inaugural event for the POWRi Lucas Oil West Midget Series, a 15-race season that takes the sanctioning body into Texas and Oklahoma and runs with the National Series in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Illinois.
The Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association is co-sanctioning the Midget Stamped, bringing drivers from even farther west to it.
“We could have 60 to 70 cars,” Martinez said. “I’ve had calls from California and Arizona, the Rocky Mountain Association will bring about 15 cars and I made hotel reservations for four drivers from Wyoming.
“POWRi has a strong and large group of drivers. The opportunity arose to bring POWRi here and we took it. We haven’t had Midgets in two years. We’re open-wheel fans in Texas and the fans like coming here to watch whatever we’re running. POWRi will be a special show.”
The purse is substantial. Friday’s feature pays $3,000 to win and $300 to start. Saturday’s feature pays $5,000 to win and $500 to start. $100 in tow money will be paid each night for the entrants not making the feature.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.