From Mike O’Leary
April 15, 2012 – The King of Indiana Sprint Series returns to action on Sunday, April 22, with the inaugural event of the 2012 season at the Terre Haute Action Track. The Spring Fling racing program is co-sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series, and will feature the area’s top sprint car stars.
In its 11th year, the seven-race series will compete at the best dirt power plants in the Hoosier state as it sets the stage for crowning this year’s King. Last year’s championship wasn’t resolved until the final checkered flag, as Dave Darland claimed the title with thrilling second and third place runs in the last two events to edge five-time King Jon Stanbrough by a mere 16 points.
With the first KISS and MSCS points on the line and a healthy purse, many drivers will step up to the challenges of the historic half mile Terre Haute oval. It’s been a busy off-season as Stanbrough moved to the Roberts/Tate 21x, Darland joined Jeff Walker’s 11, and Bobby East picked up the ride in Scott Benic’s 2B. While most drivers have only a couple of races under their belts, as the are tracks just getting things going, Casey Shuman (Bloomington), Scotty Weir (Gas City), have already collected feature wins this year. Over the winter, Tracy Hines picked up a couple of wins in Arizona, and both Damion Gardner and Darren Hagen notched USAC victories in Florida. Brady Short, the 2009 KISS King, is the defending MSCS champion.
With the larger half mile oval, Sunday’s main event will be 25 circuits, rather than the standard 30 laps for KISS events. The pits open at 2 pm, the grandstand and infield at 4, and racing starts at 6 o’clock. Grandstand admission is $20, the infield is $15, and pit passes are $30. The program includes UMP modifieds with the sprint cars.
All KISS races will pay $2,500 to win, and $250 to start the feature. This year, the KISS promoters have also included a minimum payoff, where any car that does not transfer to the feature will collect at least $100 tow money. Additionally, the point fund has increased to $4,200, with the series champion earning $1,200. Second in points will collect $900, and third through fifth will receive $800, $700 and $600.
With the opening event ready at Terre Haute, the KISS racers will compete weekly for the next seven weeks, with races at Speedways in Kokomo, Bloomington, Gas City, Lawrenceburg, and Haubstadt, until the King of Indiana is crowned at Paragon Speedway on June 2.
2012 KISS SCHEDULE
April 22 Terre Haute Action Track
April 29 Kokomo Speedway
May 4 Bloomington Speedway
May 11 Gas City I-69 Speedway
May 19 Lawrenceburg Speedway
May 27 Tri-State Speedway
June 2 Paragon Speedway