By Bryan Gapinski
Belleville, Kan., July 25— Darren Hagen and Brad Kuhn headline the latest group of entries filed for the 35th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals on Aug. 2-4 at the Belleville High Banks. The event which carries a purse in excess of $84,000 will be officiated by the National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) and The Belleville High Banks Race Committee.
Hagen, whose best Belleville results are a pair of fourth place finishes will drive the RFMS Racing owned DRC/Ford-Esslinger No. 3. Hagen currently is atop the point charts for both the USAC National Midget Series and the National Midget Driver of the Year Championship. Hagen has four feature victories this season, on both dirt and paved tracks.
Kuhn has posted the consistent finishes of any driver over the past for five years on Saturday Night, including third place finishes, one fourth and a sixth place. Kuhn will drive the RW Motorsports owned Beast/Fontana No. 17. Three drivers from Kansas: Patrick and Jeff Stasa, and Garrett Hood have filed entries, along with Illinois’ Zach Daum and Colorado’s Steve Newman.
Top finishing cars will have receive a technical inspection of their engine, and must conform to the engine rules on the race entry blank which are the same as the standard USAC Cubic Inch limits. “We are going to again “pump” engines to ensure a level and fair playing field for all competitors” said race director C. Ray Hall.
Midget Racing on the quarter-mile dirt oval for the first time, highlights Thursday Aug. 2 with a 30-lap midget race and JayHusker Micro Series event. Action switches to the half-mile track on Friday Night Aug. 3, and with qualifying, heat races, pole dash, semi feature and a preliminary night feature event.
Saturday Aug. 4 will feature preliminary races to set the starting field of twenty-four positions in the 40-lap feature. A check of $12,000 awaits the winner, with the feature paying $700 to start. The United Rebel Sprint Car Series will also participate in both days with the running of the inaugural 305 Sprint Nationals.
General Admission tickets for all events are sold first-come first-served on race day at the ticket gate. Reserved Seating tickets is available for the Belleville Midget Nationals. General admission available only if the event is not sold out, and available only on the day of the race at the track ticket office (bottom 3 rows only).
Tickets can be ordered by going to the tracks website, or logging onto The TicketForce website (direct link to Belleville events) : http://tickets.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=1031 .