From Bryan Gapinski
Belleville, Kan., July 31— Two of midget racing’s most famed race teams have filed entries for the 35th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals on Aug. 2-4 at the Belleville High Banks.
Danny Stratton will be driving for Steve Lewis’ Nine Racing Team in the No. 9 Spike/Ford-Esslinger. Lewis has won the event six times, with four different drivers. Stan Fox claimed the teams first victory in 1980, with Dave Darland (’99, ’02), Kasey Kahne (2000-01) and Bobby East (’04) all scoring Saturday Night victories. Stratton’s best effort on the High Banks came in 2006 finishing in second place.
Chris Windom will drive the Wilke-PAK Motorsports No. 11 Spike/Toyota. USAC’s all-time leader in race wins, won the event in 2007, with Jerry Coons Jr. driving. The pre-entry list of twenty-four is currently two less than last year’s pre-entry total. Several other teams have contacted the race office and are scheduled to compete, despite not filing a pre-race entry
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 .