From Shane Phillips
With a great amount of disappointment we’re announcing that the Upper Midwest SprintCar Series (UMSS) portion of our schedule is being replaced. The Minnesota Mafia worked for six months trying to create a series of races that would benefit both sprint car fans and the drivers/teams competing in our area. To their credit, Ron Bernhagen of the UMSS and Jon McCorkell of the Jackson Speedway Touring Series (JSTS) worked towards that goal as well. In the end, all parties involved couldn’t find a resolution or a compromise to deal with the different tire rules in each series. Due to not finding a workable solution, the UMSS decided it was in their (and their drivers) best interest to withdraw support. We fully respect their decision and The Minnesota Mafia still hopes to contribute to drivers competing in UMSS races this season. Look for those announcements in the months ahead.
We have replaced the UMSS portion of our schedule with shows at Husets Speedway (3), Rapid Speedway (2) and Jackson Speedway (1). We have added shows that don’t conflict with any UMSS races directly. We want to make sure the most number of drivers/teams will be able to participate if they so choose. We will look to add an additional race in the near future to make a total of twelve shows for the Minnesota Mafia Point Fund. We will count a driver/teams top 10 points nights. Drivers/teams will need to run 8 of our shows to be eligible. Nightly race format will dictate all rules. There will be nightly Tough Luck and Hard Charger awards. The same $15,000 will be distributed to the top 15 in points at the end of the season. Full schedule is as follows:
May 18th
Jackson Speedway-Spring Nationals
Jackson, MN
May 31st
Rapid Speedway-360 Sprint Special
Rock Rapids, IA
June 16th
Husets Speedway-Fathers Day Special ($1000 to win)
Brandon, SD
July 5th
Rapid Speedway-360 Sprint Special
Rock Rapids, IA
July 17th
Sioux Speedway-JSTS Speedweek
Sioux Center, IA
July 18th
Rapid Speedway-JSTS Speedweek
Rock Rapids, IA
July 19th
Fairmont Speedway-JSTS Speedweek
Fairmont, MN
July 20th
Jackson Speedway-JSTS Speedweek
Jackson, MN
August 18th
Husets Speedway-$1000 to win
Brandon, SD
September 2nd
Husets Speedway-Labor Day Special ($1000 to win)
Brandon, SD
September 28th
Jackson Speedway-Loren Barstad Memorial
Jackson, MN