2nd Annual Open Wheel Nationals Grabs Spotlight

By Greg Parent

With the first edition of the Open Wheel Nationals last year at the St. Croix Valley Raceway a huge success, the event returns in 2013 for two nights of fast-paced racing action at the ¼ mile dirt oval located near St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin on June 28-29.  Expanded purses and an XSAN.tv internet video broadcast will make the second edition another must-see event, as a record crowd filed into the track last year to be part of the inaugural Open Wheel Nationals.

The four classes of cars that provided some great racing at the first annual event will return again in 2013 with the popular open wheel modifieds taking center stage on Friday night.  The UMSS winged sprints, the UMSS Traditional sprints, and the Midwest Modifieds will race on Friday and Saturday with complete programs each night.  The Friday night show for Midwest mods will be WISSOTA sanctioned while the Saturday show will be unsanctioned, allowing for other B-mods to participate.  The UMSS winged sprints will be gunning for their largest purse ever, as the Saturday night feature will pay the winner $5,000 while the Friday night preliminary program will pay $1,000 to win.  If 40 or more cars are on hand for this event, the UMSS winged sprints will run two features on Friday night each paying $1,000 to win.  The modifieds will race for $1,500 to win on Friday night while the Midwest mods will pay $500 to win Friday and $750 to win on Saturday.  The UMSS non-winged Traditional sprints will race for $500 to win each night thanks to some sponsorship help from GRP Motorsports.

The UMSS winged sprint portion of the 2^nd Annual Open Wheel Nationals immediately places this event amongst the elite events on the UMSS schedule and should certainly grab the attention of upper Midwest sprint car drivers and fans with a strong purse paying $5,000 to win and $500 to start the Saturday championship feature.  The race format, based on the number of cars on hand, has been established and will be discussed in a separate press release.  “This event will put St. Croix Valley Raceway along with the UMSS on the map,” stated track co-owner Ron Bernhagen.  With one of the premier video internet broadcasting companies, XSAN.tv, bringing the event to the country via the internet, exposure of this race will be widespread.

Defending champions of the Open Wheel Nationals include Lou Kennedy, Jr. in the UMSS winged sprints (also Kouba Memorial last year), Dave Cain in the modifieds, Jason Vandekamp in the WISSOTA Midwest mods and Johnny Parsons III in the UMSS Traditional sprints.  With full racing programs on tap each night, the 2013 edition will continue to be a fan favorite with plenty of exciting racing at the little bullring nestled in the countryside of western Wisconsin.

Further information on the Open Wheel Nationals can be obtained by calling Ron Bernhagen at 612-363-5302 or by email at mastellracing@yahoo.com.  Be sure and check out the St. Croix Valley Raceway website at www.scvraceway.com or their Facebook page for news and info regarding this event and many others throughout the course of the 2013 racing season.  The feature race purses for the 2^nd Annual Open Wheel Nationals are listed below.

UMSS Winged Sprints:
Friday Qualifying Feature – 1^st $1,000; 2^nd $625; 3^rd $500; 4^th $400; 5^th $325; 6^th $285; 7^th $250; 8^th $215; 9^th $200; 10^th $150; 11^th-20^th $125.

Saturday Championship Feature – 1^st $5,000; 2^nd $3,000; 3^rd $1,500; 4^th $1,250; 5^th $1,000; 6^th $800; 7^th $850; 8^th $800; 9^th $775; 10^th $750; 11^th $725; 12^th $700; 13^th $600; 14^th-20^th $500.

UMSS Traditional Sprints:
Friday Feature – 1^st $500; 2^nd $300; 3^rd $250; 4^th $200; 5^th $175; 6^th $150; 7^th $125; 8^th $100; 9^th $100; 10^th $80; 11^th-20^th $75.

Saturday Feature – 1^st $500; 2^nd $375; 3^rd $275; 4^th $225; 5^th $175; 6^th $165; 7^th $150; 8^th 135; 9^th $125; 10^th $115; 11^th-20^th $100.

WISSOTA Midwest Modified Friday Feature – 1^st $500; 2^nd $350; 3^rd $250; 4^th $200; 5^th $190; 6^th $180; 7^th $170; 8^th $160; 9^th $150; 10^th $125; 11^th $100; 12^th $90; 13^th $80; 14^th $75; 15^th $70; 16^th $65; 17^th $60; 18^th $60; 19^th-24^th $50.

Unsanctioned Midwest Mod Saturday Feature – $750: 2^nd $500; 3^rd $400; 4^th $300; 5^th $200; 6^th $190; 7^th $180; 8^th $170; 9^th $160; 10^th $155; 11^th $150; 12^th $145; 13^th $140; 14^th $130; 15^th $120; 16^th $110; 17^th $100; 18^th $90; 19^th-24^th $75.

Modified Friday Feature – 1^st $1,500; 2^nd $1,200; 3^rd $1,000; 4^th $800; 5^th $700; 6^th $600; 7^th $500; 8^th $400; 9^th $300; 10^th $275; 11^th $250; 12^th $225; 13^th $200; 14^th $175; 15^th $150; 16^th $125; 17^th-24^th $100.