By Lonnie Wheatley
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 14, 2013) – With I-30 Speedway’s 26th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires little more than one week away, another trio of past event winners have added their names to the list of contenders for next Saturday night’s $15,000 winner’s share.
Tim Crawley, Jason Sides and Terry Gray are among the latest entries for the event set for the $100,000-plus event next week, October 24-26, following the Wednesday night, October 23, Inaugural Short Track Nationals Open.
With the addition of Crawley, Sides and Gray, five past winners are now among the early entries as Jason Johnson and Tony Bruce, Jr., were in the original batch of entries.
The pre-entry discount deadline for the $15,000-to-win, $2,500-to-start event is this Thursday, October 17. Entries filed by then are just $150 with entries submitted after Thursday at $250. Entry forms are available at http://www.i-30speedway.com/
Information regarding Wednesday’s $2,500-to-win Inaugural Short Track Nationals Open is available at http://www.i-30speedway.com/
No driver has made it to more STN championship feature events since the event became a 360-ci Sprint Car spectacular in 1993 than Tim Crawley. Crawley has started 18 STN finales overall and 17 of 20 since 1993. However, Crawley’s lone victory came 15 years ago in 1998 with several others near wins escaping his grasp in recent years. With top-ten finishes over each of the past three years, Crawley’s current run of five consecutive STN championship feature starts ranks as the longest active streak.
After missing last year’s event, Jason Sides returns to vie for a second STN crown after taking top honors in 2001. Sides finished among the top five in both of his most recent STN appearances with a fourth-place effort in 2010 and then a fifth-place run in 2011.
Veteran shoe Terry Gray has 15 career STN championship finale starts to his credit, including a dozen since 1993 with his lone triumph coming back in 1994. Gray aims for his first Saturday night finale start since 2008, when he snared a sixth-place run, his tenth top-ten since 1993.
Others with past STN championship finale experience to enter over the last several days include Jerrod Hull, Seth Bergman, Randy Hannagan, Aaron Reutzel, Ray Allen Kulhanek and Sean McClelland.
Last October, Cali native turned Nashville, TN, resident Paul McMahan became just the fifth multi-time STN winner by besting a field of 94 competitors for his first Short Track Nationals championship since 2002, denying upstart Christopher Bell the lucrative payday in the process.
Others that have claimed multiple STN honors include four-time champion Gary Wright (1995, 1999, 2003, 2004), Steve Kinser (1988, 1989, 1991), Sammy Swindell (1990, 2011) and Tony Bruce, Jr. (2008, 2009).
Other past Short Track Nationals winners include Brad Sweet (2010), Jason Meyers (2007), Jason Johnson (2006), Tim Montgomery (2005), Jason Sides (2001), Mike Ward (2000), Tim Crawley (1998), Wayne Johnson (1997), Pete Butler (1996), Terry Gray (1994) and John Gerloff (1993). The 1992 edition fell victim to rain.
The Pertinent Info:
The What: 26th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
The Where: I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR). I-30 Speedway is located seven miles southwest of Little Rock off I-30 Exit 126 (Alexander Road).
The When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 24-26, 2013. $15,000 to win the STN finale on October 26 with $2,500 to start the STN championship feature. Race time is 7:30 p.m. each night. Rain date is October 31, November 1 & November 2. The $2,500 to win and $200 to start Inaugural Short Track Nationals Open kicks off all the action on Wednesday, October 23, at 7:30 p.m.
The Format: The format introduced in 2011 will once again be in effect. Approximately half the field will take to the track in the Thursday night qualifying event, with the other half in Friday’s qualifying event. The top three from each night will be locked into Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win, $2,500-to-start STN Championship Finale. Those six drivers will battle it out in Saturday’s Dash for Cash to determine the alignment of the front three rows of the championship main event.
Beyond that, drivers will be lined up on Saturday night in twin “B” Mains, twin “C” Mains, twin “D” Mains, twin “E” Mains and “F” Mains if necessary. Four drivers will transfer from each “F” to “E”, “E” to “D”, “D” to “C” and “C” to “B”, with seven advancing from each “B” Main to form the 20-car STN championship main event field.
The popular format of heats and qualifying races will once again be in place on the Thursday and Friday qualifying nights. The top 14 in cumulative points from heats and qualifiers will be locked into that night’s main event, with two or three “B” Mains depending upon car count contested to fill out the qualifying night feature field.
Points earned in qualifying night heat races, qualifiers and features will set Saturday night’s feature lineups.
Wednesday’s Short Track Nationals Open will have no impact upon Thursday, Friday or Saturday lineups, with the exception that the top finisher among Wednesday’s top four that is unable to qualifying for Saturday night’s STN finale will be offered a provisional.
Wednesday’s STN Open will include heat races lined up by pill draw with passing points in effect that will set lineups for the “B” Main(s) (multiple “B” Mains if necessary depending upon car count) and “A” Main.
The Past Winners: Paul McMahan (2012 and 2002), Sammy Swindell (2011 and 1990), Brad Sweet (2010), Tony Bruce, Jr. (2009 and 2008), Jason Meyers (2007), Jason Johnson (2006), Tim Montgomery (2005), Gary Wright (2004, 2003, 1999 and 1995), Jason Sides (2001), Mike Ward (2000), Tim Crawley (1998), Wayne Johnson (1997), Pete Butler (1996), Terry Gray (1994), John Gerloff (1993), Steve Kinser (1991, ’89 and ‘88). 1992 finale was rained out.
The Tickets: Advance tickets for either three or four nights are on sale through Monday, October 21, no advance sales after that. Single night tickets are not available in advance. Tickets ordered in advance are just $61 for all four nights (Wednesday through Saturday) or $51 for three nights (Thursday through Saturday) with $1 off if paying cash.
Day of show prices are $16 on Wednesday, $21 on Thursday and Friday and $26 on Saturday with a $1 discount per ticket if paying cash.
Children’s tickets will be available at the event only for just $2 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then $6 on Saturday.
To order tickets in advance or for more information, call the track at 501-455-4567 or e-mail orders to raceytlc@sbcglobal.net.
Pit passes are $26 on Wednesday, $31 on both Thursday and Friday and $36 on Saturday with a $1 discount per pit pass if paying by cash.
The PPV: Can’t make your way to Little Rock, AR, for this prestigious event? Once again you can still catch every lap of the action on your computer via live Pay-Per-View. Just check out www.shorttracknationals.com for pricing and ordering information. Orders are being taken now.
The Trade Show & Midway: This year’s rendition of the Short Track Nationals will also include the Ninth Annual Short Track Nationals Trade Show & Midway. Fans, drivers & crews will have the opportunity to visit vendor displays, which opens at noon on Wednesday and then at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The deadline for guaranteed vendor space is Monday, October 21. Inquiries regarding vendor space should be directed to dssm93@msn.com.
For more information regarding the 26th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires, contact I-30 Speedway at 501-455-4567.