By Mike Leone
April 15, 2014
(Markleysburg, PA)…After a slow start from a cold winter, Mother Nature has finally loosened her grip and weather conditions are improving everywhere. With the month of April at the halfway point “410” Sprint Car racing is getting up to full speed in most areas. With May and June not far away, the special events kick into high gear and two of those will be taking place at Pennsylvania’s Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex. The 3/8-mile dirt track will host two appearances in 2014 by the fire-breathing, mudslinging winged warriors on Sunday, May 18 followed up by a return visit two weeks later on Sunday, June 1!
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to see 410 Sprint Cars back at the Knob,” stated track owner Rick Jones, who has already begun his fifth year of racing at one of the Keystone States most scenic speedways. “We couldn’t have had a better show last year. The quality of cars was great, the fan turnout was strong, and the racing was tremendous with a last lap pass for the win! We received so much positive feedback that I’m thrilled to be able to host two events in 2014.”
While Roaring Knob has long been known as a hot spot for Super Late Models since the track opened in 1998 featuring the cars weekly along with visits by the Lucas Oil Series, NDRL “Kings of Dirt”, Three State Flyers, and Appalachian Mountain Speedweek Series, Sprint Cars were never on the southwestern Pennsylvania 3/8-mile oval’s radar.
That changed in 2013 when the inaugural “410 Showdown in the Laurel Highlands” came to the Knob. The tremendous race saw central Pa. great Lance Dewease go down in the history books as the first ever Sprint Car winner at the facility with a last lap pass of four-time All Star Champion Tim Shaffer.
The second annual “410 Showdown in the Laurel Highlands” will take place on Sunday, May 18 with a feature purse of over $16,000 with $3,500 going to the winner and $300 to-start. Any non-starters or non-qualifiers will receive $100. The complete payoff is posted below. The event will also be a shootout with Port Royal Speedway’s May 24 $5,000 to-win event. The top three in points from the two races will receive $300, $200, and $100 respectively.
Announced back in March and finalized recently will be the first of two qualifiers for Kasey Kahne’s $20,000 to-win “Dirt Classic” to be held at Lincoln Speedway on Saturday, September 27. The $5,000 to-win event at the Knob on Sunday, June 8 will also award the winner a guaranteed starting spot in Lincoln’s $20,000 to-win feature! The richest Sprint Car event in the history of the Knob will boast a $23,550 feature payoff including a cool $1,000 for 10th with $400 just to start the feature!
Teams will receive two complimentary pit passes for the June 1 event if they are pre-registered by May 12! Teams may by pre-register be e-mailing their name, car number, and contact information to dirtclassic@hotmail.com. A second qualifier will be held at Bedford Speedway on Sunday, June 8. For more information, check out www.dirtclassic.com.
“We’re excited to be extending The Dirt Classic into Western Pennsylvania with this qualifier at Roaring Knob,” Jarrod Adams of The Dirt Classic team said. “The track made a splash in 2013 with their first Sprint Car event and we’d like to help them up the ante this year with a second. I think teams from both Central and Western Pennsylvania will be excited by the purse and race format.”
Precise Racing Products/HTMA (www.preciseracing.com) will award a $100 gift card to fast qualifier at both the May 18 and June 1 events!
May 18 Payoff ($16,075): 1. $3,500 2. $2,000 3. $1,200 4. $1,000 5. $900 6. $800 7. $700 8. $600 9. $500 10. $450 11. $400 12. $350 13. $325 14. $320 15. $315 16. $310 17. $305 18-24. $300. $100 to non-qualifiers.
June 1 Payoff ($23,550): 1. $5,000 2. $2,000 3. $1,500 4. $1,400 5. $1,300 6. $1,250 7. $1,200 8. $1,100 9. $1,050 10. $1,000 11. $750 12. $650 13. $550 14. $525 15. $500 16. $475 17. $450 18. $425 19. $425 20. $400 21. $400 22. $400 23. $400 24. $400.
There will be no entry or registration fee for either event. The national “410” Hoosier Tire rule will be in effect. There will be no muffler or weight rule. RACEceivers are required. The PA Sprint Speedweek format will be used for both events. Experienced push truck and tow vehicle drivers are welcome. You and a guest will be admitted at no charge.
Gates open at 4 p.m. with warm-ups at 6 followed by time trials and racing. Stay tuned for more information as the events draws near. For info contact Mike Leone at 724-967-2363, mikeleone@zoominternet.net, or on Twitter @mikevleone.
Roaring Knob is located off historic US Route 40 in Markleysburg, Pa. The scenic area in Fayette County is about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and just minutes from the West Virginia and Maryland borders. The unique location, strong payout, neutral grounds, and conducive dates are sure to draw teams from western and central Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and the Ohio Valley region.
Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex is a 3/8-mile clay oval located near Markleysburg, Pa. just off of scenic Route 40 at 380 Fearer Road (look for the road sign) just seven miles east of Nemacolin Woodlands on the right, one mile west of Yough Lake on the left. Check out the website at www.roaringknob.com or call 410-857-3821 (office) or 724-329-0306 on race day.