From Lonnie Wheatley
DODGE CITY, Kan. (July 26, 2017) – All of southwest Kansas and beyond is abuzz about this Friday night’s “Driver Appreciation Night” event at the state-of-the-art 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval.
With drivers doling out tickets to the event to enhance their chances at landing the bigger prizes that will be awarded during the evening, a capacity crowd is expected to fill the grandstands and possibly then some.
To accommodate the crowd, the grassy area to the north of the grandstand seating area will be available to use for lawn chair seating on Friday night. Fans are encourage to arrive early to ensure a good seat in the grandstands or to bring a lawn chair to set up a comfortable vantage point to take in the night’s racing action that includes the Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars and IMCA Hobby Stocks.
Friday’s racing action will get under way at 7:30 p.m.
Competitors at Dodge City Raceway Park have been distributing tickets to family, friends and sponsors for Friday’s racing action since the track’s last event on July 15.
Tickets that are returned to the front gate on Friday night will make those drivers eligible for all variety of product prizes including the grand prize Hinchman Racing Suit along with additional prizes supplied by Precise Racing Products, BMI, Pistons Auto/Diesel Repair, A&J Trucking, Quint Transportation, Carquest and more that will be drawn for.
Only drivers that have competed in at least 80% of this year’s DCRP events will be eligible for the grand prize while all drivers on hand will walk away with something in hand.
Additionally, the six drivers that have the most tickets turned in at the front gate by 8:15 p.m. will be eligible for a special bonus as well. Again, drivers must have competed in 80% of this year’s events to be eligible for the special bonus.
Leading the way into Friday’s tilt atop the 3/8-mile clay oval are Taylor Velasquez, Clay Sellard, Jeff Kaup, Angel Munoz and Duane Wahrman.
After picking off his first Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car win of the year, Velasquez holds a 32-point edge over Tyler Knight while past Sport Mod track champ Sellard has a 73-point advantage over defending track champ Nick Link in the IMCA Modified title chase.
Kaup is gunning for a third IMCA Sport Modified track title with a 116-point lead over Kyle Wines, Munoz has a healthy 126-point margin over Ondre Rexford in the IMCA Stock Car title chase and Wahrman is a mere eight points ahead of Reagan Sellard in the IMCA Hobby Stock battle.
Just two more nights of championship chase action remain after Friday’s “Driver Appreciation Night” including the Fourth Annual Sport Modified Mayhem event on August 19 and the Fifth Annual Jerry Soderberg Memorial Championship event on September 16 before putting the wraps on the 2017 season with the return of the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars on October 27-28.
While a large number of free tickets to Friday’s card will be distributed by drivers, additional tickets to the “Driver Appreciation” night event will be available at the gate for just $15 for adults with children eleven and under admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Pit passes are $30.
The 2017 season at Dodge City Raceway Park consists of 14 total nights of scheduled racing action, culminating with the return of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series for the “Boot Hill Showdown” on October 27-28. The complete 2017 schedule of events at Dodge City Raceway Park is available at http://www.dodgecityraceway.com/schedule/.
Dodge City Raceway Park is located on the south edge of Dodge City, KS, on US 283, then 0.9 miles west on US 56, then 0.1 miles south. For more information, contact the track at 620-225-3277 or check www.dodgecityraceway.com.