By Linda Mansfield
GAS CITY, Ind., July 26 – In what promises to be one of the most entertaining nights of racing this season at Gas City I-69 Speedway, the “Back-to-School Bash” will feature six divisions of racing plus the first school bus race in track history on Friday night, Aug. 3.
Open-wheel racing will be well represented as non-wing sprint cars, USAC Midwest Thunder D2 midgets and UMRA TQ midgets will compete on the quarter-mile, semi-banked clay oval.
The popular UMP modifieds, thunder cars and front-wheel-drive (FWD) compacts will fill out the full racing card. John and Sherril Long, owners of One More Time Motorsports, have posted an extra $1,000 in purses for the thunder car and FWD compact features. The thunder car feature will pay $500 to win, $300 for second and $200 for third. FWD compact competitors will race for a $375 first-place payday with the runner-up earning $240 and third $180.
To prepare for area students heading back to school the following week, school bus drivers will showcase their driving talents in a special race during intermission.
“It will be fun to watch those yellow behemoths navigate the semi-banked turns and clay surface,” said Jerry Gappens, promoter at the speedway. “We’ll have special equipment on site to help put them back upright should they roll on their sides! In addition, the racing card will feature exciting, intense, wheel-to-wheel action as the battle for track championships heat up.”
Tickets are available at the gate. Admission prices are adults, $15; children 12 and under are free, and students 13 and above are admitted for $10 with a student ID card from last year. Pit passes cost $30.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. Racing starts at 7:30 p.m.
For more information, go to www.gascityi69speedway.com or call (765) 677-RACE.