By Bryan Hulbert
ALGER, Wash. (May 30, 2019) Just under a month away, the 48th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by the Skagit Casino Resort will again bring the best Sprint Car teams from across North America to Skagit Speedway for a three night blowout for a $15,000 top prize.
June 20, 21, and 22, the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network will again go head-to-head with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series along with the Northwest Ford Focus Midgets in action all three nights.
Tickets are on sale now by calling (360) 724-3567. Three Day Pass for adults (18-61) are $80. Junior (7-17), Senior (62+), and Military is $65. Children are $10. Reserved Seating is sold with Three Day Pass only.
Tickets per day are as follows:
Thursday, June 20: Adult $25 * Jr/Sr/ Military $20 * Child N/C
Friday, June 21: Adult $25 * Jr/Sr/ Military $20 * Child N/C
Saturday, June 22: Adult $30 * Jr/Sr/ Military $25 * Child $10
Pit Passes each day are $35. A Rain date is scheduled for Sunday, June 23 if needed. Each night opens at 5:30 P.M. with racing getting underway at 7:00 P.M. (PDT).
For the 48th annual event, the format for the Sprint Cars will again see drivers competing all three nights with Thursday and Friday setting the stage for Saturday’s finale. Using event points through Heats, Qualifiers, B-Features, and A-Features, this year’s format did get adjusted. For the points awarded for Heats and Qualifiers last year were too high and took drivers out of the running that otherwise would have been locked in. Testing the new points system at the Hockett/McMillin in 2018, the new structure worked as it should with drivers who make the A-Feature rewarded for their efforts.
The format for the 2019 Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by the Skagit Casino Resort will be as follows:
Drivers will compete on both qualifying nights as combined points from Heat Races, Qualifiers, B-Mains, and A-Mains will set the lineup for Saturday night. Any tie in points will be broken by Friday’s passing point totals.
ASCS Format will be utilized with draw in for Heat Race starting position and passing points to determine drivers who advance to Qualifiers and B-Mains.
54 cars or less: Top 30 in Passing Points from Heat Races will move into 3 Qualifiers. Remainder will fall to the tail of the night’s “B” Features. Top 18 will be inverted with the highest point earner from Heat Races starting sixth in the first Qualifier. Qualifiers will be 8 laps each. Passing Points will be utilized with the driver’s total points combined with their Heat Race total. The top 16 in combined Passing Points will advance to the A-Feature. Drivers will not redraw for their starting position. Lineup is straight up by the combined Passing Point total. The remainder will fall into B-Features. Number of B-Features is dependent upon the number of cars. 40-50 cars means remaining drivers will drop into two “B” Features. 51-60 will drop into three “B” Features. Lineup will be done by passing point totals with 17th going to the pole of the first “B” Feature, 18th to the pole of the second “B” Feature, etc.
55 cars or more: Top 40 in Passing Points from Heat Races will move into 4 Qualifiers. Remainder will fall to the tail of the night’s “B” Features. Top 24 will be inverted with the highest point earner from Heat Races starting sixth in the first Qualifier. Qualifiers will be 8 laps each. Passing Points will be utilized with the driver’s total points combined with their Heat Race total. The top 16 in combined Passing Points will advance to the A-Feature. Drivers will not redraw for their starting position. Lineup is straight up by the combined Passing Point total. The remainder will fall into B-Features. Number of B-Features is dependent upon the number of cars. 40-50 cars means remaining drivers will drop into two “B” Features. 51-60 will drop into three “B” Features. Lineup will be done by passing point totals with 17th going to the pole of the first “B” Feature, 18th to the pole of the second “B” Feature, etc.
If one B is needed, the top 6 drivers will advance to the A-Feature. If two B’s, then the top three, if three B’s, then the top two.
Following Friday night, driver’s combined points will be tallied with the top 16 drivers locked into Saturday’s A-Feature. Ranking 17-48 will be split among two B-Features with 17th to the pole of the first B-Main, 18th to the pole of the second B-Main, 19th to the outside front row of the first B-Main, 20th to the outside front row in the second B-Main; continuing down until each B-Main has 16 cars. The remainder will fall into a Last Chance Qualifier, if needed, taking the top 4 drivers with the winner and third place taking the final two spots in the first B-Feature. Second and fourth will take the final two spots in the second B-Feature. In case of a tie, the advantage will be to the driver with the highest finish on Friday night.
Driver Provisionals based on points with the Lucas Oil ASCS will be suspended for this event.
Thursday and Friday Race Points will follow the following scale:
Heat Race:
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Qualifiers:
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
B-Feature: Based on number of B-Features. Starting with the first non-transfer:
87
86
85
84
83
82
81
80
79
78
A-Feature: Based on ASCS points structure for standard A-Mains:
150
142
135
130
125
122
119
116
113
110
108
106
104
102
100
98
96
94
92
90
89
88
Fans not able to attend can find the weekend broadcast live at http://www.racinboys.com.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the nine Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2019, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
2019 National Tour Driver Standings (Top 15): 1. 2. Roger Crockett 903; 2. Matt Covington 893; 3. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 892; 4. Blake Hahn 883; 5. John Carney II 863; 6. Scott Bogucki 845; 7. Jamie Ball 794; 8. Harli White 776; 9. Robbie Price 729; 10. Jordon Mallett 726; 11. Alex Hill 703; 12. Tucker Doughty 638; 13. Dylan Westbrook 545; 14. Brandon Hanks 326; 15. Thomas Kennedy 300;