By Richie Murray
West Memphis, Arkansas (March 3, 2021)………The Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hometown Challenge comes home to Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas on April 2-3 for a USAC Midget non-points, special event.
The Clayton Allen promoted event will feature two complete shows at the track known as “The Ditch” on both Friday and Saturday night on the first weekend of April and marks the first time for midget competition at West Memphis since 2016 where Tanner Thorson and Bryan Clauson collected the top honors as feature winner on each of the two nights.
The event will pay $3,000 to win each night and $300 to start. Start times and tickets prices for the event will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Hometown Challenge is named for current NASCAR Cup Series driver and two-time series winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The native of nearby Olive Branch, Mississippi, located about 30 miles southeast of West Memphis, cut his teeth racing at the 1/4-mile, gumbo-surfaced high-banked track.
West Memphis has been a family tradition for the Stenhouse family with young Ricky practically growing up at the place as he watched his father race there on a weekly basis before taking the wheel himself and going on to become the Rookie of the Year for both the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and the AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship in 2007, and twice earning the NASCAR Xfinity Series title in 2011-12.
The “Hometown Challenge” will not pay points toward the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship due to a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car event being scheduled at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway on its traditional date on the first weekend of April – Saturday, April 3.
Only two previous USAC sanctioned midget events have taken place in the state of Arkansas, both at West Memphis in 2016. Meanwhile, Arkansas has hosted USAC National Sprint Cars on four occasions, three of which were held at West Memphis, races won by Mike Ward (1985), Brady Bacon (2012) and Dave Darland (2013).
APRIL 2-3 RICKY STENHOUSE JR. HOMETOWN CHALLENGE PAYOUT:
1) $3,000
2) $2,000
3) $1,500
4) $1,000
5) $900
6) $700
7) $500
8) $400
9) $300
10) $300
11) $300
12) $300
13) $300
14) $300
15) $300
16) $300
17) $300
18) $300
19) $300
20) $300