By Brian Walker
BRANDON, SD – June 16, 2022 – The much-anticipated inaugural running of the High Bank Nationals at Huset’s Speedway is ready to roar into the spotlight next week. A capacity crowd is expected to attend the state-of-the-art facility in Brandon, SD (BUY TICKETS HERE) with thousands more dialing up DIRTVision.com to watch the debut event from home.
Originally scheduled to host three straight nights of racing, the slate has grown with a June 5 postponement adding a standard World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series show to the week on Wednesday, June 22. From there, the stakes only go higher and higher as a nearly half-million-dollar purse is paid out through preliminary programs on Thursday & Friday, June 23-24 before the first six-figure payday of the year comes on Saturday, June 25.
Wed, 6/22 – Standard Show ($10,000/Win, $1,000/Start)
Thur, 6/23 – HBN Prelim ($15,000/Win, $1,000/Start)
Fri, 6/24 – HBN Prelim ($20,000/Win, $1,500/Start)
Sat, 6/25 – HBN Finale ($100,000/Win, $3,000/Start)
Of course, with a special event comes a special format. Similar to the AGCO Jackson Nationals (August 18-20), the High Bank Nationals at Huset’s will force racers to battle for accumulative points every single time they hit the track through Thursday and Friday prelims.
All drivers will compete in two preliminary shows (Thursday & Friday) with My Place Hotels Qualifying, NOS Energy Drink Heat Races, a C-Main (if needed), Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown, and a NOS Energy Drink Feature on the card both nights. Wednesday’s race at Huset’s is a postponed standard show, and thus has no impact on the High Bank Nationals.
Among the biggest difference, these preliminary nights will include a six-car inversion to line up Heat Races instead of the standard straight-up format used regularly with the World of Outlaws. More importantly, drivers will be competing for valuable points every single time they hit the racing surface. Qualifying, Heat Races, and the Features all offer up crucial points which will carry over to Saturday’s finale.
The top four in accumulative points from Thursday and Friday will lock-in to the King of the Hill with all others splitting into four Qualifiers based on points. The Qualifier winners will join the locked-in drivers in the King of the Hill, a unique race against the clock.
A time-trial-based event, the King of the Hill puts two cars on the track for two laps with the fastest time moving to the next round. It starts with the four Qualifier winners and carries over to the locked-in drivers with the final round being a battle for the pole position of the $100,000-to-win Feature.
The fully detailed format, including the point table, can be found below…
Prelim Nights (Thursday & Friday)
All Competitors pill draw and qualify according to the standard World of Outlaws format.
If 37 or less cars = single flight of Qualifying split into four Heat Races
If 38-48 cars = split Qualifying with Flight A in Heats 1-2; Flight B in Heats 3-4
If 49+ cars = split Qualifying with Flight A in Heats 1-3; Flight B in Heats 4-6
All Heat Races are inverted by 6 (e.g. QuickTime starts 6th); balance of field lined straight up by times
Top 20 in combined Qualifying & Heat Race points lock-in to Prelim Feature
Top 8 in combined Qualifying & Heat Race points redraw for top-8 starting spots in Prelim Feature
If needed, 41st on back in combined points line straight up in C-Main, transferring top-two to the LCS
21st-40th in combined Qualifying & Heat Race points line straight up in the LCS, behind the top-two in times that did not transfer directly to the Feature. Top-four finishers transfer from the LCS to Feature
Any preliminary night ties in points are broken by Qualifying time
Drivers continue racing for event points in LCS & Feature with points table listed below
$100,000-to-win Finale (Saturday)
Top 4 in accumulative points from Thursday & Friday lock-in to King of the Hill
Balance of the field is split into 4 Qualifiers – winner of each Qualifier to King of the Hill
Finishers 2nd-3rd-4th in Qualifiers transfer to Feature by finishing position
Finishers 5th-6th-7th-8th in Qualifiers transfer to LCS by finishing position
Top 2 in accumulative points that did not transfer directly to Feature start front row of LCS
Finishers 9th & back in Qualifiers transfer to C-Main by finishing position. Top 4 transfer to LCS
Top 4 finishers in LCS transfer to $3,000-to-start finale
King of the Hill (Sets Feature Lineup)
All eight cars involved to the infield (no adjustments once in the infield)
2 cars on the clock, timing in at 2 lap segments
Qualifier Winners go first – Q4 winner vs. Q3 winner, fastest time stays to face Q2 winner, then Q1 winner, 4th in points, etc.
Continuing until last two cars are left on track, fastest time in final round claims the pole position
First 4 rows of Feature lined up by King of the Hill results
Qualifying Points – 100, 99, 98, 97, 96… (Down by 1)
Heat Race Points – 100, 97, 94, 89, 84… (Down by 5)
LCS Non-Transfer Points – 171, 168, 165… (Down by 3)
Feature Finishing Points – 250, 247, 244… (Down by 3)
*First non-transfer in C-Main receives three less points than last in LCS, then three-point drop-off to the end.
*Ties in points are broken by 1) higher AVG Feature finish; 2) Higher AVG Qualifying spot
*Any driver/car using a Feature provisional will receive points for position finished in C-Main or LCS