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The final leg of the local racing season is set to start. Area tracks are working their way through the remainder of this month before closing out the season.
At Port Royal Speedway Doug Esh is the current sprint car point leader over Mike Wagner. Esh is seeking his first title. The pair battle tonight when the Juniata County oval presents 410 sprint car racing along with super and econo late models plus American Outlaw racers. There’s also a kids candy scramble.
Selinsgrove Speedway plans a special night of 360 sprint car racing tonight. The program is billed as the “double your money” National Open, which was previously rained out. At least $4,000 awaits the winner. Support classes also are part of the program.
Lincoln Speedway enjoys a visit from Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions tonight. The group raced at Grandview Speedway on Thursday and Williams Grove last night. Stewart was on hand Thursday at Grandview. Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Kenny Jacobs all made the A-main.
It’s also York County Racing Club night at Lincoln, which is seeing the All Stars for the only time this season.
Pocono International Raceway presents Indy Car racing tomorrow.
I recently mentioned my visit to Pocono. If you have second interest in visiting the speedway tomorrow, could be a great time to do it. I’m toying with attending. General admission seating for the Indy car race starts at $25. Kids are admitted at half price for the race and free for today’s practice sessions. That’s a low buck ticket in today’s sports world. Speeds should be fast for the open wheel racers. It could be a fun event for all.
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series cars race at the last great coliseum, Bristol Motor Speedway. The track will then be transformed into an NCAA football field for two college games this fall.
I join many encouraging injured driver Kevin Swindell to keep up the hard work during his rehabilitation from paralyzing injuries suffered at Knoxville, Iowa. Swindell’s family posted pictures showing him walking up and down a set of indoor house steps earlier this week. It took Swindell about two minutes to accomplish this task. That’s great. At one point nobody knew what the future held for this young driver. Swindell started his rehab unable to walk. Swindell is writing history with his remarkable recovery.
Big Daddy’s Grill and Chill recently hosted a special fundraiser for injured 305 sprint car driver Jake Waters. The Mifflintown driver was able to attend. The event brought in $1,000 to help defray his health care costs. Good job to all involved.
It’s also good to see Austin Burke has received all his new safety apparel in time to resume racing. Many of you may remember Burke went into the fire in an attempt to help rescue Waters during his time of need.
Cumberland, Maryland, Speedway may cease to exist if Maryland officials listen to their engineers’ studies. Nobody has been able to rehab the track and get it open for auto racing. Studies indicate the track is no longer an asset to the county. They are recommending replacement. There’s still some hope if someone steps up with enough capital to make things happen.
I hope they are successful. This dirt track is one of very few that has a pit lane similar to a NASCAR track. That could make the facility a viable option as NASCAR attampts to return to its roots.
Until next week, please drive safely!
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Craig Rutherford writes about motorsports for The Sentinel.