Preparations for the 30th annual Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa, Florida are intensifying. As the anticipation of the on-track excitement builds, the announcement of the racing schedule for 2006 and some changes on the menu of open wheel racing have started to draw attention.
The O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour kicks off the 2006 campaign with the opening night of East Bay Raceway Park’s 30th Annual Winter Nationals in Tampa, FL, on Thursday night, January 26. The ASCoT season opener encompasses three full nights of racing, dubbed the Eighth Annual “King of the 360’s”, culminating with the $10,000-to-win Ronald Laney Memorial on Saturday night, January 28.
The traditional 360 Sprint and 410 Sprint events will be joined by three nights of non-wing racing for 2006. The non-wing events will be sandwiched between the winged shows.
The addition of the third round of open wheel competition brings about an exciting incentive. East Bay Raceway Park officials have announced the creation of the Fast Lane Apparel Triple Crown Challenge. One versatile driver can walk away with as much as $50,000 in bonus money with well-timed visits to Victory Lane.
The $50,000 prize will be awarded if one driver can win the 40-lap main events in the 360, non-wing and 410 events. If a driver wins only two of the three, that driver will get a $5,000 boost in winnings.
The 40-lap mains will mark the final night of racing for each division. Preliminary feature races will be 25 laps. While these 25-lap events do not carry the incentive, drivers who compete in the events will be scoring weekly points toward the finale. The top 6 drivers in the preliminary points are locked into a guaranteed starting spot for the final feature.
The 30th annual Winternationals will kick off with the 360 Sprints opening the program January 26-28. A vintage program will be held on January 29 before the track is opened for the 410 non-wing competition, which will be held January 30-31 and February 1. The wings will be bolted on for three nights of racing in the open competition 410 action on the nights of February 2-4. Fast Lane Apparel Triple Crown Challenge events will be contested on January 28, February 1, and February 4.
The 2005 Winternationals featured top racers in winged competition from the United States and Canada. Chad Kemenah is the reigning King of the 360s, winning the fourth annual Ronald Laney Memorial. In 410 competition, Danny Lasoski scored two wins in four events among a stellar field of competitors who have followed their Winternationals efforts with strong runs through the regular season.
The opening three-nights featuring the O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour also kicks off nine nights of Sprint Car racing at East Bay Raceway Park, with the O’Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless 410-ci wingless sprint car series taking to the 1/3-mile semi-banked, dirt oval on January 30, January 31 and February 1. Winged 410-ci Sprint Cars follow on February 2-4. The final nights of both the wingless and winged 410-ci events also offer $10,000 to the winner, with the Fast Lane Apparel Triple Crown Challenge, worth $50,000, at stake for any driver that can top all three portions.
After becoming the ASCS National Tour’s first repeat champion of the decade in 2005, Gary Wright of Hooks, TX, begins his pursuit of a third consecutive ASCS title at East Bay Raceway Park.
Among those expected to challenge Wright for the expanded ASCoT crown in 2006, including ’05 series runner-up Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK), ’05 Most Improved Driver Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX), ’05 Rookie of the Year Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS), ’03 series champion Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), two-time Knoxville Raceway champion Jake Peters (Sioux Falls, SD), Jerrod Hull (Sikeston, MO), James Mosher (Albuquerque, NM), thirteen-year-old Trey Robb (Newcastle, OK), Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) and two-time Sprints on Dirt champion Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI).
For more information, contact East Bay Raceway Park at (813) 677-7223.
