State of Florida LIL 500Preview

Little 500 Preview

The 2022 Little 500 at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, IL is just a few weeks away now. The 74^th annual event takes pace on May 28^th and carries a $136,000 purse!

If you are a sprint car fan and have not been to this race, it is a must-see event. The field starts 3 wide on the high banked ¼ mile short track and continues on for 500 laps of nonstop action. Think Showtime Speedway with Bristol like banking and you get the picture. The race also includes a pit stop for fuel and tires.

Florida will be well represented again this year with 4 entrants. Events can be seen on Mav TV+.

Shane Butler is returning for his 12^th start in the event looking to improve in his best finish of 8th and has the most starts of any of the FL entrants. He’ll be searching for lady luck after 3 consecutive years of DNF’s which is certainly not the norm for this team. Butler brings a stout crew with a wealth of Little 500 knowledge. The crew consists of Devin McCleod, Dylan Reynolds, his brother Keith who has 10 starts in this race, and his father Stan who is a Little 500 hall of famer with 26 starts and completed a whopping 7,294 laps! My gut tells me this team will finish the race with a respectable position this year.

Tommy Nichols is returning for his 6^th start. He is coming back after his best finish in the race last year, 12^th place. Tommy is also competing the full USAC Silver Crown season on dirt in the Aaron Pierce machine. He has completed over 1,000 laps and is looking to add 500 more in search of another solid finish.

Retuning after a 3 year hiatus is Davey Hamilton Jr. This will be his 5^th start. He returns in the very stout Morgan Racing machine that finished second in this years Dave Steele race at Showtime Speedway. Expectations are high for this team. Davey sat on pole in his last start and will certainly be striving for the same and a looking for a win. He will also be competing in the sprint race in multiple cars at IRP on Friday night.

LJ Grimm is headed to Anderson for his first career start in the 500. He spent multiple years as a crew member for Shane Butler but there are a lot of unknowns for actually racing the 500 as this is a new car to him, new engine etc. The car is almost complete and ready for shake down. LJ was very competitive in the local events last year and really seemed to like the non wing car, combined with his calculated aggressiveness one has to believe he will make the show and should finish baring anything unforeseen.