Ken de la Bastide: $50,000 Winged Sprint Car race for Las Vegas
Aug. 22—When the inaugural Open Wheel Showdown takes place in December, there will be a significant involvement of local officials.
Earlier this year, Davey Hamiton Jr. announced he's promoting the event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring for winged asphalt sprint cars.
Hamilton is a familiar name in Indiana, having raced in the Lucas Oil Little 500 and with the 500 Sprint Car Tour.
There is a total purse of $200,000 with the winner taking home $50,000 and $2,500 to start.
As of last week, there have been 45 paid entries for the event.
There is also a $10,000-to-win pavement Midget race.
Although details have not been released, it appears certain 20 teams will be locked in during time trials, four from a last-chance race and two by promoter's option.
Jared Owen, operations director for the 500 Sprint Car Tour, will head up the team working on the pre-planning and logistics for the Dec. 1-2 event.
Officials with the Anderson-based 500 Sprint Car Tour will work the event.
Brad Hayes, owner of the Kenyon Midget Series, will be the assistant director for the Midget race.
Justin Carey will be competition director, and Chuck Hadley from Oswego (New York) Speedway with be race director.
Although no official entry list has been posted, it is anticipated Kody Swanson and Tyler Roahrig will make the trip to Nevada.
The event is going to be broadcast through Speed Sport News.
Hamilton has indicated additional racing divisions could be added to the program.
Years ago, the Copper Classic in Arizona was the unofficial kickoff to the racing season with open wheel and late model stock cars competing.
Although there has been speculation Hamilton is going to start a winged pavement sprint car series in the Midwest, he has denied the rumors.
Hamilton said the intention is to make the Open Wheel Showdown an annual event.
OTHER RACING NEWS
Kyle Ford took a giant step toward winning the Kenyon Midget Series championship by sweeping two feature races at Paragon Speedway on Saturday.
Ford has a sizable lead over defending champion Dameron Taylor, who struggled on the dirt oval.
The series has three more races remaining at Circle City Speedway, the Indianapolis Speedrome and the final race at Anderson Speedway on Oct. 9.
It's crunch time for Chase Elliott if he hopes to compete for the NASCAR championship this year.
Elliott has to win at Daytona this weekend or not be a part of the Chase field.
Daytona is always an unpredictable race, so anything can happen, but Elliott could be hard pressed to score his first win of 2023.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
