Ken de la Bastide: Sprint Car Tour kicks off this weekend

Ken de la Bastide, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·3 min read

Jun. 7—This is an important weekend for the newly formed 500 Sprint Car Tour, the idea of Anderson Speedway officials to promote pavement non-wing sprint car racing.

The inaugural weekend of racing takes place Friday at Plymouth Speedway and Saturday at Berlin Raceway in Michigan.

The series will also compete three times at Anderson Speedway, three times at Indianapolis Raceway Park and a return visit to the half-mile Berlin Raceway.

All of the 500 Sprint Car Tour races can be seen live on MAV-TV Plus.

There are 18 drivers registered for the opening event including two-time Lucas Oil Little 500 champion Tyler Roahrig, three time Little 500 winner Kody Swanson and Bobby Santos III, also a Little 500 champion.

Dakoda Armstrong, Davey Hamilton Jr., Travis Welpott, Kyle O'Gara, Billy Wease and Derek Bischak are among the entries.

Taylor Ferns will compete after becoming the first woman to finish on the podium during a USAC Silver Crown race.

That was at Indianapolis Raceway Park in May and bettered her previous mark by one position.

It's encouraging to see 18 teams on the entry list as the effort backed by AutoValue and Bumper to Bumper parts stores is looking to rekindle interest in non-wing pavement sprint car racing.

I expect there to be several more teams at future 500 Sprint Car Tour events at the events at Anderson and IRP.

Prior to the first race, there were 21 teams that expressed an interest in running all nine events, so a few more can be expected at Plymouth and Berlin this weekend.

The inaugural champion will be crowned at IRP on Oct. 22.

Perfect Stop Brake Pad is putting up an additional $5,000 in the race purse for four races for drivers finishing second through eighth.

This is also an historic weekend at Anderson Speedway with the Vore's Compact Touring Series conducting the longest race in the series history.

The Pro Compact teams will compete in a 150-lap race presented by Knapp Supply.

The previous longest race in series history took place last year at Anderson Speedway which was a 75-lap event won by Kyle Frame.

There will be a mid-race break to allow teams to make adjustments and refuel the cars.

Another feature will be as cars exit the race or go to the pits for repairs, another competitor will be able to join the race.

The intent is to keep a minimum of 25 cars on the track at any one time.

The Kenyon Midget Series makes its second appearance with three different winners recording victories this year.

Dameron Taylor, Trey Osborne and Jack Macenko have all scored victories.

Taylor has the most wins at Anderson Speedway in the series and is currently third in points, trailing both Osborne and Macenko.

Macenko is hoping to record his first victory at Anderson Speedway this weekend.

He will have to best Taylor in his quest for that first career win on the high-banked quarter-mile oval.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.