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NON-WING RACING RETURNS TO THE KNOXVILLE NATIONALS |
| LAKEWOOD, CA, JULY 2, 2004 - Sprint Car Racing Association
(SCRA) President and Non-Wing World Championship (NWWC) founder Ron Shuman was recently pleased to announce that non-wing sprint car racing will be a part of the August 11th portion of the Knoxville (IA) Nationals. This special 12-lap race, which will be run between the B and C Mains for the cars running the Nationals, is open to the top-ten finishers from the August 10th NWWC race at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. In addition, two "at-large" entries will be added to the field, which will make for a 12-car shootout that will pay $5,000 to the winner, and at least $500 to start. The race has been named "The Richard Zimmerman Challenged" by co-organizer Kevin Zimmerman in honor of his father, who passed away last October. Donations for this race may be sent to: Kevin Zimmerman, Ron, or Ralph Capatani at 4137 Briar Hill Dr., Grand Prairie,TX 75052. The total purse for this race will be at least $15,000, but Shuman and Zimmerman are optimistic that donations may significantly increase the purse. "This is a pretty neat deal because someone has a chance to win $30,000 the night before at Terry McCarl's show in Oskaloosa and can come back less than 24 hours later and win another $5,000," said Shuman, who recalled earning $5,000 for his Knoxville Nationals win in 1979. Shuman also added that Kevin Zimmerman will select one of the "at-large" starters and that the final invitation will be offered to the driver who is highest the SCRA point standings that didn't finish tenth or better during the running of the "Ultimate Non-Wing Challenge" at Oskaloosa. Prior to the Oskaloosa race, which will pay $500 just to start the A-Main, the SCRA sprint cars will kickoff the 6th Annual NWWC tour on August 6th and 7th at Hollywood Hills Speedway in San Felipe, New Mexico. Current SCRA point leader, and winner of the last five races, Rickie Gaunt has committed to this year's NNWC tour along with his Tony Smiley Motorsports teammate Charles Davis, Jr. Seventeen-year old Alan Ballard, who is third in SCRA points, has indicated that he is going on the tour, as well. Other drivers pledging to head east with the SCRA include: Ronnie Clark, Mark Nation, Alex Pruett, Mike Spencer, Casey Shuman, Seth Wilson and Rookie of the Year contender Mike Martin. Damion Gardner, who drove to victory at Williams Grove Speedway during a 2002 NWWC visit, says he's planning on hitting a few of the races on the tour. Harlan Willis' car #45 will be making the tow to the Midwest. Steve Ostling will pilot his car at Hollywood Hills Speedway before turning over the reins to defending NWWC Champion Bud Kaeding for the remainder of the races. Glenn Crossno plans to have Mike Kirby behind the wheel of his car for the Hollywood Hills and Oskaloosa Speedway stops. Verne Sweeney will also be on hand for the New Mexico race. That race will be video taped and aired at later time on the Outdoor Channel. |
