6/19/2013
Open Wheel Nationals Format & Other Info
Open Wheel Nationals Format Released
By: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director (6-19-13)
St. Croix Valley Raceway, St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin
With the 2nd Annual Open Wheel Nationals fast approaching, details on the racing format for the weekend have been released. The Friday night June 28 program will see feature races in all four divisions, as the mighty modifieds take to the track for a full program along with the WISSOTA Midwest Mods and UMSS Traditional Sprints. The UMSS Winged 360 sprints will also run a full preliminary program with the exact format determined by car count. The modifieds and Midwest mods will use a draw/redraw format with 24 cars qualifying for their feature races. The UMSS Traditional Sprints will run their usual race program consisting of heat races, with the lineup determined by draw, and then the feature race lineup will be determined by passing/finishing points from the heat races with the high point driver pulling the invert pill.
For the UMSS winged sprints, the format for the Friday night premlinary program will be determined by car count as indicated below.
40 cars or more: Draw for heat races. (4) Heats will be run unless 48 or more cars are on hand, then (6) heats will be run. Passing/finishing points will be earned in the heat races. Following the heat races, cars will be divided into two groups based on the points they earned in their heat race alternating from the top on down (example: high point to group 1, 2nd to group 2, 3rd to group 1, 4th to group 2 and so on). The top (20) cars in points in each group will run a feature race with the lineup determined by heat race points (straight-up start). Each feature race will be 20 laps in distance and pay $1,000 to win. Standard UMSS points will be earned in the feature races. Feature race points will be added to the heat race points to determine a drivers total point score for the night. The top (6) drivers in over all points at the end of the night will automatically transfer to the pole dash and championship feature races on Saturday night.
33-39 cars: Draw for heat races. (4) heats will be run with passing/finishing points earned. The top (16) cars in passing/finishing points after the heat races will be locked into the "A" Feature (straight-up start). The remaining cars will run one or two "B" Features depending on car count with the top four or top two cars transferring to the back of the "A" Feature. Cars not transferring to the "A" Feature (non-qualifiers) will earn "B" Feature points. The "A" Feature race will be 25 laps in distance and pay $1,500 to win. Standard UMSS points will be earned in the feature race. Feature race points (or non-qualifier points) will be added to the heat race points to determine a drivers total point score for the night. The top (6) drivers in over all points at the end of the night will automatically transfer to the pole dash and championship feature races on Saturday night.
32 cars or less: Draw for heat races. Number of heats will be determined by car count (3 or 4 heats). Drivers will earn passing/finishing points in their heat races. All cars will transfer to (2) Challenge Races. The invert for Challenge Race starting positions is determined by finishing positions in each heat race. Typically, the last two finishing positions in each heat race do not make the invert. Passing/finishing points will be awarded in each Challenge Race. Heat race and Challenge race points will be combined with the top (20) cars in points transferring to the feature. The high point driver will draw for the feature race invert (0, 4 or 6) with the remainder of the field lining straight-up. The feature race will be 25 laps in distance and pay $1,500 to win. Standard UMSS points will be earned in the feature race. Feature race points will be added to the heat and Challenge race points to determine a drivers total point score for the night. The top (6) drivers in over all points at the end of the night will automatically transfer to the pole dash and championship feature races on Saturday night.
On Saturday June 29, the UMSS Traditional Sprints and unsanctioned Midwest mods will run full programs with the same race format as they did on Friday night. The UMSS Winged sprints will run heat races for all but the top (6) cars in points from Friday night. Draw for heat races. The number of heats will be determined by the number of cars on hand. Passing/finishing points will be earned in the heat races and those points will be added to a drivers Friday night point score. The top (4) drivers in combined points after the heats will start the championship feature race in positions 7 - 10. The top (6) drivers in points from Friday night will run a six lap Pole Dash with starting positions determined by draw. The order of finish in the Pole Dash will determine the first six starting positions in the championship feature. The remaining drivers will run (2) Last Chance Races with the top five finishers in each race transferring to the championship feature straight-up in positions 11 - 20. The lineup for the Last Chance Races will be straight-up by total points. The championship feature race will be 35 laps in distance and pay $5,000 to win.
The UMSS winged sprints certainly have an entertaining race format based on the car count. Should the Friday night show rain out, the Saturday night program will have the scheduled classes of cars. The UMSS winged sprints would then utilize their standard one night race format based on number of cars (32 or less or 33 or more). If the Saturday night show rains out, there is no rain date due to the World of Outlaws show at CLS on Sunday night. The Minnesota Mafia will be participating both nights at the Open Wheel Nationals with Hard Charger and Tough Luck Awards. The Minnesota Mafia is a premier race fan group based in Jackson, MN providing outstanding support to the sprint car racing community here in the Upper Midwest. GRP Motorsports has also added some money to both the Traditional and UMSS winged sprint purses.
Pit gates open at 2:00 PM on both Friday and Saturday with the stands opening at 4:00 PM each day. Draw cut-off will be 6:20 PM. The UMSS drivers meeting will be held at 6:00 PM each night. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:40 with racing action to follow. There will be an open practice session on Thurday night June 27 for all classes of cars. The Thursday night practice will be held from 6:00-9:00 PM with pit gates opening at 4:00 PM. The cost for practice is $30.00 per car (includes driver). All others in the pits will be $5 each on Thursday. Stands are free Thursday night.
Free camping will be available at the track (no hook-ups). The race will be broadcast on XSAN.tv one of the premier video internet broadcasting companies in the nation. Pit passes each night are $35 for adults. The UMSS winged sprints ONLY have a $125 entry fee that covers both Friday and Saturday night. If the success of the inaugural Open Wheel Nationals last year is any indication, the second edition of this event should be an outstanding two nights of racing at the 1/4 mile dirt oval located near St. Croix Falls, WI. Racers and fans will certainly want to make plans to attend the 2nd Annual Open Wheel Nationals on June 28-29.
Feature race payouts:
UMSS Winged Sprints:
Friday Qualifying Features: ?1st $1,000; 2nd $625; 3rd $500; 4th $400; 5th $325; 6th $285; 7th $250; 8th $215; 9th $200; 10th $150; 11th-20th $125.
Note: If only one feature race is run, it will pay $1,500 to win with second on back as indicated above.
Saturday Championship Feature: ?1st $5,000; 2nd $3,000; 3rd $1,500; 4th $1,250; 5th $1,000; 6th $900; 7th $850; 8th $800; 9th $775; 10th $750; 11th $725; 12th $700; 13th $675; 14th $650; 15th $625; 16th $600; 17th $550; 18th - 20th $500.
UMSS Traditional Sprints:
Friday Feature: ?1st $500; 2nd $300; 3rd $250; 4th $200; 5th $175; 6th $150; 7th $125; 8th $100; 9th $100; 10th $80; 11th-20th $75.
Saturday Feature: ?1st $500; 2nd $375; 3rd $275; 4th $225; 5th $175; 6th $165; 7th $150; 8th 135; 9th $125; 10th $115; 11th-20th $100.
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Friday Feature: ?1st $500; 2nd $350; 3rd $250; 4th $200; 5th $190; 6th $180; 7th $170; 8th $160; 9th $150; 10th $125; 11th $100; 12th $90; 13th $80; 14th $75; 15th $70; 16th $65; 17th $60; 18th $60; 19th-24th $50.
Unsanctioned Midwest Mod Saturday Feature: 1st $750: 2nd $500; 3rd $400; 4th $300; 5th $200; 6th $190; 7th $180; 8th $170; 9th $160; 10th $155; 11th $150; 12th $145; 13th $140; 14th $130; 15th $120; 16th $110; 17th $100; 18th $90; 19th-24th $75.
Modified Friday Feature: ?1st $1,500; 2nd $1,200; 3rd $1,000; 4th $800; 5th $700; 6th $600; 7th $500; 8th $400; 9th $300; 10th $275; 11th $250; 12th $225; 13th $200; 14th $175; 15th $150; 16th $125; 17th-24th $100.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
