Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (December 6, 2011) – Following on the heels of the closest championship battle in the series’ 20-year history, the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National series unveiled an ambitious preliminary schedule for the 2012 season from the series office today.
The preliminary slate of events includes 63 nights of competition at 36 different tracks throughout 16 different states with one additional night to be announced. It marks the most ambitious slate of ASCS National events under the Lucas Oil banner after 34 nights of competition in 2011, 35 in 2010 and 29 in 2009.
While there will be 11 new venues in 2012, including Texas Motor Speedway, the series will also return to another nine tracks after extended absences.
The increased volume of race dates is largely a result of a revised purse structure that now finds single-night weekend events and the final night of two-night shows at $4,000 to win and $400 to start. A 30% decrease in the one-night purse and 21% decrease in the two-night total is greatly outweighed by a notable increase from 22 nights of competition to 55 nights of action outside of the traditional ASCS Knoxville Nationals, Short Track Nationals and Western World Championships events.
A flat amount of $500 tow money per night for each team among the top ten in points will also prove beneficial for full-time teams pursuing the $60,000 championship share.
The purse revisions, which also included cuts in sanction fees to the series, resulted from extensive meetings between ASCS officials and member teams over the course of the summer in efforts to continue to successfully grow the series.
The Lucas Oil Sprint Cars will kick off the 2012 campaign on new ground with a March 2-3 double at Peoria, Arizona’s Canyon Speedway Park. The following weekend, the series moves on to Yuma, Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway on March 9-10 before shifting to familiar ground with the 39th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals in Mesquite, TX, on March 23-24.
Canyon Speedway Park and Cocopah mark the first pair of new venues for the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars in 2012, with other new stops including Battleground Speedway (Highlands, TX), Valley Speedway (Grain Valley, MO), Rapid Speedway (Rock Rapids, IA), Electric City Speedway (Great Falls, MT), Willamette Speedway (Lebanon, OR), Silver Dollar Speedway (Chico, CA), Santa Maria Speedway (Santa Maria, CA), Salina Speedway (Salina, KS) and Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, TX).
Another nine tracks return to the ASCS National slate for the first time since at least 2005 including Peoria Speedway (Peoria, IL – 1997), Black Hills Speedway (Rapid City, SD – 1998), Salina Highbanks (Salina, OK – 2001), Golden Triangle Raceway Park (Beaumont, TX – 2002), Diamond Park Speedway (Murfreesboro, AR – 2003), I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, NE – 2005), Jones Motor Speedway (Chatham, LA – 2005), U.S. 36 Raceway (Cameron, MO – 2005) and Dodge City Raceway Park (Dodge City, KS – 2005).
Returning to the Lucas Oil ASCS National slate after a two-year hiatus will be the popular ASCS Speedweek. After the Devil’s Bowl Summer Nationals on June 15-16, Speedweek will follow at Louisiana’s Jones Motor Speedway (June 18), Arkansas’ Diamond Park Speedway (June 19), Oklahoma’s Lawton Speedway and Salina Highbanks (June 20 and 22) and then conclude at Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway (June 24).
A similar Speedweek is scheduled to follow after Knoxville festivities in August beginning at Illinois’ Peoria Speedway on Monday, August 13, with another Illinois event to be determined the following night. The August Speedweek will shift to Kansas’ Salina Speedway (August 16) before wrapping up in Oklahoma at Creek County Speedway and Lawton Speedway (August 17 and 18).
While there will be plenty of new stops along the way, many of the familiar ones remain as well including the Devil’s Bowl Spring and Winter Nationals, Riverside International Speedway’s Rock ‘N Roll 50 in April, Eagle Raceway’s Eagle Nationals in June, Northwest stops at Grays Harbor Raceway and Cottage Grove in July, the ASCS Knoxville Nationals in August, September’s Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway, I-30 Speedway’s Short Track Nationals and the November season-enders at Las Cruces Southern New Mexico Speedway and then USA Raceway’s Western World Championships.
Bixby, Oklahoma’s Shane Stewart is the reigning Lucas Oil ASCS National driver’s champion after nipping Albuquerque’s Johnny Herrera by just one point for the 2011 championship. While Stewart secured his second driver’s title in three years, Jason Johnson’s JJR No. 41 team took top honors in owner points for the second year in a row.
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters 2012 Schedule:
March 2-3 Canyon Speedway Park (Peoria, AZ)
March 9-10 Cocopah Speedway (Yuma, AZ)
March 23-24 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 39th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals
April 13 Golden Triangle Raceway Park (Beaumont, TX)
April 14 Battleground Speedway (Highlands, TX)
April 27 Salina Highbanks (Salina, OK)
April 28 Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR) – Rock ‘N Roll 50
May 11-12 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
May 23 Valley Speedway (Grain Valley, MO)
May 24 I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, NE)
May 26-27 Great American Dirt Track (Jetmore, KS)
June 8-9 Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) – Eagle Nationals
June 15-16 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 39th Annual Devil’s Bowl Summer Nationals
June 18 Jones Motor Speedway (Chatham, LA) – Speedweek
June 19 Diamond Park Speedway (Murfreesboro, AR) – Speedweek
June 20 Lawton Speedway (Lawton, OK) – Speedweek
June 22 Salina Highbanks (Salina, OK) – Speedweek
June 23 Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) – Speedweek
July 3 U.S. 36 Raceway (Cameron, MO)
July 6 Rapid Speedway (Rock Rapids, IA)
July 7 I-90 Speedway (Hartford, SD)
July 9 Black Hills Speedway (Rapid City, SD)
July 11 Electric City Speedway (Great Falls, MT)
July 13-14 Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, WA)
July 18 Willamette Speedway (Lebanon, OR)
July 20-21 Cottage Grove Speedway (Cottage Grove, OR)
July 25 Placerville Speedway (Placerville, CA)
July 27 Silver Dollar Speedway (Chico, CA)
July 28 Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway (Hanford, CA)
July 29 Santa Maria Speedway (Santa Maria, CA)
August 2-4 Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 22nd Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals
August 13 Peoria Speedway (Peoria, IL)
August 14 TBA (Illinois)
August 16 Salina Speedway (Salina, KS)
August 17 Creek County Speedway (Sapulpa, OK)
August 18 Lawton Speedway (Lawton, OK)
August 24 Salina Highbanks (Salina, OK)
August 25 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
September 1-2 Dodge City Raceway Park (Dodge City, KS)
September 15 Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, TX)
September 28-29 Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) – Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial
October 19-20 Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 39th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals
October 25-27 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 25th Annual Short Track Nationals
November 9-10 Southern New Mexico Speedway (Las Cruces, NM)
November 15-17 USA Raceway (Tucson, AZ) – 45th Annual Western World Championships
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.