WAYCROSS, GA (September 26, 2012) – The excitement is building for what is expected to be one of the biggest dirt late model events of the year. This weekend’s 9th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA will pay the largest purse of any super dirt late model event in the country. A total purse of over $260,000 will include a $7,000 to win event on Thursday and a $7,000 to win event on Friday and then the $40,000 to win championship race on Saturday night. Racers from all over the country will be competing for this huge purse with over seventy (70) drivers already pre-entered for the event. This year’s event is open to all late model drivers that would like to compete.
Lucas Oil Production Studios will also be on hand to tape this mega event for a SPEED and MAVTV broadcast. This event will air on SPEED on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 4PM EST and on MAVTV at a later date.
Numerous activities will also take place for fans attending the three day event. The Knoxville Late Model Nationals Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, September 28th. The Knoxville Wrestling Club will be hosting a charity golf tournament at the Pine Knolls Golf and Country Club in Knoxville. The tournament is a 4 person best ball event with a 9 am start. For entry go to http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/FileGet.aspx?id=201. To register to play and more information about the golf tournament contact Joe Cunningham at 641-820-0283.
On Saturday, there will be a special Hall of Fame Auction held at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum behind turn two at 12 noon. Items up for auction include driver and team donated items and fans are encouraged to visit the Sprint Car Hall of Fame Museum as well. Also on Saturday at 3PM, there will be a special meet and greet driver autograph session in the Dyer-Hudson Hall building directly behind the main grandstands. Last year’s driver autograph session ran for over two hours as hundreds of fans lined up to meet, talk and get pictures and autographs from more than 25 drivers. Fans are encouraged to bring their favorite apparel and photos for the drivers to autograph.
The vendor/midway trade show will run from 1PM to 7PM each day with exhibits on the Midway and at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum. Many vendors, driver T-shirt trailers, race car simulator, along with food vendors will open for fans to enjoy all weekend.
“This is one huge an exciting event for our great fans to attend. We always look forward to working with the great staff at Knoxville Raceway and being a part of the great tradition and history of the Knoxville Raceway. The whole weekend of festivities and the great racing is surely a “must attend” event for race fans from all across the country”, stated Ritchie Lewis, Director – Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
For more information about the 9th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals, area hotels, restaurants, and general information about Knoxville, IA, visit the track website at: www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
For ticket information on the 9th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals go to the track’s website at www.knoxvilleraceway.com or you can call the track office during normal business hours at (614) 842-5431.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series log onto: www.lucasdirt.com.
To keep up with all the action “Live” as it happens, click on Roush Yates Performance Parts live timing and scoring page at www.lucasdirt.com/live.
Be sure to visit the series on our social media outlets as well at: http://www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and http://twitter.com/#!/lucasdirt
Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Event Purse
Thursday and Friday 30-Lap Featue Events ($7,000-to-win):
1. $7,000, 2. $4,000, 3. $3,000, 4. $2,000, 5. $1,500, 6. $1,000, 7. $900, 8. $800, 9. $700, 10. $600, 11. $580, 12. $560, 13. $540, 14. $520, 15. $500, 16. $490, 17. $480, 18. $470, 19. $460, 20. $450, 21. $440, 22. $430, 23. $410, 24. $400
Saturday 100-Lap Feature Event ($40,000-to-win):
1. $40,000, 2. $20,000, 3. $10,000, 4. $8,750, 5. $7,500, 6. $7,000, 7. $6,500, 8. $6,000, 9. $5,500, 10. $5,000, 11. $4,500, 12. $4,000, 13. $3,500, 14. $3,400, 15. $3,300, 16. $3,200, 17. $3,100, 18. $3,000, 19. $2,900, 20. $2,800, 21. $2,700, 22. $2,600, 23. $2,500, 24. $2,500, 25. $2,500, 26. $2,500, 27. $2,500, 28. $2,500, 29. $2,500, 30. $2,500
Previous Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Winners
2004 – Brian Birkhofer
2005 – Scott Bloomquist
2006 – Brian Shirley
2007 – Brady Smith
2008 – Tim McCreadie
2009 – Scott Bloomquist
2010 – Billy Moyer
2011 – Don O’Neal
About Lucas Oil Products: Founded in 1989 by Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, Lucas Oil Products, Inc. has established itself as one of the fastest-growing lubrication product lines in the consumer automotive aftermarket, featuring a line of engine oils, greases, gear lubes, problem-solving additives, and car-care products. Through innovative product research and development, along with aggressive marketing programs, Lucas Oil has established itself as a worldwide leader in the lubrication industry. Motorsports has always been part of the Lucas Oil culture and the cornerstone of the company’s marketing strategy. Such passion for motorsports has inspired Lucas Oil to sponsor many race teams, events and series at all levels, including, NHRA, IRL, ASCS, NASCAR, IHRA and many more. Lucas Oil has also taken ownership and operational control of a number of high profile racing properties, such as: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series, Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Lucas Oil Modified Series, Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. and the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe, CA.
In 2007 Lucas Oil founded its own production house, Lucas Oil Production Studios, dedicated to producing high action motorsports television. Currently Lucas Oil Production Studios produces over 300 hours of original programming for networks such as CBS, NBC Sports, SPEED, and MAVTV. More information on Lucas Oil Products, Inc. can be found by visiting www.LucasOil.com.
About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series: Founded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is the nations’ premier dirt late model sanctioning organization. It currently sanctions 46 events in 19 states in 2012 and receives national exposure through taped-delayed series events that are shown on CBS, CBS Sports, SPEED, NBC Sports and MAVTV.