MARION, Ill. (June 21, 2011)–An all-star field of drivers will race to win $10,000 for first place in the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series’ 66 Mike Phillips Memorial in a three-day event from Thursday to Saturday (June 23-25) at Southern Illinois Raceway.
The $10,000 for taking Saturday’s 40-lap feature on the 1/8th-mile track will be the largest for Micros in the United States this year.
Season points leader Trent Beckinger second-place Joe B. Miller, Dereck King, Andrew Felker, Mike Hudson, J.B. Gilbert, Ryan Guyett, Paul Nienhiser and Jordan Campbell are among the POWRi regulars entered. Others include Jeremy Camp, POWRi’s 2010 Micros champion, Rick King, Nick Knepper, Travis Senter Jr., Blake Hahn, Triston Tidmore, Ryan Greth and Tyson Hall.
Promoter Brad McDaniel, a POWRi Micros driver who is putting on his first event, expects more than 100 entries.
“I definitely think we’ll break 100,” McDaniel said. “I have 77 entries in hand and I’ve talked to 20 more guys who didn’t pre-enter. It’s pretty much everybody and anybody out there. It’s hard to turn down this much money when you’re racing Micro sprints.”
Beckinger, of Evansville, Ind., has two wins and hasn’t finished below sixth in seven POWRi starts this season. He raced Micros weekly at SIR from 2006 to 2009.
“Southern Illinois Raceway was our home track when we got into Micro sprints,” Beckinger said. “We have high hopes for this race.”
Dereck, Rick and Kara King, all from Vienna, Ill., also have extensive experience at SIR. Dereck King is a three-time POWRi Micros champion, sister Kara was fourth in the points last year and father Rick is regarded as one of the best Micro drivers ever.
“Rick King really is the king of SIR,” McDaniel said. “He’s been at track so many years and has so many wins. It’s great he’s entered.”
Miller, of Millersville, Mo., won the prestigious 600 Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., last year and has seven top-sevens in POWRi this year. Felker, of Carl Junction, Mo., has a POWRi win at Peoria, Ill., and Hudson won in the series at Lincoln, Ill., last week.
Senter, of Osceola, Ark., won the 600 Nationals at I-30 in 2006 and 2008 and finished second at West Plains, Mo., in one of his two POWRi events this year.
Hahn, of Sapulpa, Okla., was the ASCS2 Outlaw champion last season. Hall, of Longview, Texas, is a front runner in ASCS2. Tidmore, of Hernando, Miss., won the POWRi event at West Plains on June 10. Greth, of New Cumberland, Pa., has taken prestigious wins in Pennsylvania. Knepper, of Belleville, Ill., is the points leader this season in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series.
McDaniel, a 24-year-old from Carbondale, Ill., decided to promote the 66 Mike Phillips Memorial to honor his late car owner. Phillips, of Herrin, Ill., died last June 24 at the age of 59.
“I decided to do the event because of him,” McDaniel said. “I owe him so much. He did so much for me and the only way I could show my appreciation and pay him back was to honor him with a big race. It’s the first race I’ve ever promoted, the biggest Micro Sprint race in the country for my first event.
“I love racing and have been around it my entire life. I’ve always paid close attention to how things are run and picked up on the details to try to find out what drivers do and don’t like. I’m putting together a fun and good race.”
The event begins Thursday with practice from 6 to 9 p.m. A full program of heats, qualifiers and a feature begins with hot laps Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. The top six finishers in Friday’s 30-lap feature will be guaranteed spots in Saturday’s feature, with a dash that pays $555 to win determining by finish the starting positions for the front three rows. There will be 24 cars in both features. Saturday’s feature pays $500 to start.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series points standings (after eight of 25 events: 1. Trent Beckinger 1,260, 2. Joe B. Miller 1,190, 3. Dereck King 1,060, 4. J.B. Gilbert 900, 5. Jordan Campbell 870, 6. Andrew Felker 850, 7. Ryan Guyett 785, 8. Jacob Patton 745, 9. Paul Nienhiser, 10. Kara King 550.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series 2011 race winners: Du Quoin, Ill.–Ryan Langston; Belleville, Ill.–Aaron Andruskevitch; Wayne County, Ill.–Dereck King; Brownstown, Ill.–Trent Beckinger; Peoria, Ill.-Andrew Felker; West Plains, Mo.–Triston Tidmore; Springfield, Mo.–Trent Beckinger; Lincoln, Ill.—Mike Hudson.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.