BENTON, Missouri (Monday, June 16, 2014) – Race fans across the Midwest watched longtime Charleston, Mo., racer Jim Hall sling dirt on high-banked tracks for parts of five decades.
On Friday, June 27, racers and fans will celebrate his storied career with the region’s biggest auto racing event of the summer.
The second annual Jim Hall Memorial Race will gather racers from several states for a night of fast-paced, wheel-to-wheel competition in the outlaw winged sprint, crate late model and A-modified divisions at Benton Raceway Park near Benton, Mo. Racing begins at 7 p.m.
Hall, who died from an extended illness in February 2012 at age 78, was among the first racers on the track when the Scott County oval track opened in May 1991. In the years since, a handful of family members have successfully tackled the 3/8-mile, high-banked dirt oval. Several still compete weekly at the track and will be among those racing for hefty payouts on June 27.
That evening’s outlaw sprint class will pay $5,000 to its winner, while the crate late model winner will take home $3,000. The A-modified winner will collect $2,000.
Hall experienced success at Benton Raceway Park in both the late model and sprint divisions, where he spent the final years of a career that began in 1954 in Flint, Mich. After moving to Southeast Missouri, he became a top contender at now-closed tracks in Cape Girardeau, Charleston, Sikeston, Blytheville, Ark., and Marion, Ill. His career led to wins throughout the Midwest and South, and for two years in a row he held the distinction of winning season championships at three different race tracks. He ultimately landed in the NASCAR ranks for a handful of Winston Cup superspeedway events in the mid-1980s before returning to the more familiar dirt surfaces.
Tickets for the June 27 event are $12 for ages 13 and up, $7 for ages 7 to 12, and free for ages 6 and under. Pit entry is $35 for ages 13 and up, and $15 for ages 12 and under.
Proceeds from a 50-50 raffle will benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There also will be drawings for a new bicycle, as well as a frisbee and T-shirt toss.
Benton Raceway Park is located at 100 County Road 505, two miles east of the Benton exit at Interstate 55. For more information, visit www.BentonRacewayPark.com.