BENTON, Missouri (Tuesday, June 24, 2014) – As nationwide interest grows in the second annual Jim Hall Memorial Race at Benton Raceway Park, so have the top prizes for what’s expected to be a huge crowd of winged outlaw sprints, crate late models and open-wheel modifieds.
Team EERC and Liquid Nitro are the latest to add to the total jackpot of events this Friday, June 24, held to honor the career of Jim Hall, a longtime racer from Charleston, Mo., who died in early 2012 after an extended illness. He was 78.
Team EERC has pledged $2,250 in product certificates to the top three finishers of the modified division’s feature race, while Liquid Nitro will award a full case of its liquid energy drinks to the winner of each of the night’s three feature events. Those prizes are in addition to the rich purses that have drawn interest from race teams in several states.
All three high-speed classes will compete in preliminary heat races and B-mains on the high-banked 3/8-mile oval track, then each will race in one of three 33-lap A-main feature events. The three 33-lappers add up to “99,” which was the number that Hall’s cars carried for much of his five-decade career.
Racing Friday begins at 7 p.m.
Hall 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 competed at the track, and several still compete there in weekly events. They’ll be among those racing for hefty payouts Friday.
That evening’s outlaw sprint class — featuring the same style of 410-cubic inch sprints featured on national touring series — will pay $5,000 to its winner. The crate late model winner will take home $3,000, and the modified division winner will collect $2,000. There’s a $100 bonus for the highest-finishing sprint using a 360-cubic inch motor.
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 dirt racing.
Tickets for Friday’s 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 frisbee and T-shirt tosses.
Because of race teams traveling long distances to compete, the track will open at noon Thursday to allow for race team parking. It will also be open all day Friday to allow for early entry.
Benton Raceway Park is located at 100 County Road 505, two miles east of the Benton exit at Interstate 55. For more information, including full payouts, rules and directions to the track, visit Facebook.com/JHallMemorial or BentonRacewayPark.com.