KNOXVILLE, IOWA (DECEMBER 12, 2002) - Knoxville Raceway director of racing Ralph Capitani has confirmed today that the May 30-31, 2003, Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship weekend has been expanded to include the Pennsylvania-based American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC), the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association (RMMRA), and a new Friday night, $1,000-to-win event entitled the "King Doodlebug" invitational. The preliminary night 15-lap race will feature 15 cars from ARDC, RMMRA, Badger Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA), Midwest Auto Racing Association (MARA), and the North American Auto Racing Series (NAMARS).
According to 'Cappy', "We have expanded the Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship to a two-day format in 2003. In order to do this, we felt we needed to add another good-paying midget car race to the weekend schedule; thus, the King Doodlebug invitational featuring representatives from each of the five sanctions. The invitational will also feature the five Friday night heat winners and the top finishers from this past year's Knoxville race, Belleville Midget Nationals, Sun Prairie Fireman's Nationals, next month's Tulsa Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, and the 2002 National Midget Driver of the Year rankings, respectively."
The May 30-31 Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship will again be held on the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend. Friday night's midget car heats and King Doodlebug invitational will be bolstered by the $3,000-to-win Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters Classic show, a 360-cubic-inch winged sprint car event for drivers age fifty and over. Saturday night's midget car trio of B-Mains and $4,000-to-win, 30-car, 25-lap A-Main will be augmented by a complete show of winged 410 c.i. sprint car races, sponsored by Kin Folks and Magic Muffler. The induction banquet will be held on Saturday afternoon on the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Said Capitani today, "It is our goal to grow this show into one of the 'top five' midget car races in the country within three years. We are very excited to have ARDC and Rocky Mountain join the three original sanctions: NAMARS, MARA and Badger. The Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship is getting closer to being a true 'national' event featuring coast-to-coast sanctions."
In 2002, Mike Hess of Illinois scored a popular win over midget drivers from Australia and the United States, Pennsylvania-to-California. For more information on the weekend, fans and teams are urged to visit the track's web-site at www.knoxvilleraceway.com, or the museum's web-site at www.sprintcarhof.com
According to 'Cappy', "We have expanded the Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship to a two-day format in 2003. In order to do this, we felt we needed to add another good-paying midget car race to the weekend schedule; thus, the King Doodlebug invitational featuring representatives from each of the five sanctions. The invitational will also feature the five Friday night heat winners and the top finishers from this past year's Knoxville race, Belleville Midget Nationals, Sun Prairie Fireman's Nationals, next month's Tulsa Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, and the 2002 National Midget Driver of the Year rankings, respectively."
The May 30-31 Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship will again be held on the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend. Friday night's midget car heats and King Doodlebug invitational will be bolstered by the $3,000-to-win Hoosier Tire Midwest Masters Classic show, a 360-cubic-inch winged sprint car event for drivers age fifty and over. Saturday night's midget car trio of B-Mains and $4,000-to-win, 30-car, 25-lap A-Main will be augmented by a complete show of winged 410 c.i. sprint car races, sponsored by Kin Folks and Magic Muffler. The induction banquet will be held on Saturday afternoon on the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Said Capitani today, "It is our goal to grow this show into one of the 'top five' midget car races in the country within three years. We are very excited to have ARDC and Rocky Mountain join the three original sanctions: NAMARS, MARA and Badger. The Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship is getting closer to being a true 'national' event featuring coast-to-coast sanctions."
In 2002, Mike Hess of Illinois scored a popular win over midget drivers from Australia and the United States, Pennsylvania-to-California. For more information on the weekend, fans and teams are urged to visit the track's web-site at www.knoxvilleraceway.com, or the museum's web-site at www.sprintcarhof.com
