Sunday, August 21st IL State Fair ARCA Menards Series 60th Annual Atlas 100 Presented by MiteXstream+ 29th Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals

TEI PR

TEI PR

Active Member
The biggest Central Illinois race weekend of the year is coming up Friday-Sunday, August 19-21, 2022. It all begins with MOWA Sprint Cars at Lincoln Speedway on Friday, August 19 before heading to the Illinois State Fair on Saturday and Sunday afternoon for Silver Crown, ARCA, and Sportsman Presented MiteXstream. In addition, don't forget about Macon Speedway featuring the Camfield Memorial for POWRi Midgets on Saturday night. Full details below...

Illinois State Fair Racing
Friday-Saturday-Sunday, August 19, 20, 21

Illinois State Fairgrounds
Springfield, IL

Friday Night, August 19
Midwest Open Wheel Association MOWA Sprints + 5 Classes
Lincoln Speedway

Saturday, August 20
Illinois State Fair
USAC Silver Crown Series
60th Annual Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza
+ 29th Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals DIRTcar Sportsman Prelims

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 SPRINGFIELD TIMES:
7:00 AM Pits & Registration
9:00 AM Ticket Office & Grandstands
10:00-11:10 AM Silver Crown Practice
11:30 AM Silver Crown Qualifying
12:00 PM Sportsman Hotlaps
12:30 PM Silver Crown B-Main
1:00 PM Sportsman Heats
1:30 PM Pre-Race Ceremonies
2:00 PM USAC Silver Crown 60th Annual Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza

Saturday Night, August 21
POWRi Midgets/Micros + 3 Classes
Macon Speedway

Sunday, August 21
Illinois State Fair
Menards ARCA Menards SeriesPresented by Mite Extreme
60th Annual Atlas 100 Presented by MiteXstream
+ 29th Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21 SPRINGFIELD TIMES:
6:30 AM Pits & Registration
8:30 AM Ticket Office & Grandstands
10:00 AM ARCA Practice
10:30 AM Sportsman Practice
11:15 AM General Tire ARCA Pole Qualifying
11:45 PM 29th Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals
12:00 PM Driver Autograph Session
1:00 PM 60th Annual Atlas 100 Presented by Mite XStream

(*Don’t forget our two other local shows the same weekend, Lincoln Speedway Friday, August 19 and Macon Speedway Saturday night, August 20.)

SPRINGFIELD TICKET INFO:
Tickets will be available on raceday or by calling the State Fair office at 217-782-1979. Info and tickets can also be obtained by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200. Discount tickets for Sunday also available at Menards.

RESERVED SEATING
Advance Tickets (Presale)
$25 Adults Per Day
$10 Children 11 & Under Per Day
Day Of Tickets (At Gate)
$30 Adults Per Day
$10 Children 11 & Under Per Day

INFIELD TICKETS
$20 Adults
$5 Children 11 & Under

PIT PASSES
$40 Adults Each Day
$20 Children 11 & Under Each Day
$50 Two-Day Pit Pass

INFIELD PARKING
$5 For Those Parking On Infield With No Infield Or Pit Passes

HOST HOTELS
Carpenter Street Hotel
888-779-9100 or www.carpenterstreethotel.com

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Fiftieth Anniversary of Big Al’s Springfield Sweep!
By Jay Hardin

Track Enterprises

Track Enterprises celebrates 29 years of promoting races on the Springfield Mile on the weekend of August 20-21. This weekend is also a time to honor the 50th anniversary one of the great accomplishments in motorsports, the weekend sweep by the late Al Unser of both the Atlas-Allen Crowe 100 stock car race and the Bettenhausen 100 dirt car race.

In the history of the USAC and ARCA stock car series, and the USAC and CART championship series, very few “doubleheaders” since 1950 were conducted outside of the fairground miles. During the 1970’s some same day doubleheaders were scheduled at venues such as Trenton, Ontario and Texas World Speedway. However, by then the weekend doubleheaders of stock car and championship dirt car racing at Springfield and DuQuoin were well established.

Prior to 1972 no driver had won both races on the same weekend at either fairground mile, much less a scheduled doubleheader between the champ and stock cars. Coming into the 1972 Illinois State Fair, a different type of program would greet fans and competitors. Midgets were added to the card on Friday, with the upright champ cars moving from Saturday to Sunday, and the stockers moving to Saturday. When the entry lists were released, Al Unser, Jigger Sirois and Ralph Ligouri each had stock and champ car rides. A.J. Foyt likely would have been in both races, however he was still recuperating from a nasty incident on Memorial Day at DuQuoin and was sticking with his dirt champ car.

On Saturday, Unser qualified the Ford of Peoria car owner Rudy Hoerr on the pole and after swapping the lead with Jack Bowsher, Sal Tovella and Don White took over for good on lap 54 and led the rest of the way. The win put him in position to sweep, however 31 other drivers and cars stood in his way for Sunday’s Bettenhausen 100 dirt car race. Unser started 7th as Lee Kunzman started up front. Kunzman led 10 miles before Foyt moved to the front. Unser bided his time, knowing the 4 time Bettenhausen winner was just coming back from injuries. On lap 29 Unser took the Viceroy Special into the lead and never looked back. Al banked over $11,000 for the weekend.

Since that day A.J. Foyt captured a couple of stock car-champ car doubles, one at Texas, one at Ontario. But no one has done so on the dirt. A.J. Fike came closest in 2013, winning the Bettenhausen and crossing the line first in the Atlas-Crowe 100, but a penalty assessed on a restart took him out of the top slot.

Al Unser went on to win the next week on the Indiana State Fair Mile in Hoerr’s Ford. Al captured another Bettenhausen win (1975) and two more Hoosier Hundred wins (1972-73) plus two more Indy 500 wins in his storied career. He remains one of twelve drivers to attempt the Springfield sweep, and the only driver to successfully use the broom.

Fike is the last driver to try both. At press time it is questionable if anyone will try the double this year, so it is likely that Al’s remarkable accomplishment will be solely his for another year.

The state fair weekend begins with the Bettenhausen 100 on August 20 for the USAC Silver Crown cars, and ends with the ARCA Atlas 100 and Sportsman Nationals on Sunday August 21.

Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office. Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 21 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20.

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(Photo from midwestracingarchives.com)
 
Forty years ago Bay Darnell realized a 20 year dream and won the Atlans-Allen Crowe 100 at Springfield
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Breidinger Looks to Be First Woman to Enter Springfield’s Victory Lane
By Jay Hardin
Track Enterprises

California’s Toni Breidinger comes into the ARCA Atlas 100 at the Illinois State Fair seeking to become the first woman to win a major national championship auto race on the Springfield Mile, August 21. Breidinger is currently 5th in the ARCA Menard’s title chase with 4 top 10 finished and is also looking to break a victory drought in the ARCA series.

The 23 year old has a diverse racing background starting in open wheel cars and winning over 15 USAC midget races before transitioning to the bigger USAC Silver crown cars and to stock cars. Breidinger finished 9th in the 2021 Atlas Allen Crowe 100 completing all 100 miles and had a creditable run two weeks later at DuQuoin. Of the top 6 in ARCA points she is the only one with any mile dirt track experience.

During the early part of the 20th century women competed on the same race tracks as the men, even before the passage of the Suffrage Act. Ladies such as Elfreda Mais and Ora Holbein competed on the dusty dirt tracks of America including the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Most of the races they competed in were not true contests, but were “hipped” meaning the outcome was pre-determined. Women drivers disappeared from the Springfield landscape for nearly 80 years, before resurgence from the ladies in 2000. Two women competed in the ARCA Atlas-Allen Crowe 100 that year, with Shawna Robinson and Karla Lampe participating and Robinson finishing 12th on the lead lap. In 2020 Hailie Deegan posted the best finish in a major race at Springfield by any female driver, leading one lap and finishing second to eventual winner Ryan Unzicker. Breidinger has a couple of other aces up her uniform sleeves come August 21. The Venturini team she drives for has won 5 of the last 9 ARCA events at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and crew chief Kevin Reed went to victory lane with Brennan Poole in 2013 and Christian Eckes in 2018.

The state fair weekend begins with the Bettenhausen 100 on August 20 for the USAC Silver Crown cars, and ends with the ARCA Atlas 100 and Sportsman Nationals on Sunday August 21. Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office. Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 21 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20
 
Illinois State Fair Race Weekend Is Upon Us...

(Springfield, IL) The biggest weekend of Central Illinois racing begins this Friday night August, 19th at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, followed by the Springfield Mile Saturday afternoon, August 20 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman and Macon Speedway Saturday night with POWRi National Midgets. Completing the weekend will be Sunday afternoon, August 21 with ARCA and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fair.

The staple events of the weekend are Saturday, August 20th with the USAC Silver Crown National Championship 59th Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza and the ARCA Menards Series Atlas 100 plus the Sportsman Nationals on Sunday afternoon, August 21st. The whole weekend is presented by MiteXstream.

The long standing USAC Silver Crown race has been a staple for the Illinois State Fair capping off the final weekend of the fair. USAC star Kody Swanson leads in points for the 2022 USAC Silver Crown season. Swanson has dominated the last three USAC Silver Crown events taking home the win at Toledo, Winchester, and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Swanson also took home the win last year at the Mile, besting a field of 31 competitors to take home the win at the historic Mile. A great field of USAC stars is expected for what is just one of two mile long dirt races for the Silver Crown Series.

The ARCA Menards Series has the chance to make history at the Springfield Mile as two female competitors will get the shot to be the first female champion of the famed dirt mile. Toni Breidinger and Amber Balcaen sit both 5th and 6th in championship points in ARCA. While both have had good runs this season they both look to the Mile for their first ARCA Menards Series win. The ARCA Menards Series have seen some fantastic racing this year from a group of young and upcoming racing talent. A diverse field of cars will grace the Mile for just one of two dirt races for the ARCA series.

Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office. Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 21 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20.

Top Stories:
*The national touring USAC Silver Crown National Championship and ARCA Menards Series return to the Historic Springfield Mile Saturday, August 20th and 21st

*The ARCA Menards Series has the chance to make history with two female drivers entered in the Atlas 100 on Sunday afternoon, no female has won at the historic Mile in all of these years

*Two local dirt track shows also highlight the weekend with Lincoln Speedway starting the racing weekend off Friday Night and Macon Speedway running Saturday Night after the Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza

*USAC Silver Crown Star, Kody Swanson, has had a dominating run this year in the Silver Crown Series winning the last three races in the series, Swanson is also the defending champion at the Springfield Mile

*All of the top USAC and ARCA stars are expected out this weekend to test their skills at one of the countries most historic dirt tracks

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So Long Bill, It’s Been A Great Run
By Jay Hardin
Track Enterprises
Normal’s Bill Hendren, current car owner of 2020 Atlas Allen Crowe 100 winner Ryan Unzicker, has decided to retire after this season. Bill is the longest known participant of the stock car events at the Ilinois State Fairgrounds, having served in some capacity since 1974.
Bill’s journey began with fellow McLean County resident Ken Rowley and together they won the 1974 USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year award. The duo also finished 9th at Springfield behind winner Roger McCluskey. Over the next few seasons Ken and Bill enjoyed runs on the USAC Stock Car circuit, including usually making the dirt shows at Springfield and DuQuoin.
Bill stepped away from ownership for over a decade but remained involved in some form or another, at times helping out financially or as a crew member. Bill returned to ownership several years ago, Ken Rowley set two track records at DuQuoin and nearly won the 1993 Allen Crowe 100 giving the team its best (3rd) Springfield finish. Unfortunately Ken Rowley was forced to retire after the 1998 season. Hendren then turned to veteran Bob Strait who promptly set the team’s Chevrolet on the pole for the 1999 event. Strait ran sporadically for the Hendred outfit for the next few seasons, with the team helping Mark Littleton for a few years before Unzicker became the selected shoe for Hendren Motorsports.
Unzicker led laps at DuQuoin and equaled Rowley’s 3rd in 2016, but still had yet to lead a lap at Springfield. All that changed in 2020, when he led a record 102 of 103 laps and gave Hendren a long sought after Springfield victory. Earlier this year Hendren announced this year would be his last. To Bill Hendren we say so long and it’s been a great ride.
Fans can come out to the Illinois State Fair August 21 to wish Bill Hendren a fond farewell. The state fair weekend begins with the Bettenhausen 100 on August 20 for the USAC Silver Crown cars, and ends with the ARCA Atlas 100 and Sportsman Nationals on Sunday August 21. Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office. Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 21 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20.
 
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