It’s time for our weekly Friday morning tour around the racing world. From hot laps to the main event, here’s what’s on our mind this week.
Hot Laps: Watching Marco
One of the things we’ll be watching this weekend will be IndyCar Series veteran Marco Andretti competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Andretti has a lot of laps at Mid-Ohio and the Spire Motorsports team is a proven winner in the series.
Qualifying: The Nationals
It’s only 33 days until the Knoxville Nationals at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
Watch for SPEED SPORT’s Road To Knoxville and LIVE From Knoxville coverage presented by Toyota.
First Heat: Don’t Forget Brad
We’re all excited about next Thursday’s Eldora Million and King’s Royal at Eldora Speedway, but let’s not forget about the 35th annual Ohio Logistics Doty Classic on Tuesday night (July 11) at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park.
The event pays $15,000-to-win, $5,000 more than a regular World of Outlaws race.
Second Heat: For History’s Sake
Eldora Speedway ran the Mopar Million for non-winged sprint cars in 2003, with the event paying $1 million in total purse money. Jac Haudenschild earned $200,000 as the winner of the one-time event.
Third Heat: Sweet Home Chicago
NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race was one of the more entertaining NASCAR races in recent years.
There was intrigue throughout the event with the inclusion of wet tires, slick tires and the resultant strategy and the presence of international racers including surprise race winner Shane van Gisbergen and Formula 1 champion Jensen Button.
Fourth Heat: Let’s Spice It Up
With Formula 1 scheduled to run its penultimate race of the season in Las Vegas and Max Verstappen likely to have a third straight world championship on ice long before that, we’d like to see one of Sin City’s casinos post a huge bonus (let’s say $10 million) for Verstappen if he starts last and wins the race run on a temporary street course around The Strip.
Imagine the betting that could create.
Dash: Salute To Jean Lynch
Everyone in the sprint car racing world will miss Jean Lynch.
To know Jean was to love her. For decades, she was one of those we looked forward to seeing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and at big events across the land. She knew more about auto racing and performed more jobs in racing than most could ever dream to do. Our condolences to the Lynch family. God speed Jean!
B Main: Title Race
Heading into the first weekend in July, four-time defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion Brad Sweet holds a narrow four-point lead over David Gravel in the championship chase.
Sweet has six victories, 20 top-five finishes and 32 top-10 efforts in 36 races, while Gravel has won a series-best eight main events, while racking up 27 top-five finishes and 32 top-10 results.
And it could easily be a three-horse race with Carson Macedo in third, only 54 points behind Sweet entering this weekend’s doubleheader at Iowa’s 34 Raceway at Wilmot (Wis.) Raceway.
Feature: A Million Dollars
A field of more than 60 cars and drivers are expecting to contend for the $1 million winner’s prize in next week’s (July 13) unsanctioned Eldora Million winged sprint car race at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. It’s a landmark event for the sport, the drivers, teams and fans.
The best drivers in the business are entered to take a crack at the big money.
Eldora’s unique Every Lap Matters format will see drivers accumulate points during the July 12 preliminary night that will line things up for Thursday, but one of the big questions heading into the event is, “What would you do for a million dollars?”
As a result, some drivers will be making some wild moves in heat races just to get a crack at the big money.
It should be an interesting night.
And don’t forget, Jonathan Davenport banked $1 million last year for winning the late model version of The Million. Donnie Moran won the original $1 million late model race at Eldora back in 2001.