LAS VEGAS — The Only Bulls Open Wheel Showdown is a little over a month a way and the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together.
Who will be there? Who will be the contenders? How many cars can we expect, are just a few of the questions that will soon be answered.
One of the more intriguing stories surrounding this year’s November 5-7 event at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the introduction of the Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts non-winged sprint cars.
Non-winged pavement sprint cars, as a whole, haven’t been as popular among fans as their winged counterparts in recent years. The cars exist in small pockets in select areas of the country.
That has not been the case since event promoter Davey Hamilton Jr. added the class earlier in the year. There are 59 cars entered for this $10,000-to-win race. This stat alone is impressive.
The annual Little 500 in Anderson, Indiana is considered the premier event for this class. By comparison, it has been many years since that event has saw this number of entrants, despite paying $25,000 to win.
Nearly every series across the U.S. and Canada will be represented regardless of whether it is a winged or non-winged series. The California based non-winged group NCMA headlines the entrant list with no less than seven series regulars.
Newly crowned series champion Tony Hunt leads a group that includes Austin Carter, David Goodwill, Shauna Hogg, Eric Humphries, Justin Kawahata and Jerry Kobza.
The Midwest-based 500 Sprint Car Tour also has seven series regulars entered. With two more races left on their schedule, including a race 2 weeks before the OWS, this number is subject to change.
500 SCT regulars already entered are Jackson Macenko, Tony Main, Kyle O’Gara, Tyler Roahrig, Bobby Santos III and Kody Swanson.
Other notables entered include two-time Little 500 champion Jake Trainor, former USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year Bryan Gossel and former Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series champion Colton Bettis.
The most intriguing aspect of the non-winged portion of the OWS are the number of predominantly winged drivers who will be attempting to do both sprint car events.
Other drivers who will attempt the double incudes Mike Murgoitio, Casey Tillman, Mike Anderson, Cory Lockwood, Chase Cabre, Ryan Burdett, Richie Larson among many others.
As we get closer to the event its all but certain some drivers could withdraw for various reasons, and others will come fourth to replace them. That’s the nature of the event.
But one thing is certain, the non-winged sprint car portion of the Only Bulls Open Wheel Showdown has all the makings to be a true all-star event for this class in the coming years.
