Tribute Race For Jim Nace To Pay $8,000 To Win,$500 To Start
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A stellar cast of race car drivers from the 358, 360, and 410 sprint car divisions is expected to converge at Selinsgrove Speedway this Saturday, Sept. 4, to vie for the lucrative $36,500-plus purse that has been posted for the Tenth Annual NRG Controls North National Open for 358-360 sprint cars.
The 35-lap Open will pay $8,000 to win and $500 to start. The top five positions combined will pay out more than $22,000, with $1,000 to finish tenth. Mach I Chassis will pay a $500 bonus to the highest-finishing 358 sprint car driver in the A-main as well as a $1,000 B-main purse for non-qualifiers.
The event’s fast qualifier will earn a $100 bonus for the Fast Tees Fast Time Award in Memory of Jim Nace as well as a Hoosier racing tire from Miller’s Racing Parts of Camp Hill. The Middleburg IGA will sponsor the 60-inch tall championship trophy. All heat race winners will receive $100 certificates toward the purchase of a set of sprint car wings from Wings Unlimited and Sprint Aces will sponsor the $200 hard charger bonus.
Track gates will open at 5 p.m., with qualifying slated to begin at 7 p.m. The rain date, if needed, will be Sunday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. over the Labor Day holiday.
Pat Cannon & Blane Heimbach Sit A Close 1 & 2 In The Points Heading Into This Weekends Open
The 358-360 Open will be a tribute to the speedway’s late five-time sprint car champion Jim Nace, who was instrumental in helping to establish the 358 sprint car division as the track’s weekly headline open wheel division in 2001. Nace, who campaigned his popular Fast Tees No. 6 as both a driver and car owner in recent years, died last November following a seven-year battle with cancer.
Tentatively, the qualifying format for the race will include time trials, heat races, and a B-main; however, the format will ultimately be determined by the number of entries for the race. The race will be an open tire event and both 358 and 360 legal sprint car wings will be permitted on either race car. Additional technical specifications for this event can be reviewed by clicking the "Rules Link" below.
Daryn Pittman of Owasso, Okla., a two-time 410 sprint car winner at Selinsgrove this season, announced his intentions to compete in this weekend’s race along with Mark Smith of Tower City, who just last weekend scored the victory in the 358-360 challenge event at Williams Grove Speedway and has several wins in 410 sprint car competition this season.
In 358-360 sprint car National Open history at Selinsgrove Speedway, nine races have produced six different winners. TJ Stutts of Liverpool, who won the 358 sprint car season opener in March, will be seeking his third career victory in the Open, having won the 2001 and 2003 events.
Mark Smith & Trevor Lewis Both Know The Fast Way Around The Big Half Mile
Blane Heimbach of Selinsgrove, who won the 2009 edition of the Open in April of this year when it was rained out last fall, was also a winner of the event in 2005. Heimbach has a 358 sprint win at both Selinsgrove and Williams Grove Speedways in 2010 and recently took the 360 sprint car win in the United Racing Club-sanctioned event at Selingrove.
Central Pennsylvania’s 14-time 358 sprint car winner Pat Cannon of Etters won the Open in 2007 and 2008. Cannon, who is the points leader at Selinsgrove, Williams Grove, and in the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic overall central Pennsylvania 358 sprint car series, has nine wins at Selinsgrove.
Adrian Shaffer of Hallam was the Open champion in 2002. Defending track champion Nate Snyder of Halifax, who has two wins this season, won the 2004 race. Phil Walter of McClure, celebrating his 25th season in auto racing this year, took home the trophy in 2006.
Joining the 358-360 sprint cars on Sept. 4 will be the pro stocks in a complete series of heat races and a 15-lap main event.
Title sponsor NRG Controls North, Inc. is a full-service commercial controls company and systems integrator specializing in automated building controls and security systems for both the public and private sectors, including hospitals, universities, public schools, prisons, office buildings, and manufacturing facilities, to name a few.
Sprint car driver Josh Beard is recuperating at home from injuries he sustained in a turn one crash in the consolation race on Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway. Beard was released from the Sunbury Community Hospital early Sunday morning then further examined and released from the York Hospital later Sunday. Beard said he may be able to return to racing action as soon as Sept. 11, pending the results of a follow up examination by his physician. Cards can reach Josh Beard at 1175 Witmer Road; York, PA 17406.
JIM NACE MEMORIAL 28th ANNUAL 410 NATIONAL OPEN
$44,000 Purse - Possible $26,000 Winners Share
Oklahoma native Daryn Pittman, a two time Selinsgrove Speedway victor in 2010, is expected to compete in both the 358 / 360 & 410 Sprint Car Opens
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Selinsgrove Speedway will honor the life and racing career of the late Jim Nace, the track’s only five-time sprint car champion, with a special edition of the National Open for 410 sprint cars at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18.
The National Open’s distance of 44 laps and $44,000 purse, tributes to Nace’s race car number at the start of his career, will be divided into two 22-lap segments and two complete payoffs, with $6,000 to win each segment as an homage to the No. 6 sprint car Nace campaigned most recently as both a driver and a car owner.
Should one driver win both of the 22-lap segments, a $14,000 bonus will be awarded, pushing the winner’s total to $26,000 and the event’s purse to nearly $60,000, which would be the speedway’s third highest-paying sprint car race in its 65-year history, behind the 1989 and 1990 National Opens.
The $26,000 figure was selected to honor the Camel Express No. 26 sprint car Nace drove to a majority of his career championships and victories in central Pennsylvania.
The National Open’s format will include time trials, heat races, a B-main, and a dash. The winner of the first segment will start sixth in the second segment, giving a driver a realistic opportunity at winning both segments and claiming the lucrative bonus. Unlike the speedway’s two previous 410 sprint car races this season, the National Open will be an open tire race.
The fast qualifier will earn a $300 bonus for the Fast Tees Fast Time Award in Memory of Jim Nace sponsored by Chrystal Nace and Jamie Nace. Andy and Deb Davidson, owners of R.E. Davidson & Son, Inc. in Selinsgrove and long-time supporters of Nace’s racing career, have posted a $500 bonus to the driver who finishes sixth in each of the segments.
5 Time Open Winner, Fred Rahmer
Nace, who died last November following a seven-year battle with cancer, clinched Selinsgrove Speedway sprint car titles in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, and 1995. With 46 career 410 sprint car victories, Nace is currently ranked fourth on the speedway’s all-time career sprint car win list. The Thompsontown racer was also instrumental in helping to establish the 358 sprint car division as the track’s weekly headline open wheel division beginning in 2001. During this time, he recorded three career 358 sprint car wins.
Daryn Pittman of Owasso, Okla., won the only two 410 sprint car races to be held at the track this season. Pittman, who was victorious in the May 30 Keystone Cup race and the July 4 PA Speedweek finale, is expected to be a top contender to pull off the National Open sweep. Fred Rahmer of Salfordville is the only five-time winner of the National Open at Selinsgrove Speedway.
Joining the 410 sprint cars on the Sept. 18 racing program will be the late models and SpeedSTRs. Track gates will open at 5 p.m., with qualifying slated to begin at 7 p.m.
Purse for EACH of the 22-lap National Open segments: 1) $6,000 2) $2,000 3) $1,500 4) $1,400 5) $1,200 6) $1,100 7) $1,000 8) $900 9) $800 10) $700 11) $600 12) $550 13) $450 14) $425 15) $400 16) $375 17) $350 18-24) $325
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