Area sprint car fans will have plenty of opportunities this weekend to satisfy their need for racing, as the national traveling series World of Outlaws Series makes its first Eastern Swing of 2013 and the Lucas Oil Empire Sprint Series visits Selinsgrove Speedway Saturday night for an open wheel doubleheader show.
The Outlaws head into this weekend's action, led by points leader and four-time feature winner Daryn Pittman, followed by Paul McMahan, Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana and Craig Dollansky, heading into the Lincoln Speedway show.
The Eastern Swing was slated to start at Lincoln on Wednesday night with 43 sprint cars in the pits, but rain forced the program to be rescheduled for Thursday (no information at press time), followed by a two-day show at Williams Grove Speedway tonight and Saturday. Middletown, N.Y.'s Orange County Fair Speedway hosts the tour on Sunday night, followed by Tuesday's trek to New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway.
The popular debate over the years has always found the Outlaws versus the Pennsylvania Posse battle very intense, and bragging rights are always the main topic between the two fan bases.
Following last week's Jack Gunn Memorial URC/358 Challenge event at Selinsgrove Speedway, another touring series heads into the Snyder County oval Saturday.
The Lucas Oil Empire Sprint Series, celebrating its 30th season, recently competed at Selinsgrove against the speedway's regulars on April 6, and multi-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart claimed the win that night.
Saturday's Mach 1 Chassis ESS Night will feature two complete sprint car programs. The 360 cubic inch ESS sprinters will compete in qualifying events leading up to the $3,000-to-win, 25-lap feature event, while the headline 358 sprint cars will also have a full program of qualifying and 25-lap feature. The late models and pro stocks are also on the card with action starting at 7 p.m.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas for this weekend's running of the 25th Annual Kansas Nationals. The event is the eighth of 24 races on the 2013 schedule. The series is off next weekend before heading East to Englishtown over May 31.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Johnny Gray (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) were the winners at last weekend's Summit Racing Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, an event rescheduled from the previous weekend.
The Kansas Nationals will be broadcast on ESPN2, with two hours of qualifying action presented at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and three hours of eliminations on Sunday evening at 8. Last year's event winners were David Grubnic (T/F), Jack Beckman (F/C) and Allen Johnson (P/S).
NOTES - Following last week's rainout, Big Diamond Speedway returns to action tonight with a show of modifieds, sportsman, roadrunners and street stocks. ... Also suffering rain issues last week, Grandview Speedway returns to action Saturday night with a show of modifieds, limited late models and sportsman cars.
Lincoln and Port Royal Speedways do not have racing scheduled for Saturday night.