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They increased the purse to pay $5,000 to win sprint and $2,500 midgets each night. That is pretty good money for a non-wing show. They may need to put in more seats to hold all the people. This was my favorite race/event of last year.
I bet there will be more NorCal wing drivers this year. TK, JA and T-dub will be at Skagit for the WoO show but I bet the rest of them will be here.
From Tommy Hunt: ,Sacramento……..The sprint car winners for this year’s Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway will pocket a cool $5,000 each night of the Labor Day weekend event, double the payoff for last year’s inaugural race, the United States Auto Club announced today.
Winners of the companion 30 lap midget features on Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6, will earn $2,500, a significant increase over last year, according to Tommy Hunt, USAC Western States vice-president.
The increased purse has already drawn entries from some of the country’s top open wheel drivers, who will go up against top teams in the Southern California-based USAC/CRA sprint car series, which has at least four drivers in close combat for the championship honors.
Among the entries is Kevin Swindell, a third generation driver from Bartlett, Tenn., who will be looking to repeat last year’s victory on the Calistoga Speedway half-mile, where he lapped cars deep into the field during the 30 lap event.
Other confirmed entries include one of the top-ranking drivers in the American Sprint Car Series, Jesse Hockett, of Warsaw, Mo., who is a former winner at the Napa County Fairgrounds track.
Damion “The Demon” Gardner, a Northern California native and former winner at Calistoga in the Golden State Challenge Series is also entered. The former winner of one of the country’s most prestigious mid-winter midget races, the Chili Bowl, was a resident of the San Francisco Bay area before relocating to Indianapolis to race full time with the USAC.
The Louie Vermeil Classic was created last year to honor the late Calistoga resident who was instrumental in bringing racing to the speedway in 1937 and managing racing there until his retirement from the sport in 1985. Vermeil, a staunch advocate of traditional “non-wing” racing, was also a founder of the Northern Auto Racing Club, the forerunner of today’s Golden State Challenge Series, and served as the club’s president for 20 years.
Tickets for the event are available from the Sacramento offices of the United States Auto Club by calling (916... . Information at www.louievermeilclassic.com. ”
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