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Knoxville Raceway preview 2002-05-25

Ray, Lehmann, Beach & Fike rested and ready for Knoxville'S Midget race. KNOXVILLE, IOWA (MAY 20, 2002) - To date, forty-two (42) midget car drivers are entered for Knoxville Raceway's 30-car Pepsi/Mt. Dew Midget Championship on Saturday, June ...

Published: May 22, 2002, 11:54 AM

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Ray, Lehmann, Beach & Fike rested and ready for Knoxville'S Midget race.

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (MAY 20, 2002) - To date, forty-two (42) midget car drivers are entered for Knoxville Raceway's 30-car Pepsi/Mt. Dew Midget Championship on Saturday, June 1, and it appears that the number of competitors may grow to fifty or sixty by race day. Thus, racers Davey Ray, Donnie Lehmann, Teddy Beach, and A.J. Fike may be resting easier knowing that each is in a good position to claim a provisional feature starting spot, if need be. That is because they are the highest-ranked entered drivers from Badger Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA), Midwest Auto Racing Association (MARA), North American Auto Racing Series (NAMARS) and last year's National Midget Driver of the Year point standings, respectively.

The basic event format calls for four drivers to qualify out of each of five heats utilizing passing points, plus the top three finishers to transfer from each of two B-Mains. Thus, the final four starting positions in the 25-lap, 30-car race will be assigned to the highest- ranked non-qualifiers from today's BMARA and MARA points, and last year's NAMARS and National Midget Driver of the Year points. To date, Davey Ray is second in Badger points and Donnie Lehmann leads MARA points. Also, Teddy Beach was runner-up in last season's NAMARS point standings, while A.J. Fike was second in the 2001 National Midget Driver of the Year rankings.

Besides those four outstanding competitors, other early entrants for the $4,000-to-win midget car race include defending champions Dan Boorse (BMARA) of Wisconsin, Rich Camfield (MARA) of Illinois, and Ray Bull (ARDC) of Pennsylvania. Other entered hotshoes include Aaron Pierce and ageless Mel Kenyon of NAMARS, Mike Hess, Critter Malone and veteran Knoxville competitor Kevin Doty of BMARA, and Steve Knepper and Tim Siner of MARA. Invaders entered already include Andy Mason and Keith Rauch of Rocky Mountain (RMMRA), and Steve Paden and Bryan Stanfill of the United States Auto Club (USAC). Midgets haven't competed on the big Knoxville half-mile since Sam Isenhower of Indiana won a race on the black gumbo in 1979.

In addition to the Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Championship on Saturday, June 1, the track's regular winged 410-cubic-inch sprint car racers will be in competition. That includes Terry McCarl, "Skip" Jackson, Kerry Madsen, Don Droud (Jr.) and over thirty other talented drivers. The Friday night, May 31, program will consist of the tenth annual Goodyear Masters Classic winged 360-c.i. sprint car races for drivers age fifty-plus, and midget car hot-laps. Former Classic winners that have pre-entered are Jerry Crabb of Iowa, Roger Rager of Minnesota, and Terry Pletch of Indiana. The Friday and Saturday night race tickets are all general admission, although the track ticket office can be reached at 641-842-5431.

-ks-

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