Indianapolis Raceway Park Preview

STOOPS FREIGHTLINER SPRINT CAR SERIES THOMAS-ELLIOTT POINT BATTLE SPICES IRP'S SATURDAY "DOUBLEHEADER"

Saturday's "Arby's Season Finale" at Indianapolis Raceway Park will conclude the IRP USAC racing for 1998 but the Stoops Freightliner USAC Sprint Car Series continues into October. The USAC National Midgets join the Sprint cars for a "doubleheader" program on the .686-mile paved oval, with 30-lap features on tap for both series. Practice begins at 4 p.m., with qualifying set for 6 and racing at 8. Kevin Thomas of Danville, Ind. and Tony Elliott of Kokomo, Ind. will bring their torrid duel for the 1998 Stoops Freightliner championship to IRP, Elliott trailing by 28 points with 87 available Saturday. Elliott is one of only two drivers to win feature events in USAC Silver Crown, Sprint and National Midget competition this year. The other is Dave Steele of Tampa, Fla., who set the 1-lap IRP Sprint car standard of 123.068 mph. last year. Elliott already owns 1998 Sprint car victories at Kokomo (2), Bloomington, Terre Haute and Beaver Dam, Wisc., while Thomas' lone victory came in June at Attica, Ohio. Thomas, however, has added another dozen "top-5" finishes along the way. Tracy Hines is the only previous IRP Sprint feature winner this year, winning the nationally-televised July 1 race. Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track and Winchester (Ind.) Speedway host the final three Stoops Freightliner events in 1998.

Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Point Standings: 1-Kevin Thomas-1,668; 2-Tony Elliott-1,640; 3-Derek Davidson-1,390; 4-Dave Darland-1,223; 5-Tim Cox-1,217; 6-J.J. Yeley-1,189; 7-Jason McCord-1,118; 8-Kevin Doty-1,069; 9-Brian Tyler-1,037; 10-Brian Hayden-1,036.