1995 events preview

WORLD OF OUTLAWS TO INTRODUCE NEW ERA IN 1995 By Richard Day PLANO, TX (December 15) - With the opening of the World of Outlaws' 1995 season at St. Augustine Speedway February 16-18, so begins the series' "kingless" or "wide open" era. While the Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout welcomes the world's most outstanding sprint car racers to become the new "King of the Outlaws," 14-time champion Steve Kinser will be starting his stock car racing career with the NASCAR Winston Cup series in the Daytona 500. St. Augustine's semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval will be the site of the World of Outlaws' season opener for the second straight year. Kinser edged Donnie Kreitz, Jr., and Sammy Swindell in last year's kickoff event. Kreitz, a former Williams Grove track champion, and 1981-1982 World of Outlaws titlist Swindell will be among the racers to beat in St. Augustine's $105,950 event. From St. Augustine, "the greatest show on dirt" heads for another southern facility that hosted its first World of Outlaws event in 1994 - Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, MS. The fire-breathing, mud-slinging sprint car racers will be racing for $34,485 at the high-banked, 3/8-mile oval on March 15th. The World of Outlaws' "magical mystery tour" is scheduled to stop at Devil's Bowl Speedway - where it all started for the series 17 years ago - March 17-18. The traveling band will remain in Texas for a March 24th race at Battleground Speedway in Houston before running an afternoon event at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City two days later. Memphis Dirt Trax, where the World of Outlaws raced 12 times between 1987 and 1993 when the facility was known as Memphis Motorsports Park, will host its first of three 1995 "greatest show on dirt" events on April Fools Day. The semi-banked, 3/8-mile oval hosted the series' inaugural $65,000-to-win Fram Dash in 1990. Eldora Speedway is scheduled to host its 57th Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout event April 14-15. The World of Outlaws will return to Eldora on June 10th and August 11th. Kinser's home track, Bloomington Speedway, is scheduled to host a World of Outlaws invasion on April 21st. A $34,485 event will follow at Missouri International Speedway one night later. The series' first of four visits to Knoxville Raceway is scheduled for April 28-29. The Third Annual Valvoline Classic will be run June 23-24, and the 35th Annual Knoxville Nationals is scheduled for August 16-19. The World of Outlaws' first visit to previously uncharted territory in 1995 will be the May 4-5 event at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE. The semi- banked, 4/10-mile oval is located between Lincoln and Omaha at the intersection of I-80 and Highway 69. Davenport Speedway replaces Farley Speedway as the World of Outlaws' second tour stop in Iowa in 1995. The semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval is located in Davenport on the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. "The greatest show on dirt" is scheduled to invade Davenport on July 12th. Following the $64,895 event at I-80, series Founder and President Ted Johnson has scheduled three $34,485 events in as many nights at the Terre Haute Action Track, Tri-City Speedway and Tri-State Speedway May 12-14. West Virginia Motor Speedway is scheduled to open the World of Outlaws' annual spring tour of the northeast on May 21st. From Parkersburg's high- banked, 5/8-mile oval, the fire-breathing, mud-slinging sprint car racing teams will take on the Pennsylvania Posse at Lernerville Speedway on May 23rd, Williams Grove Speedway May 25-26, Hagerstown Speedway May 27-28 and Grandview Speedway on May 30th. Williams Grove will entertain the World of Outlaws for the third time in nine days on June 2nd. The series' Pennsylvania invasion is scheduled to climax at Stevie Smith's hometown track, Lincoln Speedway, one night later. The World of Outlaws' annual June tour of New York will run its usual course, opening at Orange County Speedway on June 4th and running through Lebanon Valley, Rolling Wheels, Canandaigua and Ransomville through June 8th. Following its second stop at Eldora, the World of Outlaws is scheduled to visit Bob Wente's Tri-City Speedway a second time on June 16th. Another invasion of the Memphis Dirt Trax on June 17th will be followed by the Sixth Annual Beertown Showdown at Hales Corners Speedway on June 21st. The Second Annual STP Classic, scheduled for June 28th at Huset's Speedway, will follow Knoxville's Valvoline Classic. The World of Outlaws closes the month of June and opens the month of July with the 12th Annual Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway. The Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout has scheduled an Independence Day celebration at Rocky Mountain Speedway in Denver for July 3-4. A $64,895 event has been scheduled for Red River Valley Speedway in Fargo, ND, July 7-8. Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI, will host its lone "greatest show on dirt" event of the year on July 10th. Following its inaugural visit to Davenport Speedway two days later, the World of Outlaws is scheduled to run three $34,485 events in as many nights at LaSalle Speedway, Tri-City Speedway and Tri-State Speedway July 14-16. Knoxville's only single-program event for the Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout is scheduled for July 19th, with the series' third visit to Memphis scheduled to follow a week later. A two-night run through Texas - at Battleground Speedway on July 28th and the Devil's Bowl on July 29th - will be followed by the World of Outlaws' August tour of the northeast. The tour opens at Lernerville on August 1st and runs through Williams Grove (August 3-4), Hagerstown (August 5th), Lincoln (August 6th) and culminates at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey on August 7th. The World of Outlaws' "Night Before the Big One" event at Eldora is scheduled for August 11th. Following the Knoxville Nationals, the series is scheduled to embark on its Second Annual Wild Wild Northwest Tour. The tour opens at Magic City Speedway in Billings, MT, on August 22nd and continues at Skagit Speedway August 24-26 before climaxing at Riverside Speedway in Cottage Grove, OR, on August 29th. The World of Outlaws' "late summer nights" tour of California opens at Calistoga Speedway September 1-3 and runs through Kings Speedway in Hanford (September 6th) and San Jose Speedway (September 8-9) before reaching its summit at the 41st Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico September 14-16. "The greatest show dirt" is also scheduled to visit Santa Maria Speedway for the first time in two years September 22-23. The Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout will sanction the 14th Annual One/Third-Mile Nationals on September 26th and run its fourth event of the year at Knoxville one night later. The World of Outlaws is scheduled to close out the month of September at the Williams Grove National Open (29-30). A second visit to Bridgeport Speedway on October 2nd will be followed by the Champion Spark Plugs Nationals at New York State Fair Speedway in Syracuse October 6-7. The World of Outlaws will sanction the Fourth Annual U.S. Dirt Nationals at the Terre Haute Action Track October 13-14 before heading to Texas. The series' third stop of the year at Battleground on October 18th will be followed by an October 20-21 event at the Devil's Bowl. In all, the Copenhagen-Skoal Shootout will offer more than $9 million in purses, contingencies and point fund awards while sanctioning 68 events over 97 race dates at 42 tracks in 24 states next season. WoO WORLD OF OUTLAWS/COPENHAGEN-SKOAL SHOOTOUT 1995 Racing Schedule Date Track City Size Feb. 16-18 St. Augustine Speedway St. Augustine, FL 1/2-mile March 15 Pike County Speedway Magnolia, MS 3/8-mile 17-18 Devil's Bowl Speedway Mesquite, TX 1/2-mile 24 Battleground Speedway Houston, TX 3/8-mile 26* State Fair Speedway Oklahoma City, OK 1/2-mile April 1 Memphis Dirt Trax Memphis, TN 3/8-mile 14-15 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH 1/2-mile 21 Bloomington Speedway Bloomington, IN 1/4-mile 22 Missouri Int'l Race Park Benton, MO 3/8-mile 28-29 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA 1/2-mile May 4-5 I-80 Speedway Greenwood, NE 4/10-mile 12 Terre Haute Action Track Terre Haute, IN 1/2-mile 13 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL 1/2-mile 14 Tri-State Speedway Haubstadt, IN 1/4-mile 21 West Virginia Motor Speedway Parkersburg, WV 5/8-mile 23 Lernerville Speedway Sarver, PA 1/2-mile 25-26 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA 1/2-mile 27-28 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD 1/2-mile 30 Grandview Speedway Bechtelsville, PA 1/3-mile June 2 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA 1/2-mile 3 Lincoln Speedway New Oxford, PA 4/10-mile 4 Orange County Speedway Middletown, NY 5/8-mile 5 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon, NY 1/2-mile 6 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge, NY 5/8-mile 7 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua, NY 1/2-mile 8 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville, NY 1/2-mile 10 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH 1/2-mile 16 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL 1/2-mile 17 Memphis Dirt Trax Memphis, TN 3/8-mile 21 Hales Corners Speedway Hales Corners, WI 1/3-mile 23-24 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA 1/2-mile 28 Huset's Speedway Sioux Falls, SD 3/8-mile 30- Eagle Raceway Eagle, NE 1/3-mile July 1 Eagle Raceway Eagle, NE 1/3-mile 3-4 Rocky Mountain Speedway Denver, CO 1/2-mile 7-8 Red River Valley Speedway Fargo, ND 1/2-mile 10 Cedar Lake Speedway New Richmond, WI 1/2-mile 12 Davenport Speedway Davenport, IA 1/2-mile 14 LaSalle Speedway LaSalle, IL 1/4-mile 15 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL 1/2-mile 16 Tri-State Speedway Haubstadt, IN 1/4-mile 19 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA 1/2-mile 26 Memphis Dirt Trax Memphis, TN 3/8-mile 28 Battleground Speedway Houston, TX 3/8-mile 29 Devil's Bowl Speedway Mesquite, TX 1/2-mile August 1 Lernerville Speedway Sarver, PA 1/2-mile 3-4 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA 1/2-mile 5 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD 1/2-mile 6 Lincoln Speedway New Oxford, PA 4/10-mile 7 Bridgeport Speedway Bridgeport, NJ 5/8-mile 11 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH 1/2-mile 16-19 Knoxville Nationals Knoxville, IA 1/2-mile 22 Magic City Speedway Billings, MT 3/8-mile 24-26 Skagit Speedway Alger, WA 3/10-mile 29 Riverside Speedway Cottage Grove, OR 1/4-mile Sept. 1-3 Calistoga Speedway Calistoga, CA 1/2-mile 6 Kings Speedway Hanford, CA 1/3-mile 8-9 San Jose Speedway San Jose, CA 1/3-mile 14-16 Gold Cup (Silver Dollar) Chico, CA 1/4-mile 22-23 Santa Maria Speedway Santa Maria, CA 1/3-mile 26 Eagle Raceway Eagle, NE 1/3-mile 27 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA 1/2-mile 29-30 Williams Grove Nationals Mechanicsburg, PA 1/2-mile Oct. 2 Bridgeport Speedway Bridgeport, NJ 5/8-mile 6-7* NY State Fair Speedway Syracuse, NY 1-mile 13-14 U.S. Dirt Nationals (THAT) Terre Haute, IN 1/2-mile 18 Battleground Speedway Houston, TX 3/8-mile 20-21 Devil's Bowl Speedway Mesquite, TX 1/2-mile WoO*eot