World of Outlaws releases 1997 schedule

World of Outlaws to Open 1997 Season at Manzanita By Richard Day PLANO, TX (December 13) - When the World of Outlaws opens its 1997 season with "The A.J. Foyt Cavalcade of Sprints" at Manzanita Speedway, the series will embark on the most dynamic era in its 20-year history. The January 30-31 event, the earliest opening dates in World of Outlaws history, will be the first of 10 televised by TNN: The Nashville Network next season. The Prime Network will join TNN at Williams Grove Speedway in May and at the Amoco Knoxville Nationals as the series triples the live television coverage it offered last year. World of Outlaws sprint car racing will be featured on the TNN Motor Madness series Friday nights. Other events featured on the TNN Motor Madness series will be the February 14-15 event from Perris Auto Speedway, the Devil's Bowl Speedway Spring Nationals March 21-22, the May 22-23 races from Williams Grove Speedway, the King's Royal from Eldora Speedway July 18-19, the Amoco Knoxville Nationals (August 13- 16), Manzanita's Western World Championships and the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway November 4-5. Each event will aired live, except for the Las Vegas races, which will be tape delayed. Along with the vast increase in television coverage, the World of Outlaws is also raising its standard purses by an average of 11% in 1997. The single-program event purse will be $40,000, with the winner being awarded $7,000. Double-feature events will pay $75,000, with the preliminary feature winner receiving $4,500 and the main event winner taking home $10,000. Tracks hosting three nights of "greatest show on dirt" racing will offer $115,000 - $4,500 to the preliminary winners and $16,000 to the event champion. The schedule is dotted with 14 special events which feature enhanced purses. The Amoco Knoxville Nationals, scheduled for August 13-16, remains the highest-paying event in sprint car racing with a $500,000-plus purse and a $100,000 reward to the champion. With the Prime Network airing the Thursday racing program and TNN televising the Friday and Saturday action, three of the four nights of the 37th running of the Nationals will carry live national television coverage. TNN will televise both the preliminary and feature racing programs at the 15th Annual King's Royal from Eldora Speedway July 18-19. The event features a $50,000 payday to the champion. Lernerville Speedway's annual Silver Cup ($30,000), the Williams Grove National Open ($25,000) and the Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway ($20,000) also offer inflated winners' shares. There will also be also be six races - the May 20th Lernerville Speedway event, the June 1st Orange County Speedway event, the June 2nd Lebanon Valley Speedway event, the June 18th Beaver Dam Raceway event, the STP Classic scheduled for July 3rd at Huset's Speedway and the July 14th Cedar Lake event - featuring $10,000-to-win formats. In addition, three double- feature shows - the September 5-6 event at San Jose Speedway, the Winter Nationals from the Devil's Bowl October 17-18 and the October 31-November 1 event from Perris Auto Speedway - will offer $12,000 to the "A" Feature winner. The World of Outlaws will invade the state of Wyoming for the first time in its history August 19th, when its fire-breathing, mud-slinging sprint car racing teams open the annual Wild, Wild Northwest Tour at Sweetwater Speedway in Rock Springs. In all, the World of Outlaws is scheduled to run 68 events over 98 dates at 43 racing facilities in 21 states in 1997. WoO World of Outlaws 1997 Racing Schedule Date Event/Track City Jan. 30-31 Manzanita Speedway Phoenix, AZ Feb. 7-8 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, NV 14-15 Perris Auto Speedway Lake Perris, CA March 14 Pike County Speedway Magnolia, MS 15 Battleground Speedway Highland, TX 21 Winter Nationals/Devil's Bowl Mesquite, TX 22 Winter Nationals/Devil's Bowl Mesquite, TX 28 Tulsa Speedway Tulsa, OK 29 State Fair Speedway Oklahoma City, OK April 4-5 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH 11-12 State Fair Speedway Sedalia, MO 18 West Plains Motor Speedway West Plains, MO 19 Missouri Int'l Race Park Benton, MO 25-26 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA 27 Huset's Speedway Sioux Falls, SD May 1-2 I-80 Speedway Greenwood, NE 9 Beaver Dam Raceway Beaver Dam, WI 10 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL 11 Tri-State Speedway Haubstadt, IN 18 I-55 Raceway Pevely, MO 20 Lernerville Speedway Sarver, PA 22-23 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA 24-25 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD 30 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA 31 Lincoln Speedway New Oxford, PA June 1 Orange County Speedway Middletown, NY 2 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon, NY 4 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge, NY 5 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua, NY 8 Illinois State Fair Speedway Springfield, IL 13 Bloomington Speedway Bloomington, IN 14 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH 15 I-96 Speedway Lake Odessa, MI 18 Beaver Dam Raceway Beaver Dam, MI 20 LaSalle Speedway LaSalle, IL 21 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL 22 Tri-State Speedway Haubstadt, IN 27-28 Eagle Nationals/Eagle Raceway Eagle, NE July 3 STP Classic/Huset's Speedway Sioux Falls, SD 4-5 Ethanol Classic/Knoxville Knoxville, IA 11-12 Red River Valley Speedway West Fargo, ND 14 Cedar Lake Speedway Somerset, WI 18-19 King's Royal/Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH 21 I-96 Speedway Lake Odessa, MI 23 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA 29 Silver Cup/Lernerville Sarver, PA 31- Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA August 1 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA 2 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD 8 Night Before The Big One/Eldora Rossburg, OH 13-16 Amoco Knoxville Nationals Knoxville, IA 19 Sweetwater Speedway Rock Springs, WY 22-23 Elma National Raceway Elma, WA 25 Riverside Speedway Cottage Grove, OR 27 Southern Oregon Speedway Medford, OR 29-31 Harvest Classic/Calistoga Speedway Calistoga, CA Sept. 5-6 San Jose Speedway San Jose, CA 12 Kings Speedway Hanford, CA 13 Santa Maria Speedway Santa Maria, CA 18-20 Gold Cup/Silver Dollar Speedway Chico, CA 26-27 I-80 Speedway Greenwood, NE Oct. 3-4 Williams Grove National Open Mechanicsburg, PA 10-11 U.S. Dirt Nationals/I-55 Raceway Pevely, MO 16 Fall Nationals/Battleground Highland, TX 17-18 Winter Nationals/Devil's Bowl Mesquite, TX 25-26 Perris Auto Speedway Lake Perris, CA 31- Western World/Manzanita Speedway Phoenix, AZ Nov. 1 Western World/Manzanita Speedway Phoenix, AZ 4-5 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, NV