Speedfest Underway At O’Reilly

(CLERMONT, IN) - Speedfest got underway at O’Reilly Raceway Park on Thursday night with Bryan Clauson picking up his third USAC National Midget Division win of the season. Bobby Santos finished second followed by Tracy Hines.

Santos would come back to win the JD Byrider 100 Silver Crown Race later in the night.

Santos dominated, easily outdistancing second-place finisher Bobby East to pick up his first Silver Crown win.

NASCAR takes over at ORP tonight with the Camping World Truck Series Race.  Ron Hornaday junior is the points leader.  Activity at Raceway Park wraps up on Saturday with the Nationwide Series Race.

Bobby Santos III comes to Extreme Tuesday Fresh Off USAC Mastery

(Stafford Springs, CT) — Stafford Motor Speedway welcomes the ISMA Supermodifeds, NEMA Midgets, and Pro-4 Modified cars for a night of open wheel excitement on Tuesday, July 7th for the 6th Annual CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday. Franklin, Mass. native Bobby Santos, III will look to add to his incredible 2009 season with a victory in the NEMA Midget feature.
Santos has been tearing up the USAC ranks this past week, taking three victories. Santos’ run began with a USAC Sprint Car event in Kalamazoo, Michigan that saw him qualify first and finish first. Santos then went to Richmond this past weekend where he swept the card with victories in both the Sprint Car and Silver Crown events. Santos is the defending race champion of the 30-lap NEMA Midget event, and he is looking forward to returning to Stafford and trying to add another victory to his 2009 resume.
“I always look forward to coming back to Stafford,” said Santos. “I’ve always run good there in the past and anytime we can come to Stafford and get a win is great.”

Santos certainly knows the fast way to get around Stafford. Santos has won two of the last three NEMA races at Stafford, and in 2006 at Stafford he won both the PRA Big Car and Midget portions of The Big One to walk away with a $50,000 payday from Valvoline. Although he has had enjoyed great success at Stafford and on the USAC trail this year, Santos says that his USAC experience doesn’t help when it comes to the NEMA car.
“The cars and engines are the same, but the NEMA car drives totally different with the wing and the shocks on the car,” said Santos. “Plus, Stafford is unique with how you use the apron to get around the track, so although the cars are different, having racing experience always helps.”
Joining the NEMA Midgets on the CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday card will be the ISMA Supermodifieds and the Pro-4 Modifieds. Chris Perley is the defending ISMA Supermodified feature winner and he has won three of the 5 CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday events held at Stafford. Norm Wrenn is the defending champion of the Pro-4 Modified feature.
The ISMA Supermodified feature will be 50-laps, the NEMA Midget feature will be 30-laps, and the Pro-4 Modified feature will be 25-laps. Spectator gates open at 4:15pm, qualifying races begin at 5:45pm, and feature events begin at 7:30pm.
Tickets for the 6th Annual CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday are available and on sale now at the Stafford Motor Speedway box office. Tickets are priced at $30.00 for adult general admission, and children ages 6-14 are only $5.00. Children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is $32.00. Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.

For more information about the 6th annual CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday event, or to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR

Bobby Santos III Remains Red-Hot at Richmond

Sprint & Midget Car Racing Examiner Richard Manfredi.
There’s no hotter driver in the country than Bobby Santos III. The Franklin, MA native took a USAC National Sprint and National Midget feature each last week, and backed that up on Friday night with another USAC National Sprint victory in the Rotondo Weirich Showdown at the 3/4-mile paved oval at Richmond International Speedway in Virgina.
Santos had to work for to take home the 60 lap feature, rallying from a poor qualifying effort that left him starting 13th in the 17-car field. He quickly moved his car up to fifth-place by the mandatory refueling red flag on lap 30, and then continued his march through the field after the restart, eventually passing pole sitter Brad Sweet on lap 44 for a lead he would not relinquish.
Levi Jones took over the USAC National Sprint series points lead with an eighth-place finish, giving him a two point lead over previous points leader Dave Darland, who finished ninth.

Bobby Santos III Takes Rotondo Weirich Showdown

Bobby Santos prevailed in a three-way battle for the lead with about 20 laps to go and held on to win tonight’s USAC Sprint Car Rotondo Weirich Showdown at Richmond International Raceway.
Santos of Franklin, Mass., finished less than .4 of a second ahead of Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif., to win the 60-lap race on the 3/4 -mile oval.
Santos jousted with Brad Sweet and Bobby East for the lead for several laps and finally moved ahead on lap 44 and led the rest of the way. Sweet, who led the first 43 laps, finished third, East faded to sixth at the finish.
Richmond International Raceway will host the SunTrust Indy Challenge IndyCar Series race on Saturday night. Dario Franchitti is on the pole for the 300-lap race set to begin at 8:30 p.m.
The USAC Silver Crown Series James River Grounds Management 100 will be run prior to the Indy Car race, starting at 6:15 p.m.
FEATURE: (60 laps) 1. Bobby Santos III, 2. Darren Hagen, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Cole Whitt, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Bobby East, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Levi Jones, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Henry Clarke, 11. Brian Tyler, 12. Jacob Wilson, 13. Eric Gordon, 14. Jesse Hockett, 15. Troy DeCaire, 16. Shane Hmiel, 17. Damion Gardner. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-43 Sweet, Laps 44-60 Santos.
NEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Jones-702; 3-Darland-700; 3-Hockett-647; 4-Coons-636; 5-Whitt-630; 6-Hines-545; 7-Gardner-538; 8-Sweet-508; 9-Hagen-442; 10-Chris Windom-412.