Newmanstown, PA - It's just one week away...the ground breaking, history making, first-ever appearance of the USAC National Midget Series at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway!
The event, titled Battleground Lanco, pits the traveling warriors of the Midwest - USAC's best in this country's oldest form of pure racecar, the mighty Midgets - against the Beasts of the East, the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC). And it explodes into reality on Tuesday, August 16.
At the Clyde, you can run but you can't hide, as Battleground Lanco will be contested in a true bullring environment. The ARDC contingent has had three events at Clyde Martin over the past year to hone their skills, while the USAC wheel-twisters spit spalls of clay regularly on similarly sized tracks in the Midwest.
During the recent Eastern Storm Tour that featured the USAC Sprint Cars, two of USAC's top officials visited Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway to get a look at the facility and offer input into the planning for Battleground Lanco.
Levi Jones, a winner and champion in Silver Crown, Midget, and Sprint Car competition and now an official for all three of those series, was joined by USAC's Kirk Spridgeon as they toured the Clyde with some of Lanco's officers and Board members. Both Jones and Spridgeon expressed admiration over the condition of the facility and the fact that the track should provide some intensely close competition.
"The facility, overall, is much better than some places where we run back home," he stated while working the Silver Crown event at Williams Grove on June 10. "And the racing surface is plenty wide enough. With that banking and plenty of water to create a nice heavy surface, our guys will be up against the fence and throwing sliders at both ends of the race track."
"We run at Wayne County, Illinois," continued Jones, "and that track is only 35 feet wide. We run the Leffler Memorial there, and the guys put on a heck of a show. So I am not worried at all about racing at Clyde Martin...it's gonna be a great event."
While the exact roster of USAC drivers in not yet set in stone, a few of their open wheel stars made their intentions known while in the Keystone state for the Eastern Storm Tour.
Brady Bacon, a native of Broken Arrow, OK, is gunning for the National Midget Championship in 2016, so PA Midget Week is definitely on his racing calendar. Bacon has run, at least once, at Clyde Martin during the currently-on-sabbatical PA 600 Speedweek Series. He is USAC's 2014 National Sprint Car Champion and is anxious to twist a Midget into the Clyde's progressively banked corners.
USAC will release additional names as soon as drivers are confirmed for PA Midget Week.
Advanced General Admission tickets are now on sale for the August 16 Battleground Lanco event at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. While all seats will be general admission, purchasing tickets in advance will permit fans to enter at 4 p.m. - one hour prior to everyone else. Blankets, seat cushions, etc. may be put down upon entering the spectator seating area to reserve your seats. Fans may then walk down to the pit area, where they will have approximately two hours (4 to 6 p.m.) to tour the pits and meet the USAC stars. The pits will be cleared of spectators at 6 p.m.
Advanced tickets are $25.00 for adults (ages 13 and up) and $7.00 for youth (ages 6 - 12). On the day of the race, adult general admission tickets will cost $20.00, with youth tickets (ages 6 - 12) priced at $5.00. Children under the age of six will be admitted free.
Pit passes (not available in advance) are $35.00, and just $30.00 if a Lanco or USAC membership card is shown.
To order advance general admission tickets, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope with payment (make checks payable to "Lanco") to Lanco Micro Midget Club, c/o Kim Adams, 314 Vinemont Road, Reinholds, PA 17569. Please remember to include the number of tickets you desire and the type (adult, youth, etc.).
Advanced tickets may also be purchased at the Pit Shack each Saturday night that the Clyde is in action from now until the Saturday prior to the USAC event.
On August 16, gates will open at 4 p.m. for the pits and for Advance Ticket Holders Only. Everyone else will be able to enter at 5 p.m., when race day tickets will go on sale at the first turn ticket booth. The Midgets will be called to the track for heat in the motors at 6:15, and warm-ups begin at 6:30. Time trials are scheduled for 7:00.
A very limited number of camping spaces will be available, but must be reserved in advance. The camping spots will only be marked out along the tree line at the edge of the property and each space will be fairly tight; just one camper sized space (approximately 20'x25'). Each camping space will cost $25. Gates will open for campers to come in and set up at 8 p.m. on Monday night, August 15.
There will positively be no camping allowed outside the designated spots; this rule will be strictly enforced so that most of the field used for parking will be available for spectators who are not planning to camp at the track. To reserve your camping space, please contact Chris Snyder by email at: race26@icloud.com.
The wingless 600cc Micro-Sprints will join the mighty Midgets at Battleground Lanco, and entries are being limited to 40 for that portion of the program. There are still a few spots available for those who wish to enter. Contact Tim Bortz at: hodnettfan@verizon.net to register for the event. Provided 40 entries are confirmed by race night, the wingless 600 main will pay $1,000 to win.
It's gonna be a ground breaking, history making, clay spewing good time, so come out and LIVE the excitement that will be Battleground Lanco on Tuesday, August 16!