Star Studded Field for 28th Sportsman Nationals at Springfield
Four Past Winners & Ringer Highlight Pre-Entries
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[August 20, 2021]
If the news of the return of Justin Allgaier and Ken Schrader to
competition on the Springfield Mile this weekend wasn’t enough, the
release of the current Sportsman National entry list makes the last
weekend of the Illinois State Fair a can’t miss event. Four past winners
of the Sportsman Nationals plus a popular dirt track ace on the entry
list account for 18 Sportsman National victories and an additional 3
wins in other events.
Springfield’s Wes O’Dell became the oldest winner of the Sportsman
Nationals last year at age 60 capturing an unprecedented sixth win and
he returns for a try at number seven. Five-time winner Dennis
Vandermeersch, also of Springfield, is a five-time winner and he returns
along with fellow five-time winner Jeremy Nichols of Lovington. Two-time
winner Ethan Schnapp, of Springfield, rounds out the former winners on
the entry list and the four former winners account for 18 wins in 27
Sportsman National races.
But wait, the entry list gets even tougher with the addition of Ken
Schrader. Schrader won the 1983 Rex Easton midget race, the June 1998
UMP Modified event and the 1998 Allen Crowe 100 for his three victories
on the Springfield Mile and is the only driver to post a feature win in
three different types of race cars. Schrader led the opening 12 laps of
the 2020 event only to drop out due to mechanical issues with O’Dell
taking the lead and going to victory.
[to top of second column] |
Veteran mile campaigners Phil Moreland
of Assumption, Steve Adams of Humboldt, Rick Wietekamp, of
Springfield, plus Danny and Josh Sissom of Cape Girardeau, Missouri
are part of an entry list that is sure to draw a lot of attention to
the short track stock cars as they compete on the big mile dirt of
the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Heat races for the Sportsman Nationals
are slated for Saturday in conjunction with the Bettenhausen 100 for
the USAC Silver Crown Series. The 28th running of the Sportsman
Nationals feature is slated to go off just before the 59th ARCA
Allen Crowe 100 on Sunday.
Tickets for Saturday are available by calling Track Enterprises at
217-764-3200 or at the Illinois State Fair Box Office. Tickets for
Sunday are available by calling Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200,
at the Illinois State Fair Box Office or by visiting your local
central Illinois Menards store.
The event is all part of a huge racing weekend in Central Illinois
featuring Lincoln Speedway with MOWA Sprint Cars on Friday night,
Silver Crown Saturday at the Springfield Mile, Jack Hewitt Night
featuring POWRi Midgets at Macon Speedway Saturday night, and the
ARCA Menards Series Sunday afternoon at the Springfield Mile.
Full information on the events can be found at
www.trackenterprises.com.
[By Jay Hardin
Track Enterprises Staff] |