The 25th Annual UNOH Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by RacingJunk.com is just about ready to kick into high gear in the Buckeye State. Always a week to look forward to for the past 25 years, this year proves to be no different as a $15,000 point fund is in place to be distributed amongst the Top 10 in points at the end of the week. In addition, the Speedweek promoters have offered a $50,000 bonus to any driver who can win 4 of the 7 events. Will there be a $50,000 winner in 2007?
Drivers were required to pre-register to be eligible for the Speedweek point fund and the bonus money and currently there are 48 drivers scheduled to compete for the additional money at week’s end. There is over $197,000 up for grabs just in scheduled purse money alone. In addition, HoserVille Ohio has stepped up to sponsor the All Star Dash which will pay money to the top dash finishers from the week in a special dash event at the Eldora finale. Ohio Sprint Speedweek is one of the richest weeks of racing in the United States and has attracted many of the top names of the sport from across the country and as far away as Australia.
The week kicks off (unofficially) at K-C Raceway on Saturday June 23rd for the annual “Night The Stars Come Out”. This event does not pay points toward the Speedweek point fund, but is always a good warm-up for the following 7 straight nights of racing through Ohio. The official Speedweek kickoff is on Sunday June 24th at Attica Raceway Park, then on Monday it’s on to Wayne County Speedway. From there the series moves to Waynesfield Motor Sports Park for the first time and will then travel to Hilltop Speedway on Wednesday for another first ever visit. On Thursday, it’s back to familiar Fremont Speedway and then on to Limaland Motorsports Park on Friday. Saturday’s $10,000 to win Speedweek finale will be held at the monster ½ mile Eldora Speedway.
As twenty-four Ohio Sprint Speedweeks have already come and gone, fans remember the heroes who have made a lot of left turns in the state of Ohio. Kinser, Saldana, Wolfgang, Swindell, Hood, Huntley, Jacobs, Kerr, and Blaney are just a few of the names who have captured the attention of Ohio fans over the years during Ohio Speedweek. More names will be entered into the history books at the end of next week when the action concludes, signaling the mid-point of the All Star season. It is then that many teams start thinking seriously about trying to win the All Star Championship - depending where they land in the point standings at the end of the grueling week. Currently Danny Smith holds a 26 point lead over defending champion Greg Wilson and is 47 points ahead of 3rd place Brian Paulus. That can all change drastically in one week depending on luck and a lot of hard work.
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