500 Sprint Car Tour Heads to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
Back to the ⅝ mile of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Thursday, June 30th the 500 Sprint Car Tour Presented by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores will travel to Brownsburg, Indiana. The race will be part of the Thursday Night Thunder Homecoming event at the famed oval. The event will feature pavement midgets, a USAC Silver Crown Shootout, and the 500 Sprint Car Tour. This will be the third points-paying race for the new series.
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park has been mastered of late by two drivers: Kody Swanson, and Bobby Santos III. Two non-sanctioned sprint car races were contested at IRP in 2021. Bobby Santos III (Franklin, Massachusetts) won the Thursday Night Thunder Reunion and Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, California) won the Hoosier Classic on his way to a $50,000 payday after winning both the Sprint Car and Silver Crown events he raced in that night. Santos and Swanson are both drivers to keep an eye on going into Thursday Night.
On May, 27th 2022 Bobby Santos and Kody Swanson both participated in the Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Santos performed exceptionally well winning the pavement midget feature and the USAC Silver Crown feature. As the tour heads to Brownsburg, Santos is no doubtably a favorite due to his recent success at the track. Swanson will be another favorite as he has already seen victory lane this season. He claimed first place in the tour's first race of the season at Plymouth Motor Speedway in Plymouth, Indiana.
Another driver that will be heading into the event as a favorite is Tyler Roahrig. Roahrig already has two 500 Sprint Car Tour victories under his belt in 2022. The points-paying victory at Berlin Raceway and a first place finish in the non-points earning crown jewel event, the Lucas Oil Little 500 Presented by UAW. Roahrig will look to win his second race in a row and continue his chase for the series championship.
Dakoda Armstrong and CJ Leary are two drivers who are favorites to break up the Big Three of Santos, Swanson, and Roahrig. Armstrong is currently fourth in the championship standings with a fourth place finish at Plymouth Motor Speedway, a second place at Berlin Raceway, and he was also the runner up in this year’s Little 500. He has shown consistency as he has qualified in the top ten in each of his 500 Sprint Car Tour starts and has finished fourth or better in each start. CJ Leary will be competing in his first points event of the 500 Sprint Car Tour season as he did not compete in either the Plymouth Motor Speedway event, or the race at Berlin Raceway. Leary did compete in the 2022 Little 500 and ran well, qualifying sixth and finishing with a podium third place. Both Leary and Armstrong will aim to continue their run of solid qualifying efforts and clean finishes, with both being in a good position going into Thursday night to become the third different winner in as many races.
Other notable entries for this week’s event include: Davey Hamilton Jr. (Boise, Idaho), Kyle O’Gara (Camby, Ind.), Tanner Swanson (Kingsburg, Cali.), Taylor Ferns (Shelby Township, Mich.), Jerry Coons Jr. (Tucson, Ari.), Quintin Saayman (Bapsfontein, Gauteng, SA), and Billy Wease (Fishers, Ind.).
The Thursday Night Thunder Homecoming event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park will be this Thursday, June 30th. General Admission tickets are $25 and reserved seating is $35. All tickets will include all you can eat hot dogs, hamburgers, Pepsi products, Lays chips, water, and cookies. The on track action will feature the 500 Sprint Car Tour presented by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores, the National Pavement Midget Championship, and an exclusive 10-car USAC Silver Crown Shootout. The 500 Sprint Car Tour race can be seen live on MAVTV Network.
