Excitement Surrounds 500 Sprint Car Tour

By Ken de la Bastide

ANDERSON, IN – There is an air of anticipation surrounding the inaugural 500 Sprint Car tour that kicks off at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

The nine-race 500 Sprint Car Tour presented by Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Part Stores will crown a champion for pavement non-wing Sprint Cars with events at Anderson Speedway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Plymouth Speedway and Berlin Raceway.

All the races will be broadcast on MAVTV Plus with drivers taking part last Thursday in a media day at the Anderson Country Club.

“I’m excited about the Sprint Car tour,” Lucas Oil Little 500 champion Kody Swanson said. “It’s a completely dedicated non-wing tour and trying to build up non-wing sprint car racing.

“The Little 500 has been the mainstay and it’s great to see what Anderson has been able to do,” he said.

Swanson said it’s an opportunity for non-wing Sprint Cars gives teams to branch out.

It was announced last week that General admission to the opening race at IRP is free.

“It’s neat to get some exposure for the fans at the first race at IRP as a season opener,” he said. “It’s a great way to kick it off.”

Davey Hamilton Jr. is running the entire Sprint Car Tour and said it’s great for the sport.

“I’m excited to go to a few tracks I’ve never raced at and returning to IRP and Anderson again.

“I’m not surprised, it was just a matter of time,” Hamilton said of the tour. “It’s what the sport deserves and it will be interesting to see how it progresses.”

Billy Wease said it’s good for the sport and to get people more interested in the pavement racing again.

“The Anderson Speedway has done an amazing job of putting this together and to give us more places to race,” he said. “All the tracks will be really cool, I really like the half-miles. I’m looking forward to getting back to IRP.”

Veteran driver Kyle O’Gara said his team has been looking for a home base; a series for us to run.

“We bounced around in the past so it’s nice to finally have a place to call home,” he said.

O’Gara plans to run the entire 500 Sprint Car Tour and all the pavement Midget races at Anderson and IRP.

“We pushed hard for a tour and a chance to win a championship,” he said. “Basically, to have a point championship made sense.”

Taylor Ferns intends to run the full 500 Sprint Car tour depending on finances.

“I’m really excited and glad they were able to put something together like this,” she said. “It will be fun to go to some different tracks.”