The biggest Central Illinois race weekend of the year is coming up Friday-Sunday, August 16-18, 2024. It all begins with MOWA Sprint Cars at Lincoln Speedway on Friday, August 16 before heading to the Illinois State Fair on Saturday and Sunday afternoon for Silver Crown, ARCA, and Sportsman. Full details below...


Illinois State Fair Racing
Friday-Saturday-Sunday, August 16-17-18


Illinois State Fairgrounds
Springfield, IL


Friday Night, August 16
Midwest Open Wheel Association MOWA Sprints + 4 Classes
Lincoln Speedway


Saturday, August 17
Illinois State Fair
USAC Silver Crown Series
61st Running Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza
+ 31st Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals DIRTcar Sportsman Prelims


SATURDAY, AUGUST 17 SPRINGFIELD TIMES:
7:00 AM Pits & Registration
9:00 AM Ticket Office & Grandstands
10:00-11:10 AM Silver Crown Practice
11:30 AM Silver Crown Qualifying
12:15 PM Sportsman Hotlaps
12:25 PM Vintage Car Laps
12:30 PM Silver Crown B-Main
1:00 PM Sportsman Heats
1:30 PM Pre-Race Ceremonies
2:00 PM USAC Silver Crown 61st Running Bettenhausen 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza


Sunday, August 18
Illinois State Fair
ARCA Menards Series
62nd Annual Allen Crowe 100
+ 31st Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals


SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 SPRINGFIELD TIMES:
6:00 AM Pits & Registration
8:30 AM Ticket Office & Grandstands
10:00 AM ARCA Practice
10:30 AM Sportsman Practice
11:15 AM General Tire ARCA Pole Qualifying
11:45 PM 31st Annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals
1:00 PM 61st Annual Allen Crowe 100


SPRINGFIELD TICKET INFO:
Tickets will be available on raceday or by calling the State Fair office at 217-782-1979. Info and tickets can also be obtained by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200.
Save Big Money on Discounted General Admission tickets for Sunday available at local Menards.


RESERVED SEATING
Advance Tickets (Presale)
$25 Adults Per Day
$10 Children 11 & Under Per Day


Day Of Tickets (At Gate)
$30 Adults Per Day
$10 Children 11 & Under Per Day


INFIELD TICKETS
$20 Adults
$5 Children 11 & Under


PIT PASSES
$40 Adults Each Day
$20 Children 11 & Under Each Day
$50 Two-Day Pit Pass


INFIELD PARKING
$5 For Those Parking On Infield With No Infield Or Pit Passes


https://www.facebook.com/TrackEnterp...58342193686123

Illinois State Fair Auto Races Just Over Two Weeks Away

(Springfield, IL) Open wheel and stock car fans, alike, are looking forward to the annual return of racing to the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fair. The stars of USAC Silver Crown, ARCA Menards Series, and DIRTcar Sportsman will all be on track the final weekend of the Illinois State Fair, Saturday and Sunday, August 17-18, 2024. In addition, the weekend gets kicked off on Friday night, August 16 with Midwest Open Wheel Association MOWA Sprint cars at Lincoln Speedway, in nearby Lincoln, IL

The Saturday, August 17 action will feature the 61st Bettenhausen 100 featuring the USAC Silver Crown National Championship plus the prelims for the 31st annual Illinois Sportsman Nationals. Fields for the USAC Silver Crown events have been outstanding over the last several years and fans should expect another great field this year.

Multi-time USAC Silver Crown champion, Kody Swanson, is currently atop the standings with Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, C.J. Leary, and Trey Osborne in the top five. The series has two more races between now and Springfield with Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsylvania on August 10 and World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis the night before the Mile.

The races have seen great parity in recent years with different winners in each of the last six races. Justin Grant took the win in 2017 with Chris Windom (2018), Kyle Larson (2020), Kody Swanson (2021), Shane Cockrum (2022), and Logan Seavey (2023) also taking recent wins at the Springfield Mile.

The ARCA Menards Series returns to the track on Sunday, August 18 for the Allen Crowe Memorial 100. The Springfield stop will be on the final day of the 159th Illinois State Fair and will be the 42nd time the series has raced the Springfield Mile, dating back to 1983.

Notable winners for ARCA include Dean Roper, Bob Keselowski, Bobby Bowsher, Frank Kimmel, Bill Baird, Justin Allgaier, Grant Enfinger, Justin Haley, Christian Eckes, and Corey Heim.

The Sunday event will also feature the A-Main for the DIRTcar Sportsman Nationals.

The events are all part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.

Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.

Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.
For more information, visit www.usacracing.com, www.arcaracing.com, or www.trackenterprises.com.

90th Anniversary of Championship Racing on the Springfield Mile


(Springfield, IL) The August 17 Bettenhausen 100 continues a tradition of 100-mile national championship racing that celebrates the 90th anniversary of the first national championship race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, as well as celebrating a tradition of competitive auto racing at the fair that goes back at least 114 years. The “Springfield Mile” holds a legendary distinction among 4-wheel and 2-wheel competitors, the championship race became a model for races at the DuQuoin and the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The track itself was used as a basis for other tracks across the country. The Springfield Mile is one of the oldest and most historic motorsport venues in the United States.


In 1905, Barney Oldfield brought his barnstorming tour to Springfield two years after running one mile per minute at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. By 1909, Lewis Strang and the Buick Racing team set records on the Illinois track in an exhibition run. The next year saw true competition for purse money at Springfield and tragedy as well. Springfield’s own LaRue Vredenburgh was fatally injured as drivers competed for first prize paid in gold. By 1911, the first Indianapolis 500 was complete and the winning Marmon appeared at the fair as part of a publicity tour.


The fair became part of J. Alex Sloan’s IMCA fair schedule prior to World War I and would be part of that tour until the mid 1920’s. From 1915 to 1925, stars such as Sig Haughdahl and Fred Horey set speed records and thrilled a packed grandstand. During the mid and late 1920’s, Indianapolis drivers Howdy Wilcox, Lou Schneider, Bill Cummings and Wilbur Shaw moved Springfield dirt. The track saw a major change over the winter of 1926. The original oval ran almost east and west, with turns 1 & 2 near Peoria road and 3 & 4 pressed up against sheep and horse barns. The wood grandstand was ready for replacement as well. The track was re-oriented to the current north-south configuration and a massive brick, concrete and steel grandstand was constructed for the 1927 season.


During the Great Depression, people were looking for inexpensive entertainment. With the demise of the board tracks auto racers were looking for places to run, and not coincidentally, state and county fairs were looking for attractions to draw crowds. It was a perfect set up for the return of auto racing to the Illinois State Fair. Enter Ralph “Pappy” Hankinson, a long-time east coast promoter with ties to the American Automobile Association. Hankinson had a vision of bringing the Indianapolis machine to the Illinois capitol. During the 1933-34 offseason his vision came true, the contracts were signed and Springfield had a 100-mile national championship race, just one of four on the schedule including Indianapolis.


Seventeen two-man Indianapolis machines filled the pit area on the morning of August 25, 1934. The day was sunny and warm, and a massive crowd was beginning to fill the stands. Drivers and their riding mechanics suited up for the warmup session and qualifying, among them 1934 Indianapolis winner Bill Cummings, future winners Kelly Petillo and Mauri Rose, and a Detroit dirt track ace by the name of James Murdock “Billy” Winn. Cummings set a track record of just under 40 seconds in Cotton Henning’s Boyle Valve front drive Miller. Johnny Sawyer would start on the outside of the front row, Petillo third, Rose fifth and Winn eighth. Fourteen cars would start the first ever national championship race at Springfield before a crowd reported at 20,000.


Sawyer got the jump on Cummings and began to dominate the race. Cummings went out on lap 16 with a hole in the radiator. Winn moved up steadily and by lap 93 was running second when the clutch went out on Sawyer’s machine moving Winn into the lead. No one else was close and Winn won the 100-miler by over 2 minutes over Russ Snowberger. Winn became a popular winner at Springfield and would repeat in 1935. The large crowd pleased promoter and fair board so much that national championship racing was to become a staple of the last Saturday of the fair. Except for the years surrounding World War II a 100-mile national championship event has been part of the Illinois fair since 1934.


Ninety events for upright open wheel cars, sixty of them named for the Bettenhausen family. Fifty-four different winners, nine of them Indianapolis 500 champions. A win on the Springfield Mile has helped twenty-one drivers to a national championship including Logan Seavey in 2023. Over forty of the open wheel championship cars are expected to return to the historic Springfield Mile in 2024 to carry on a tradition that has been part of the fair for ninety years.


The 61st Bettenhausen is part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Menards Series Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.


Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.


Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.


For more information, visit www.usacracing.com, www.arcaracing.com, or www.trackenterprises.com.

MARA Midgets Friday night at Lincoln as well.

Made the haul last year from Indy and had a nice day at Springfield. Just might do it again. It filled the void somewhat of the Indy mile going away.

Who wrote this article, it's GREAT!

That would be historian and announcer Jay Hardin.

Seavey Looks for Second Bettenhausen, Second Championship at Springfield Mile

By Jay Hardin Track Enterprises Staff

(Springfield, IL) August 7, 2024-California’s Logan Seavey looks to become the first back-to-back winner of the Bettenhausen 100 in nine years on Saturday, August 17 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Since 2020, the 2023 USAC Silver Crown champion has finishes of eighth, second, third, and first in the 100-mile classic. Last year’s win helped the Sutter, California native to his first Silver Crown national championship and deliver a coveted trophy to car owner Robbie Rice. Rice’s father, the late Larry Rice, also won the Bettenhausen in 1977 enroute to the first of his two Silver Crown titles.

Last August, Seavey set quick time in qualifications of nearly 115 miles an hour, then watched as rookie Emerson Axsom led the opening lap from the outside of the front row. Seavey took the lead on lap 2 and led through lap 41 before veteran Shane Cottle took over the top slot. Cottle looked like a winner until Seavey caught and passed him on lap 88 and captured his first Bettenhausen win. In doing so, Seavey became the 19th Springfield winner from the pole position and the 5th different winner since 2015. He also became the 24th Springfield winner from the state of California.

Seavey entered the 2024 season with 8 career wins in the USAC series, tied for fifteenth all time. This season he sits third in the USAC Silver Crown point standings, 50 behind 7-time national champion and fellow Californian Kody Swanson (entering the August 10 event at Jennerstown). Two events, including a date at Worldwide Technology Raceway near St. Louis pre-date the Bettenhausen. A possible 76 points are at stake at Springfield. Seavey has yet to post a win in the big cars in 2024, as his best finishes are a second on the asphalt at Lucas Oil Raceway in May and a second in the July Salt City 100 at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.

Seavey’s mile track success isn’t an accident. He made his mile dirt track debut in an ARCA stock car in 2018 on the tricky DuQuoin “Magic Mile” starting fourth and leading 35 miles on his way to an ARCA victory. He came to Springfield in 2019 in the ARCA series, set fast time that day then backed it up with a strong fourth place run and leading 34 laps. Seavey also won the Ted Horn 100 at DuQuoin in 2022 showing the steady drive that’s made him a threat in the big cars.

The 61st Bettenhausen is part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.

Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.

Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.

For more information, visit www.usacracing.com, www.arcaracing.com, or www.trackenterprises.com.

Wins Aid Swanson Recovery During USAC Silver Crown Season

Springfield Bettenhausen 100 Coming Saturday Afternoon

By Jay Hardin Track Enterprises Staff

(Springfield, IL) Kody Swanson entered the 2024 USAC Silver Crown season on uncertain footing, so to speak. A Christmas morning incident at his parents’ home left him with a broken foot. Multiple surgeries required to repair the damage meant a longer than anticipated recovery. However, the 7-time USAC national champion has shown little aftereffects, winning the season opener at Toledo in April. Wins at Winchester and Lucas Oil Raceway in May plus Jennerstown Saturday followed and propelled him to the top of the point standings after 8 events. His Doran Binks owned mount appears ready to help him to an unprecedented eighth USAC Silver Crown.

A win in the Bettenhausen 100 at Springfield August 17 would go a long way to ease the pain of recovery. A fourth Springfield win for Swanson would place him in rare company. Only Chuck Gurney, A.J. Foyt, and Jack Hewitt have as many 100-mile dirt car wins in the Illinois capitol. The Californian is the all-time series victory leader, with 40 entering the 2024 season. Eleven victories have come on the one-mile dirt tracks and Swanson hasn’t won a big car race on the dirt since the rain shortened August 2021 Bettenhausen 100.

An ability to keep the car straight and turn consistent laps made Swanson a contender on the dirt miles since his first Bettenhausen start in 2008. In 13 starts on the Springfield Mile, Kody Swanson has been running at the end of 10, completed the distance 9 times and led 4 times for 178 laps. He has 10 top 10 finishes on the Springfield clay and is fifth on the all-time money won list at Springfield.

Swanson’s point lead stands at 55 over 2017 Bettenhausen 100 winner Justin Grant, and 62 over 2023 Bettenhausen winner Logan Seavey after the August 10 race on the pavement at Jennerstown. A pavement event at World Wide Technology Raceway is also on the schedule prior to Springfield. Twenty-one race winners at Springfield have gone on to win a national championship, twelve of them in the Silver Crown Series since 1971. The last was Logan Seavey in 2023.

The August 17 Bettenhausen 100 continues a tradition of 100-mile national championship racing that celebrates the 90th anniversary of the first national championship race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, as well as celebrating a tradition of competitive auto racing at the fair that goes back at least 114 years. The “Springfield Mile” holds a legendary distinction among 4 wheel and 2-wheel competitors, the championship race became a model for races at the DuQuoin and the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The track itself was used as a basis for other tracks across the country. The Springfield Mile is one of the oldest and most historic motorsport venues in the United States.

The 61st Bettenhausen is part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.

Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.

Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.

For more information, visit www.usacracing.com, www.arcaracing.com, or www.trackenterprises.com.