KNOXVILLE, Iowa – As the Knoxville Raceway prepares for its 69th season of racing, speedway officials and the Marion County Fair Association have unveiled an increased purse structure for all Knoxville Championship Series events.
The highest-paying, weekly track championship series will increase its purse by more than $100,000 this year.
Additionally, Weiler Night with the All Star Circuit of Champions on Saturday, July 30, will now pay $8,000 to the winner, an increase of $1,000 over last year’s event. The Aug. 7 Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank will also increase from $8,000-to-win to a $9,000 payout this year.
“We’re aware of the rising costs for our weekly racers at Knoxville, mostly from factors that are beyond anyone’s control,” said John McCoy, Knoxville Raceway race director. “The Knoxville Raceway Race Committee and Marion County Fair Association wanted to do what we could to help alleviate that pressure from our weekly show competitors, who are the backbone of our racing program. Our goal was to raise the purse for our drivers without raising our weekly ticket costs for our fans. With everyone’s cooperation we were able to do just that.”
The weekly Knoxville Championship Series will now pay $5,000-to-win for all 13 410ci events this season and $625 to start. The 360ci class will pay $2,000 to win and $325 to-start. Pro sprint feature events will pay $650 to win and $125 to start. It’s an overall increase of more than $134,000 across all three classes.
For the first time, Knoxville Raceway will also award perfect attendance bonuses at the May 28 and Aug. 27 events, as well as at the Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank.
On top of the abundant purse structure, Knoxville Raceway will also distribute more than $166,000 in cash and $110,000 in prizes across the three classes in final championship point standings. The 410 track champion will again receive $20,000 this year, while the 360 class champion and pro sprint class champion will receive $8,000 and $1,000, respectively.
The 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s on Aug. 10-13 will again offer the highest-paying purse in all of sprint car racing with more than $1 million paid out over the four-day event.
The 69th Knoxville Championship Series season will begin with the Pella Motors/Kraig Ford Season Opener on Saturday, April 16. The 410 class has 17 total point-awarding events, while the 360 and pro sprint classes each have 15.