LAS VEGAS — With the recent announcement that Davey Hamilton Jr.’s Open Wheel Showdown added a second date this year, that also means the national pavement midgets will participate in both events.
Midgets will be apart of the event at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Nov. 14-16. and also the Nov. 22-24 event at California’s Irwindale Speedway. A $10,000 winner’s share is up for grabs each night.
The inaugural Open Wheel Showdown in Las Vegas last December featured more than 20 midgets participating, paving the way for a bright future.
The Irwindale event will be bittersweet. It will be the first time national midgets have participated at Irwindale since the Turkey Night Grand Prix on Nov. 24, 2011. The supermodifieds will also be making their return to Irwindale the same night for the first time since 1999.
The Irwindale OWS stop will be one of the biggest open-wheel events held at the track in decades.
While the event is still nearly five months away, the early midget entry list is strong. More than 20 cars are already entered. Judging by the current entrant list, there could be well more than 30 cars at both events this year. There are several cars that were apart of last year’s event that have not yet entered but that are expected to participate.
Early entrants include defending Las Vegas OWS midget winner Kody Swanson and NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jesse Love.
Other notables include NEMA midget standout Avery Stoehr, 500 Sprint Car Tour winner Billy Wease and last year’s Pink Lady Classic winner Evan Margeson.
For more information on the Open Wheel Showdown, visit www.openwheelshowdown.com.