KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Australian sprint car gasser Rusty Hickman, his dad Darren and soon-to-be brother-in-law Jett Speed are en route to the United States for a monthlong racing tour of duty with team partner Dave Challons.
The No. 45 J&J sprint cars are ready stateside — with 410 and 360 engines, a hauler and a truck thanks to the support of J&J Chassis owners Jack and Bonnie Elam and longtime American car owner and sprint car racing supporter Janet Holbrook.
The main focus for the Bendigo, Victoria, throttle smasher is the iconic Knoxville Raceway, including competing in the 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank and the 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.
Knoxville will be the team’s home base with July 23 for 3M night, July 30 for the Weiler Night with the All Star Circuit of Champions, the Xtream powered by Mediacom Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank on Aug. 7 and the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Aug. 8.
In between the commitments at the Sprintcar Capital of the world, the Hickman/Challons No. 45 also plans to potentially take in races at Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway on July 20 and Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota on July 24.
“The plan is to race as much as we possibly can,” Darren Hickman said. “We have some fantastic people helping Rusty and we want to get this No. 45 J&J dirty as much as we can.”