LAS VEGAS — The stakes will be raised in Las Vegas on December 1-2 with the Riskon360! Open Wheel Showdown heading for the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with the world’s best pavement open wheel racers competing for a record $50,000-to-win winged sprint car purse.
$10,000 will be on the line for midgets while the Speed Tour Super Modifieds battle for $5,000 to win. Over 100 teams from across North America are expected at the .375-mile short track in search of the lucrative prizes of over $250,000 up for grabs.
The Riskon360! Open Wheel Showdown is promoted by Davey Hamilton Jr., who will also be competing in the winged sprint car portion of the event.
SPEED SPORT.tv will have live pay-per-view coverage of the Open Wheel Showdown.
A Breakdown Of Events
The winged sprint car main event on Saturday night is a 100-lap contest paying $2,500 to start while midgets race in a 50-lap feature for $1,500 to start and super modifieds battle for 40-laps and $1,200 to start. Friday action features heat races and qualifying for the winged sprint cars. Thursday will be open for practice for the winged sprint cars only.
Double-duty racers in sprints and midgets will include the all-time winningest USAC Silver Crown driver Kody Swanson, defending Little 500 winner Jake Trainor and 12-time USAC Silver Crown winner Bobby Santos.
“What they’re doing for sprint car racing is huge,” Santos said. “Typically, when you go to a winged sprint car event you can honestly count on one hand the guys you’re going to be racing against for the win. In this event, you’re going to have 20 guys with a legitimate argument that they could win this race.”
The nearly 75 paid winged sprint car entries reads like a who’s who of the past, present and future of the division.
Star-Studded Winged Sprints Lineup
Hamilton Jr. will be joined by his 11-time Indianapolis 500-starting father Davey Hamilton Sr. Former star of ‘The Bachelor’ Arie Luyendyk Jr. makes his winged sprint car debut, carrying on the legacy of his two-time Indianapolis 500-winning father.
Three-time King of the Wing national champion Eric Humphries and Must See Sprint Car champion Jason Blonde bring winged championship gold into Las Vegas. The last eight winners of the wingless Little 500 are entered, featuring Swanson, Santos, Trainor and Tyler Roarhig.
Canadian drivers Aaron Willison, Jason Conn, Richie Larson, Brad Aumen, Ryan Litt and Geoff Wade are also entered along with numerous teams from Idaho, California and Florida. In total, 11 states are represented on the entry list.
Midget Entries
Multi-car midget efforts from across the country will travel to the Open Wheel Showdown as well, such as Tim Bertand Racing from Connecticut and Indiana-based teams from car owners Jeff West and Nick Bohanon.
All three outfits are bringing all-star casts to race for the $10,000 victory with Santos, Tanner Swanson and Trainor competing for West. Bohanon and RMS Racing will field two-time defending USAC National Sprint Car champion Justin Grant. Kody Swanson is the captain of the three-car Bertand Motorsports squad.
2014 USAC National Pavement Midget champion Kyle O’Gara, Cody Jessop, Michael Daniels, Garrett Mclees and Tony Seidelman are also entered.
“Having a $10,000 to win, $1,500 to start midget race for us pavement racers is unheard of,” O’Gara said. “This not only gives us something big to chase up front, but it gives all teams a chance to go to the race track and not lose money. We all know there isn’t a lot of money to be made midget racing, so if you can go to the track and break even at worst case, that’s a win in a lot of team’s books.”
Hamilton Sr., this year’s Harvest Classic winner Bryan Warf and Nathan Byrd are entered to race double-duty in both the Speed Tour Super Modifieds and winged sprint cars, taking on one of the largest and most diverse super modified fields on the west coast in several seasons.
The longest tow of the entire Open Wheel Showdown will come from Dave Danzer. Danzer travels west on the heels of a $20,000 victory in the 67th Oswego Classic in September. Mark Sargent, son of the hall of famer Marshall Sargent, will compete as well.