Illiana Speedway ready for HOSS invasion

 

    By Scott Stine.  The Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series gets to stretch its legs Saturday August 7 on the half mile Illiana Speedway asphalt.  The pavement kings with wings has made its living on the quarter mile track of late, and the jump onto the wide open racing surface at Illiana provides drivers and fans with high speed exhilaration before returning to the technical confines of Anderson Speedway.  2004 HOSS/Marathon points pacesetter Greg Wheeler holds the track record (16.408) established during the 2003 event, which witnessed seven drivers under the old record time.  

 

     Racing at Illiana on Saturday night after being on the Friday racecard in years past will give many fans their first look at the HOSS excitement.  Many fans around the Chicagoland area have hoped to see the winged sprint cars, but the evening rush made reaching the Friday races difficult.

 

     Greg Wheeler (Swanson 7) holds a 21-point advantage over two-time champ Ron Koehler (10) as the season begins to wind down.  Third in points and leading the Rookie of the Year standings is Michael Tarlton.  Tarlton (9) has made steady progress throughout the 2004 campaign most recently finishing fourth in the series’ first ever race at Rockford (IL) Speedway.  Tarlton is currently leading fellow rookie Sondi Eden (Batts 6) by 17 points with a handful of races to go.  Fifth in the standings with one win already this season is the Buckeye Bandit Joe Rebman.  Rebman (77) returns to the HOSS fold after a spectacular incident (it made the Speedvision news) while racing in the South last weekend.  Joe is still sore but feeling the pressure from his teammate Doug Berryman (Rebman 1R) who is sixth in points just eight behind.  Jerry Caryer (75c) is three behind Berryman and has been threat to win Illiana in years past.  He has been in contention all season long and without early misfortunes would easily be into the top five.

 

    

For more information go to www.hossracing.com or www.illianaspeedway.com

 

     Saturday night racing action for all five classes:

       

          Pits Open                                                                    3:00PM

         

          Main Gate Opens                                                4:00PM

 

          Qualifying                                                           5:30PM

 

          Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series Racing           7:30PM