FANS OF THE HIGH BANKS CONTRIBUTE TO BELLEVILLE MIDGET NATIONALS LARGE PURSE
By: Bryan Gapinski
The purse for this weekend's 40th annual Belleville Midget Nationals on Aug. 4-5 at the Belleville High Banks exceeds $78,000 for the two-day midget portion of the event. The USAC Midget National Championship Series event is of one of midget racing's crown jewel events.
"The Fans of the High Banks" a group of race fans who follow and attend Belleville events have again gone the "extra mile" again this year and raised money through sponsorships and donations to increase the payoff for the midget events. The seventeen individuals have contributed $1000 each to be used as added incentive for more high-quality drivers, owners, and crews to return to the "world's fastest half-mile dirt track".
The contributors are: Brad Boyer, Belleville; Ken Ebert, Salina; Dennis Erkenbrack, Republic; Scott Hoard, Courtland; Kevin Jensen, Courtland; Wade Jensik, Belleville; Tanner Johnson, Courtland; Don McChesney, Munden; Jim McDonald, Belleville; Arlen Mickelsen, Superior, NB; Adrian Polansky, Belleville; Jon Russell, Courtland; Brent Scott, Belleville; Jeff Sothers, Courtland; Jeff Strnad, Scandia; Darrell Wineinger, Belleville; and one anonymous donor.
The event has the largest posted purse for an outdoor midget auto race for the 2017 season. The positive economic impact on the Belleville area is tremendous and the entertainment value of this event draws people back year after year.
Friday August 4 will feature practice, qualifications, preliminary races and a 25-lap feature for the midgets on the 1/2-mile high banked clay oval. The popular two-person cruiser stock car division will race on the track's infield quarter-mile track.
Saturday August 5 night will feature last chance races for midget participants to make the 40-lap feature, midget racing's most grueling event of the season. A check of $12,500 awaits the feature winner. The United Rebel Sprint Car Series again returns for the "5th annual 305 Sprint Nationals".
General Admission tickets for all events are sold first-come first-served on race day at the ticket gate. Reserved seating tickets are available for the event. General admission available only if the event is not sold out, and available only on the day of the race at the track ticket office. Special children ticket pricing is being offered this year. Link to order advance tickets from Ticket Force is: https://tickets.ticketforce.com/?search=belleville.