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45TH ANNUAL NATIONAL OPEN AT WILLIAMS GROVE SEPTEMBER 28-29
MECHANICSBURG, PA -- The 45th annual National Open is set for
Williams Grove Speedway on Friday and Saturday evenings, September
28-29, and with $146,340 on the line, the top sprint car drivers in the
country are expected to compete.
The National Open will be sanctioned by the World of Outlaws and
sponsored by Cleveland Brothers.
Both nights will include time trials, qualifying heats and dashes,
along with C and B mains.
Friday night's feature will pay $5000 to win from a total purse of
$33,400.
On Saturday night the winner of the 40-lap National Open will earn
$50,000.
Qualifying will begin at 7:45 both nights.
The National Open ranks as one of the premier sprint car events in
the United States.
Only the Knoxville (IA) Nationals is more lucrative and only the
King's Royal in Rossburg, Ohio, and the Gold Cup in Chico, California
can match the National Open's $50,000 winner's share.
Donny Schatz has already won the Knoxville Nationals and the King's
Royal this year and will enter the National Open as a heavy favorite.
Schatz, 30, of Fargo, ND, has won for of the five races he has
entered at Williams Grove this season. He has won three of the last
seven Nationals and could tie Bloomington, Indiana's Steve Kinser this
year for most victories in this prestigious event.
Brownsburg, Indiana's Joey Saldana is sprint car racing's only
other $50,000 man this season, having won the Gold Cup. He is currently
locked in a tight points race with Schatz for the World of Outlaws
championship. Although he has never finished better than third in the
National Open, Saldana ranks as a serious contender this year with three
top-5 finishes in five Williams Grove starts.
The defending National Open champion is Lancaster's Doug Esh, who
should be one of the top local threats again this year. Grove regulars
have won four of the past ten Nationals.
The 2007 Cindy Rowe Auto Glass track championship will also be
decided during the National Open weekend.
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