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CAR COUNT IMPRESSIVE IN '07 AT WILLIAMS GROVE -- '08 OPENER FEB. 24
MECHANICSBURG, PA -- Car count was on the upswing at Williams Grove
Speedway last year and with the 2008 season opener not too far away,
track management is hoping the trend continues.
The sprint car division averaged 39 cars per race date in 2007.
That figure includes 28 of the 29 dates in which sprint car racing was
the featured attraction. It does not include the Fall Fest which was an
invitational event.
Car count was highest for the World of Outlaws races since the
sport's premier traveling series was carrying more than 20 teams in 2007.
The seven Outlaw races at Williams Grove averaged 53 cars per night
last year, up from a previous high of 49 in 2006.
The All Stars sanctioned only one race at the Mechanicsburg half
mile last year and brought a fine field of 43 cars.
The unsanctioned races, which comprised the majority of the Grove's
schedule, drew very impressive numbers as well.
In 20 unsanctioned dates the Grove averaged 33 sprint cars per
race. That total is up three from the 30-car average of 2006.
A breakdown of the 2007 season shows the speedway drew 50 or more
cars on six occasions with a high of 57 on September 28. Car count was
in the 40s three times and in the 30s on seventeen dates.
Only twice during the course of the season did the sprint car count
fail to reach 30. There were 28 cars in the pits on July 13, the Friday
between Speedweek and the Summer Nationals.
The season's low of 26 came on August 10, the week of the Knoxville
Nationals.
In addition to the car count, the quality of competition was up as
well. Nineteen different drivers visited victory lane in the sprint car
division at the Grove in 2007.
The 2008 racing season begins at Williams Grove Speedway on Sunday
afternoon, February 24, at 2:00 with sprint car racing as the sole
attraction.
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