OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Economics and rules sold Sprint Series of Oklahoma officials on IMCA and RaceSaver.
The inaugural tour opens with the March 4 and 5 Red River Roundup at Red River Speedway. Fifteen dates are scheduled in all, at five different tracks.
Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Longdale Speedway, Brill’s Motor Speedway and Oklahoma State Park also host SSO shows before the series returns to Red River and Wichita Falls, Texas, for its final events Oct. 28 and 29.
“What we’re trying to do in this area is get more people in race cars. We like the cost of this class and we like the rules,” explained Race Director Jim Messmer. “This is a dynamite thing (RaceSaver founder) French Grimes and (RaceSaver owner) Roger Hadan have put together.”
“We’ve already gotten a lot of calls about this series. We had an informational meeting about a month ago and had 40 to 50 guys show up. We’ve probably got a dozen guys right around Oklahoma City putting cars together,” Messmer added. “All the tracks are pretty excited about this. It wouldn’t surprise me if we had 30 or more cars the first night.”
The series’ standard purse boasts a top prize of $700 and a minimum of $200 to start the main event. The March 5 Red River Roundup feature pays $1,000 to win.
“We are right at where we wanted to be as far as our number of events this season,” noted Messmer. “We gave out rules and procedures during the racers reunion held for Fairgrounds Track drivers and there were guys who wanted to race more. We may go to 20 races next year.”
Messmer drove a late model during his own career while his brother Ernie, who will head tech inspection for the SSO, piloted a sprint car.
Both were car owners before growing costs forced them out of that role. Jim became a local track race director and helped the Wingless Oklahoma Warriors with tech inspection duties last season.
“The more the cost went up, the fewer people could race sprint cars. It just got crazy around here,” he said. “IMCA and RaceSaver are going to make it possible for a lot of people to get into Sprint Cars again.”
IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, series and Allstar Performance State points will be awarded for the first 13 SSO events. Series points only will be given for the Oct. 28 and 29 races.
2016 Sprint Series of Oklahoma Schedule
Friday, March 4 – Red River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas. Saturday, March 5 – Red River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas. Sunday, April 3 – Red River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas. Friday, April 15 – Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore. Saturday, April 16 – Longdale, Okla., Speedway. Saturday, April 23 – Brill’s Motor Speedway, Meeker, Okla. Friday, May 20 – Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore. Friday, June 17 – Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore. Saturday, June 18 – Oklahoma Sports Park, Ada. Friday, Aug. 19 – Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore. Friday, Sept. 16 – Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore. Saturday, Sept. 17 – Longdale, Okla., Speedway. Sunday, Sept. 25 – Red River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas. Friday, Oct. 28 – Red River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas. Saturday, Oct. 29 – Red River Speedway, Wichita Falls, Texas.
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