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| O’Reilly POWRi National Midget Series Officials Announce Aggressive 2008 Season Schedule Thirty-one events scheduled for series’ fourth season of competition MILLSTADT, Ill. (Jan 3) – O’Reilly POWRi officials announced today a 31-race schedule the largest in the series’ four-year history as the Illinois organization continues to see intense growth. The series’ points-paying schedule opens in April at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill. and closes in October at the series’ anchor of Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill., the same as it did in 2007, but the middle of the schedule has expanded, leaving drivers and crews with one of the busiest schedules in Midget racing. In addition, five tracks will host their first ever O’Reilly POWRi National Midget Series races in 2008. Among those is Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, a 3/8-mile track in northwest Kentucky owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. The race will be the second held in conjunction with the Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS), an Indiana-based 410 Sprint car association. Other races held in conjunction with MSCS include Friday, June 6 at Morgan County and Saturday, June 28 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. St. Francois County Speedway in Farmington, Mo. will also feature its first POWRi National Midget Series show after previously hosting the POWRi Mini-Sprints. The 3/8-mile track will be the finale of the inaugural “Illinois/Missouri Speedweek” on June 14. The swing begins June 11 at I-55 Raceway at Pevely, Mo. and also runs June 13 at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. A two-race Missouri swing in May will also see two new venues. The third-mile Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo. will be contested on Friday, May 16, while the 3/8-mile Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. will run Saturday, May 17. Washington Town and Country Fair in Washington, Mo. will also host its first POWRi National Midget Series race on Saturday, Aug. 9. Like St. Francois, the fifth-mile track hosted a POWRi Mini-Sprint race in 2007. The 2008 schedule will also see several staples returning. Among those is the Dana Godfrey Memorial on July 18 at Macon (Ill.) Speedway, the Finley Memorial on July 19 at Belle-Clair, the two-night Cornhusker Midget Challenge from July 29-30 at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., the Arnie Knepper Memorial on Aug. 6 at Belle-Clair, the Bob Wente Classic on Oct. 3 at Tri-City and the Charlene Meents Memorial on Oct. 4 at Belle-Clair. The October races wrap up the 2008 points-paying calendar. Also returning is a two-night affair at the Southern Illinois Center at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, held during the annual DuQuoin State Fair. The schedule also honors the USAC-sanctioned “Knoxville Midget Nationals” in Knoxville, Iowa and the “Belleville Midget Nationals” in Belleville, Kan., held after POWRi’s two-night swing at McCool. POWRi points will be paid to those licensed drivers competing in the two Knoxville races. Overall, seven states are represented on the 2008 schedule – up one from 2007 – with Illinois tracks hosting 17 races, including the final eight. Missouri is second on that list with four, all at different venues. “Our schedule reflects extensive growth in 2008 that we have been building since our inaugural season in 2005,” said POWRi co-founders Kenny Brown and Jim Siner. “We’ve expanded our schedule to give our competitors a variety of places (16 different tracks) throughout the Midwest. This is our best schedule to date, and we hope the competition and skill level will help complement that in 2008.” Brown said the series may add two dates in the coming weeks. The O’Reilly POWRi Mini-Sprint schedule, which features the 600cc cars, will be announced in the coming weeks. The O’Reilly POWRi Series, based out of the St. Louis, Mo. area, is in its fourth season of competition in 2008 with two levels of open-wheel racing. The National Midget Series currently travels around the Midwest with stops in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska. The series races exclusively on dirt and attracts some of the top Midget drivers in the nation week in and week out. The 600cc Mini-Sprints are a stepladder to the National Midgets, where younger drivers get experience before making the move to full Midgets. For more information about POWRi, visit www.powri.com or contact Kenny Brown at 618-476-7526. April 25 – Morgan County Speedway – Jacksonville, IL April 26 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL May 9 – Tri-City Speedway – World of Outlaws – Granite City, IL May 10 – Tri-State Speedway – Tri-State Challenge – Haubstadt, IN May 16 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, MO May 17 – Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO June 6 – Morgan County Speedway – MSCS Sprints – Jacksonville, IL June 7 – Belle-Clair Speedway – IL/MO Speed Week – Belleville, IL June 11 – I-55 Raceway – NASCAR Night – Pevely, MO June 13 – Tri-City Speedway – Granite City, IL June 14 – St. Francois County Speedway – Farmington, MO June 20 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA June 21 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA June 27 – Paducah International Raceway – MSCS – Paducah, KY June 28 – Tri-State Speedway – MSCS & KISS – Haubstadt, IN July 18 – Macon Speedway – Dana Godfrey Memorial – Macon, IL July 19 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Finley Memorial – Belleville, IL July 29 – Junction Motor Speedway – Cornhusker Midget Challenge – McCool Junction, NE July 30 – Junction Motor Speedway – Cornhusker Midget Challenge – McCool Junction, NE August 1 – Belleville High Banks – Belleville, KS August 2 – Belleville High Banks – Belleville, KS August 6 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Arnie Knepper Memorial – Belleville, IL August 9 – Washington Town and Country Fair – Washington, MO August 15 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL August 29 – Southern Illinois Center – DuQuoin State Fair – DuQuoin, IL August 30 – Southern Illinois Center – DuQuoin State Fair – DuQuoin, IL September 12 – Morgan County Speedway – Jacksonville, IL September 13 – Spoon River Speedway – Tom Knowles Memorial – Canton, IL September 27 – Macon Speedway – Macon, IL October 3 – Tri-City Speedway – Bob Wente Classic – Granite City, IL October 4 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Charlene Meents Memorial – Belleville, IL |