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Illini Racing Series presented by D’Arcy GMC E-Update You are about to receive an IRS audit of your racing plans for 2008! That’s Illini Racing Series...not those other IRS guys. The preliminary work has been done, the schedules are set, the tire situation settled, the new cars are being finished up, and it’s just about time to hit the track! January started with a huge announcement for Illini Racing Series members. Zero Motorsports announced an extraordinary sponsorship program for the 2008 midget racing season. An entry with each $50 purchase will give the racer the opportunity to win a brand new Zero Motorsports chassis and body kit. The winter meeting in Joliet attracted an overflow crowd ready to hear what the plans were for the 2008 season. The schedule wasn’t quite complete, so most of the people in the room couldn’t have known what an incredible campaign lay ahead. Word had leaked out at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa that the IRS will be heading back to the famous Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wi. for two races in the coming season. And we were told the season would get off to a fast start when the Illini midgets return to the high banks of Rockford Speedway as part of the “Open Wheel Rumble in Rockford” on May 18th (the season opener changed afew weeks later). This is just one of four Midget MAYnia program s planned by SPM Promotions and Dan Theil. The Rockford show is slated to feature the return of USAC’s National Midget tour for the first time since 1979. But at that time, that’s about all of the schedule that could be released with certainty. February found an IRS display at the Bureau County Speedway in Princeton, IL for their annual swap meet. A steady flow of curious racers stopped by to watch the video from last year and check out Fred Teer’s midget and one of the TQ’s that will be on the race card with the Illini cars. The schedule gets officially expanded with the addition of the Blue Collar Series at Bureau County Speedway. The Illini Racing Series also announced the formation of a Dwarf Car Division, which will be part of the Saturday nights at Princeton. Also in February, our website gets a whole new look. March was a busy month, with another Bureau County date added, and three new dates, all on pavement, visiting Grundy County Speedway, Hawkeye Downs and a return trip to Rockford Speedway. These dates are all part of the ASA (American Speed Association) Late Model North events at these tracks. It was learned that our beloved Mickey Thompson tire would soon be unavailable, but American Racer stepped up with a replacement at a lower price. Thousands of race fans stream past our cars on display outside the garages at Chicagoland Speedway for Stan Kalwasinski and Tommy Turtle’s fantastic annual memorabilia show, and our booth had so many visitors that we ran out of schedules and have to run off more. Barely a week later Midget MAYnia Tour promoter Dan Thiel announced the addition of the Illini Racing Series (IRS) Midgets to the May 17th Stan Fox Memorial at Slinger Super Speedway. The event, presented by Mid States Equipment and Kubota, will be highlighted by the USAC MOPAR Midget N ational Championship Series, which is expected to include the NASCAR development teams of Tony Stewart Chevy, Kasey Kahne MOPAR, Nine Racing Toyota, Klatt Racing Ford, plus all the top USAC National Midget starts and cars. With just a short press release, we changed the opening date for the Illini Midgets, and added another new track to the record book. April’s only half over, so who knows what the next two weeks will bring. But already we had a strong presence at the 14th Annual Racefest in Joliet and received word on our website on how to save a few more bucks on tires. It’s hard to believe, but our opening day is just four weeks from this Saturday. That Saturday is May 17th and our first trip to Slinger Super Speedway, followed the next day with our first stop of the year at Rockford Speedway, both events we will share the pits with the USAC National Midget tour and the FIRA mini-indy cars. This back to back schedule should make a motel room a less expensive alternative to making that drive twice. The following weekend (May 24th) we will headline the program at Bureau County Speedway, along with the IIMA TQ’s and the debut of our own Dwarf Car Division. The next day we will join the ASA Late Model North tour at Grundy County Speedway for our only visit to the track in 2008. As of now, June seems to be a little more relaxed, with Bureau County Speedway our only scheduled stops on the 7th and 21st. Three dates are on tap for July, stopping at Bureau County on the 5th, Angell Park on the 6th and with the ASA again on the 26, this time at Rockford. Three more races in August find us racing at Princeton on the 2nd, Sun Prairie on the 3rd, and our 3rd race (in our 3rd state) is on the 30th at Haweye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. November 15th has already been reserved at Jennifer’s Garden for our annual Championship Banquet, so plan now to have your car ready to put on display after you win the top spot in 2008. At this point, it about a 30 or 40 way tie for that privilege. In completing your audit, let us review: 12 races, at six tracks, seven dirt shows, five paved tracks, two dirt tracks, in three states. No doubt about it, the IRS is looking great in 2008! This is going to be fun! None of this would be possible without the outstanding participation of you who are reading this. It is your legacy of good looking cars involved in great racing with outstanding fan relations and club support that have opened these doors for us this season. The Illini Racing Series E-Update Data Center can be reached by mail at 2318 Greengold St., Crest Hill, IL 60403 |