As the summer begins and the heat rises, so will the stakes on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car tour.
Big events and big paydays define the summer stretch for The Greatest Show on Dirt. This isn’t merely one month of money. This is a three-month period of booming bank accounts.
Over the next three months, the World of Outlaws schedule boasts 16 races that pay at least $15,000 to win with 15 of them offering $20,000 or more. Among those are also a trio of six-digit paydays, including the richest in World of Outlaws history.
The lucrative period begins this weekend as the two-night (June 16-17) Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway concludes with a $20,000-to-win Feature on Saturday. Then, only four days from Saturday is where one of the biggest events of the season can be found.
Teams from across the nation will converge in Brandon, SD – the site of Huset’s Speedway – on June 21-24. The four-day Billion Auto Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards will begin with a trio of $20,000 prelim nights. And then on Saturday everyone will be vying for the largest payday in Series history as the winner of the finale is going home with $250,000.
Not only is the winner leaving with a major sum of money, but the entire purse is massive. The $5,000-to-start main event features a $456,500 total payout. The purse for the entire four days amounts to more than three-quarters of a million dollars.
The High Bank Nationals will be a special event for all involved, but it’ll be especially meaningful for championship contender David Gravel. The Watertown, CT native pilots the Tod Quiring-owned Big Game Motorsports #2. Quiring is also the owner of Huset’s and largely responsible for establishing the High Bank Nationals as a marquee race.
“Huset’s is such a unique event with the format and a short track and all that,” Gravel commented. “We’re excited. I feel like we have a little bit of redemption from last year. I felt like we had a pretty good car all week and had an opportunity to win the race.
“To race for $250,000, and to race for $20,000 each night could be a huge week for somebody if you can win a couple nights and the finale. That’s what makes Sprint Car racing really exciting this year. When you win a $10,000-to-win race, that’s cool, but if you win one of these big ones, it takes care of so many other events.”
Two and a half weeks after the High Bank Nationals, $15,000 is put on the line at Attica Raceway Park’s Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic (July 11). That’s just before Eldora Speedway hosts the $20,000-to-win Knight Before (July 14) and then the $175,000-to-win 40th Kings Royal (July 15).
July is capped by a pair of $20,000 races with the Champion Oil Summer Nationals at Williams Grove (July 22) and Weedsport Speedway’s Empire State Challenge (July 30).
As the summer of money is navigated, momentum could be a helpful factor in bagging some big bucks. While no results are ever guaranteed to translate to the next race, the confidence of a strong stretch can do wonders when facing the pressures of a major event.
“Every race car driver is a headcase,” rookie contender Gio Scelzi joked. “Confidence is huge for us, and when you get momentum rolling like we have right now, it definitely makes our job a bit easier, and it makes you be a little bit more confident in making those tight passes and tight moves.”
As July comes to an end, it’s on to the Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 (August 5) with another $20,000 prize during its Saturday finale.
A week later brings “The Granddaddy of ‘Em All” as Knoxville Raceway hosts the 62nd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals. Not only has the winner’s share been upped to $185,000 this year, but it will also pay $15,000 to merely start the finale on Saturday, August 12 – part of the more than $1 million overall purse. Excluding how much it pays to win, Knoxville’s Saturday Feature purse alone exceeds half a million dollars.
After Knoxville, it’s a third straight week of stout Saturdays with the Jackson Nationals concluding its three-night show with a $25,000-to-win main event on August 19.
That will then lead to a west coast trip where another trio of racing nights will be capped by a high-paying finale. Skagit Speedway’s Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals boasts $26,000-to-win on September 2. Then, Silver Dollar Speedway’s Gold Cup Race of Champions, as it continues to be revitalized by SLC Promotions, will offer $25,000 to whoever claims the Gold Cup on Saturday, Sept. 9. That will be followed by the fourth Tom Tarlton Classic at Kings Speedway on Sept. 15, paying $21,000 to the winner.
Add it all up and the result is several chances for big and, life-changing, money. Combining every to-win amount among the Summer of Money stretch, including the $10,000-to-win races, nearly $1 million will be on the line. And that doesn’t even account for all of the cash spread throughout the field.
“The months of money are something we always try to get focused on,” Carson Macedo said. “We try to do our best to put our best foot forward, and I feel like we’re going to a lot of tracks that I like, and we’ve done really well at in the past. Hopefully we can put good runs together and get some wins on those big money nights.”
Full Upcoming Schedule:
Date / Track / To Wins
June 16-17 / Beaver Dam Raceway / $10K, $20K
June 21-24 / Huset’s Speedway / $20K, $20K, $20K, $250K
June 30-July 1 / Cedar Lake Speedway / $10K, $10K
July 7 / 34 Raceway / $10K
July 8 / Wilmot Raceway / $10K
July 11 / Attica Raceway Park / $15K
July 14-15 / Eldora Speedway / $20K, $175K
July 19 / BAPS Motor Speedway / $10K
July 21-22 / Williams Grove Speedway / $10K, $20K
July 29-30 / Weedsport Speedway / $10K, $20K
Aug. 4-5 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway / $10K, $20K
Aug. 9-12 / Knoxville Raceway / $12K, $12K, $4K, $185K
Aug. 17-19 / Jackson Motorplex / $10K, $10K, $25K
Aug. 25 / River Cities Speedway / $10K
Aug. 26 / Red River Valley Speedway / $10K
Aug. 31-Sept. 2 / Skagit Speedway / $10K, $10K, $26K
Sept. 4 / Grays Harbor Raceway / $10K
Sept. 7-9 / Silver Dollar Speedway / $10K, $10K, $25K
Sept. 15 / Kings Speedway / $21K
For tickets to races during the World of Outlaws Summer of Money, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every race live on DIRTVision.
