Speedway Firecracker 125 Saturday

The Lucas Oil Great American Stocks will be back in action this Saturday night at Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery for the Discover Scott County Firecracker 125 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts.

The holiday weekend classic has provided race fans with many memorable moments since Wayne Edwards won the inaugural Firecracker race in July of 1989.

The 30th annual edition of the Discover Scott County Firecracker 125 brings about a change in the popular early summer event.  The race, which has been contested as a special “non-points” event for the past several years, returns to the Lucas Oil Great American Stock calendar in 2019 as a double points race.

From 1992 to1998 the race was contested as a points race for the Salem Super Stock division and varied in length from 100 to 200 laps.

“We’re excited about the changes for this year’s Discover Scott County Firecracker 125,” said Salem Speedway general manager Richard Deaton.  “The race is now positioned to be the most important and prestigious event of the season for the Lucas Oil Great American Stock division.  With double points up for grabs the race could very well go a long way in determining the 2019 track champion”.

As many as four former Firecracker race winners are expected for Saturday’s race.

“The entry list is starting to build and the competition level is extremely strong,” said Deaton, who noted that 30 plus cars are anticipated for the Firecracker 125. 

Former race winners expected include Chuck Barnes Sr. of Louisville, Todd Kempf of Huntingburg, Ind., Brian Bayer of Birdseye, Ind., and David Bayens of Borden, Ind.

The former race winners can expect plenty of competition from the likes of Chuck Barnes Jr. of Louisville, Will Kimmel of Sellersburg, Ind., Kyle Hadley of Louisville, Skeeter Crum of Jeffersonville, Heath Helton of Ownesboro, Ky., and Dan Banker of Des Moines, Iowa.

Other top drivers expected include Jeff Berg of Louisville, Baden Stewart of Salem, Tony Conway of Louisville and Brandon Deckard of Shepherdsville, Ky., among others.

Kimmel (201) currently leads the Lucas Oil Great American Stock Skyline Chili point standings with Helton (196) second, Hadley (193) third, Kempf (187) fourth and Bayer (184) fifth.

Barnes Jr. is coming off a big win in the U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway, where his father, Chuck Barnes Sr., finished second and Skeeter Crum finished fourth.

The Affordable Stock Car Racing (ASCR) Ford Crown Vics are set to kick-off the racing action on July 6th with the Independence 30 on the infield short-track oval and the Freedom 30 on the figure 8 track.

“The Ford Crown Vics are one of the area’s fastest growing grass roots divisions,” said Deaton.

Besides being the first Salem appearance for the Ford Crown Vics, Saturday’s race also marks the first figure 8 race at Salem in a number of years.

Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery will once again be giving away free Hoosier Lottery prize packs to several lucky fans, age 18 and older, during the July 6th event.

Spectator gates open and practice gets underway at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday (July 6) with qualifications at 6:00 and the first race rolling off at 7:15 p.m. (EDT).

Advance general admission tickets are priced at $14 for adults and $3 for children (age 7-12).  Kids, age 6 and under, are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.  Advance reserved seat tickets are priced at $19 each.  For tickets or more information go to www.salemspeedway.com or call 812-883-6504 or 1-888-246-7223.