This upcoming Saturday, the forecast may be hot, but we promise the action will be hotter. The Wingless Sprint Series will make their way to the “Banks Bullring” along with the Pacific Micro Sprint Association, Deering Management Group Micro 600 Open, and Micro 600 Restricted divisions.
For the Wingless Sprint Series this will mark the 7th appearance to the 1/4 mile since the series was established in 2016. Lance Hallmark leads all drivers in the series for career WSS wins at Sunset with 2. Hallmark, the McMinnville driver, is the only driver to find victory lane more than one time. Rob Lindsey, Pat Canfield, Lindsay Barney, and Wayne VanRaden round out the group of drivers to find success at SSP, each with one win. This also marks the 5th event in 2021 for the WSS points season. In this season, Tim Alberding leads the series with 2 wins. Both of those wins would take place at the Cottage Grove Speedway. Chad Lindsey and Evan Margeson would also each collect one win a piece at the Grays Harbor Raceway in Washington. Currently, 4 time champion Rob Lindsey, leads the point standings by a small margin over Alberding, C. Lindsey, and rookie of the year contender Kinzer Cox.
We reached out to a few of the strong WSS competitors planning to be in attendance Saturday.
First to the winningest driver in Banks WSS history Lance Hallmark, on what it takes to win at the Bullring. His response was simple, “ Being smooth. No erratic braking, hit your marks on corner entry, don't over drive!” He added that they have won many times there in Mini sprints in 2002, midgets & sprint cars also. He also said that as a team they have many laps at Sunset Speedway over the years. And gives a lot of kudos to a track up north for his success “I cut my teeth in my early years at Deming Speedways 1/5 mile dirt Oval...what I learned there really helps at SSP”
We then reached out to surprise of the year Chad Lindsey, asking him what it’s like racing for a championship against his 4 time defending champion father and if beating him to a win in 2021 has cause a few less tips. He responded with, “ Since I was a kid I’ve dreamed about racing side by side with my dad so this season really has been a dream come true. It’s a lot of fun being in a tight points race with him but once we are on the track it’s all business for both of us. Neither of us will give an inch because we both want to win. As far as advice goes I’m going to him less for it as I’m becoming more confident but when I come to him he answers any questions I have and even just gives me advice if he sees something I’m doing on track that I could improve on.”
Following that up we went to the 4 time champion asking him his thoughts on the competition level we see now in the WSS, he would answering saying, “ I actually love the competitiveness that our club has now. It makes us a stronger club and one that’s much more exciting to watch for the fans. With the addition of Chad and Kinzer and everyone else stepping up their game, you never know who’s going to come out on top each night.”
Lastly but not least we would reach out to Tim Alberding who’s 2 for 2 on the 1/4 miles so far this year, and ask him how difficult it is to keep yourself at the top in this series and what he feels about the upcoming trip in Banks. He would have this to say, “ With every track unique in shape and size I think it’s hard to carry momentum in the series. I’ve been really lucky with a couple of the pill draws for our dashes which has helped. There’s so many fast cars in our group that you need to nail the setup every time and have a little luck on your side. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a win at Banks, I’d really like to change that soon. With the competition we have I’m going to need a lot of luck with the setup and in the dash.”
All the WSS series drivers have extra incentive for the 3 scheduled Sunset Speedway events, as Saturday will mark round 1 of the VanRaden Industries Wingless Sprint Challenge. This mini series will be hosted exclusively at SSP giving a $1,000 bonus at the end of the year to the champion.
The Pacific Micro Sprint Association, PMSA for short, will also be making their debut to Sunset Speedway. This traveling Micro Sprint Series, which run part time Winged and part time Wingless will be hosting their first Wingless event in 2021. This will also be the first time we will see any micro sprint Wingless at the speedway.
“After a short time off from the long trip for our drivers to Coos Bay Speedway our drivers are excited to be running wingless for the first time at Sunset speedway in Banks, Oregon.”, said series president and 3 time champion Doug Pirtle. Much like the aforementioned WSS series, the PMSA find themselves in a very tight points battle having the top 5 in points virtually gridlocked looking for every point available on track.
2 time champion Paul Cengic finds himself tired with former dwarf car hot shoe Doug Mcvae for the series points lead. We also see a tie in points for 3rd just behind the leaders between JoJo Batalgia, who will be looking for a strong showing at her home track, and Barry Lampert. Pirtle currently finds himself sitting in the 5th spot heading into Banks.
Also in attendance this Saturday night will be both the Deering Management Group Micro 600 Open, and Micro 600 Restricted divisions. Both classes have been featured at the speedway for many years now, and will be making their first scheduled event in 2021. Fans will be seeing these divisions a lot over the next 6 weeks as they prepare for a busy month of July in Banks. These 2 divisions last ran for speedway points in 2019 seeing Justin McConville winning the Open championship, and Macie Logsdon winning the Restricted title. One things for certain, SSP has been known to produce highly entertaining Micro Sprint Action.
Tickets will be available at the gate starting at 4pm. No outside food or beverage allowed, but don’t fret as we offer a full concessions on site.
Adults are $15.
Jr (13-17), SR, and Military are $12.
Youth (6-12) are $5 with kids 5 and under being free.
We also offer a family pass which includes 2 adult tickets and up to 4 youth for $40 total.
Pit passes are $40.
Pit gates open at 2pm
Front gate at 4pm
Hotlaps at 5pm
With racing set to begin at 6:30pm