ROCK SPRINGS – Stock car racing is roaring back onto the Sweetwater Events Complex schedule, with races slated for Friday and Saturday, August 19-20.
Gates at the racetrack open at 6 p.m., with stock car racing slated to get underway at 7:30 p.m. Directional signs for the stock car racetrack located near the Grandstand which were taken down for the county fair will be back up again, event organizer Kara Beech said recently.
Beech is the manager and promoter of the Sweetwater Dirt Track Alliance, a non-profit organization. Spectator admission prices for the stock car races are $10 for adults, with kids 6-12 and seniors age 60 and up paying $5, and kids ages 5 and under getting in free. A Family Pass for two adults and two kids costs $20.
The oval racetrack is 3/8ths of a mile long, Beech said, with racing continuing until 10:30 or 11 p.m. depending upon the number of cars and drivers which enter. Different classes of stock cars will be featured: International Motor Contest Association (ICMA) modified, late model, stock car, hobby stock and race saver sprint car. “Street stock” cars are what many people typically think of when they visualize stock car racing. A street stock car is a regular vehicle that has been modified for racing purposes, Beech said.
Other types of stock cars may have open wheels or, in the case of sprint cars, resemble a go-cart with wings. Each class of stock cars will have separate preliminary heats to be followed by a final race to determine the winner. While Beech said she is not sure how fast the cars can go at top speed, she estimated that the cars are going between 90 and 110 m.p.h. on the track corners.
Prize money for drivers will be offered, ranging from $500 down to $50. “If drivers show up and race, they get paid,” Safety for drivers and fans is a top priority, Beech said.
Some stock car races in other locales allow for “bump and run” contact between cars in order to move another car out of the way or to push a car ahead of a driver to go faster. However, that is not the case at the Sweetwater Events Complex. “Bump and run is forbidden here,” Beech said.
Anyone thinking of entering one or more of the stock car races will need to have done some homework first. The IMCA website lists four pages of rules and regulations for stock car drivers.
“We go by the IMCA rules,” Beech said. Rules are extensive and include specifications for safety equipment, frames, roll cages, door bars, car bodies, driver compartments, front suspensions, rear ends, bumpers, tires, wheels, brakes, exhaust systems, fuel systems, the fuel itself, weight, batteries/starter systems, gauges/electronics, transmission/driver shaft, engine compartments, and engine specifications.
“Rules apply at all times the car is on the track,” the IMCA website says.
Further information regarding the stock car races is available by calling Kara Beech at (307) 272-3361. The IMCA website can be found at www.imca.com. Additional information about the local edition of “the fastest show on dirt “is available at Sweetwaterspeedway.webs.com.
