You can visit the sacred soil of the Badlands, or watch the slowly evolving sculpture of Crazy Horse that’s being carved from a mountainside take shape. Personally, I had my first two bison burgers in the Black Hills and at the famed tourist trap, Wall Drug, just off Interstate 90. But if you find yourself in the Peace Garden State this month, you’ll be pleased to discover that South Dakota, one of the most lovely landscapes in this country, is also going to host a major, megabuck extravaganza of American open-wheel racing without the adulteration of overhead wings. The inaugural Huset’s Speedway USAC Nationals on the famed third-mile loop of loamy soil in Brandon, South Dakota, will have a stunning total purse of $236,000 for three straight nights of USAC national Sprint car and national Midget action, running from September 10th through 12th.
The Chris Pedersen photo from the United States Auto Club shows two of USAC’s top guns, Robert Ballou in the 12 and Justin Grant, just off an overall win in last weekend’s Sprint Car Smackdown at Kokomo Speedway in Indiana, who will be chasing the big dollars in buffalo country. It’s the highest combined purse ever offered for Sprint and Midget competitors in USAC’s history, which reaches back to 1955. Full preliminary programs for both divisions will be held the first two nights, leading to a no-qualifying feature finale with lineups based on point totals from each qualifying night. Can’t make it all the way to South Dakota? Accept our condolences, along with our assurances that the entire program will be streamed live on Floracing.com, which is a must-have service for race fans, and you can order swag by visiting the event website.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 