Three-time Cup champion Stewart, Sprint star Abreu to run at Grandview Speedway on Aug. 17

Three time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, California’s Rico Abreu and a host of top talents in Sprint car racing will be at Grandview Speedway on Thursday night.

The old saying goes ‘there are plenty of fish in the sea’ — but for 29-year-old 410 Sprint Car ace, Ryan Smith, Grandview Speedway is the one that continues to get away.

Smith’s next shot comes on Thursday, when NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series presents Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint Cars at Grandview Speedway. The nationally touring series will join Grandview’s popular Sportsman division for a full night of racing excitement at the 3rd Annual Thunder Cup presented by Levan Machine and Equipment.

“We got lucky, Ryan Smith had a better car than I did,” Speedweek event winner and NASCAR driver Kyle Larson explained in victory lane. Larson dominated the early part of Speedweek competition, but it was Smith who stole the lead — much to the delight of the jam-packed Grandview Speedway — before clipping the outside wall and violently flipping

into turn 3.

The PA Speedweek event marked the third consecutive NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill event that saw Smith suffer misfortune while leading.

“The Kunkletown Kid” comes back into Grandview Speedway stronger than ever. He currently sits second in the Arctic Cat All-Star Circuit of Champions series standings and is fresh off a victory at the All Stars event at New York’s Outlaw Speedway.

The best-of-the-best of competition will be on hand on Thursday, August 17 with drivers like Greg Hodnett, Danny Dietrich, Lucas Wolfe, Dale Blaney and Freddie Rahmer — all winners at area race tracks this season; along with All Star standouts Chad Kemenah, Tim Shaffer, Cole Duncan, and Carson Macedo all expected to be on hand; throw in one of the nation’s most popular drivers with Rutherford, CA’s Rico Abreu and action from three-time NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart — and you have one of the strongest fields of the All-Star season.

Grandview’s popular Sportsman division joins the card with a 25-Lap, $1,300-to-win event that will entice racers from all over the region. Some of the pre-entries include Brad Grim, Matt Stangle, Craig Whitmoyer, Mike Lisowski, Kenny Gilmore, Brian Hirthler, TJ Lilly, Brad Arnold and Ken Eckert Jr just to name a few.

Time Trials for the 410 Sprint Cars will open the show on Thursday, August 17 at 7:30 PM. The pit gates will open at 2:30 PM and the Grandstands will open at 5:00 PM. Fans can get up-close to the drivers and their mighty machines with the Low Down and Dirty Meet and Greet kicking off at 5:00 PM.

General Admission Adult tickets are $30, Children ages 6-11 are $10, and Kids under 6 are Free of charge! Pit admission is $35, and no license is required.

Advance tickets are available until Wednesday, August 16 by calling 443513-4456. Advance ticket holders may enter the grandstands at 4:30 PM, 30 minutes before the opening of the box office.

*** Imagine this, indoor dirt track racing. Mark it on your calendar.

Indoor dirt track auto racing is coming to the northeast in December 2017.

Len Sammons Motorsports Productions will be offering two days of Indoor Auto Racing on a dirt oval to be constructed inside the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, N.J., on Friday and Saturday, December 1-2.

“When news of this race leaked out it has created huge excitement in the racing industry,” Len Sammons said.

“We are pleased to bring dirt track racing indoors in Trenton for the first time. This is the right place and the right time to bring exciting 600cc Micro Sprint racing indoors to the area,” Sammons added.

With many tracks racing Micro Sprints weekly in the region, the pool of potential entrants is huge.

Bridgeport (NJ), Airport (DE), and Linda’s, Lanco, Kutztown, Hamlin, TrailWay and Path Valley in Pennsylvania are among them.

“As with our successful Indoor TQ Midget races on the concrete, we expect there will be big name dirt track drivers who will be filing entries,” Sammons added.

The logistics of building a dirt track inside the Sun National Bank Center will include trucking in a large quantity of high quality clay, packing it, and watering it to keep it moist.

“The track will have banking in the turns,” Sammons revealed. “That will be key to having very competitive racing.”

Complete programs of qualifying events and feature for the Micro Sprints will take place on both nights.

Oliver Communications has already signed on as a presenting sponsor of the event, however there are still plenty of marketing opportunities available. Interested parties should contact Danny Sammons at 609888-3618 or via e-mail at danny@aarn.com.

Dirt track racing in Trenton effectively ended in 1957 when the one mile dirt oval at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds was paved. Prior to World War II, Trenton Speedway operated as a half mile dirt track. One of the first auto races in history was held September 24, 1900 at the Fairgrounds on a half mile dirt track built for that specific purpose.

The Chili Bowl in Tulsa, OK, held annually in mid-January, is considered the largest indoor dirt race of its kind with racing held over a two week period for both the 600 Micro Sprints and the full-size Midgets. Indoor dirt track racing, however, has not been held in the northeast for over a decade.

The Trenton Dirt Indoor race, will be the first of four Indoor Auto Racing Series Fueled By VP Racing Fuels races that comprise the most ambitious Indoor racing season yet. The race will not be a point’s race for the series title.

Three weekend events will be held as in the past on a concrete floor surface.

The ‘hard surface’ opener comes in a return to the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., with a two-race weekend planned Friday and Saturday, January 5-6, 2017.

That is followed on January 26-27, 2017 for the sixteenth annual Gambler’s Classic inside Atlantic City’s historic Boardwalk Hall.

A first time, new event has been scheduled for the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., for February 9-10.

Ticket information, entry forms, sponsorship opportunities, and event schedules, including support classes, will be available, as finalized for all events at www.indoorautoracing.com