There was good news for IZOD IndyCar fans this week with the announcement that the famed “Milwaukee Mile” is back on the 2012 schedule.
The IndyCar Series will run on the historic track on June 16, which is the Saturday before Father’s Day.
The announcement means IndyCar has scheduled five races on ovals this year and 11 on street and road courses.
I still believe IndyCar needs to find at least one more oval track to compete on in 2012 to bring some balance to the schedule.
The first oval race is the Indianapolis 500 so an oval track date before May 27 would be beneficial so that teams can “shake down” the new chassis and engine packages.
The second good news was that Firestone has extended its contract to provide tires for the series through at least 2014 and will continue as the title sponsor of the Indy Lights series.
When it comes to people that know short-track racing, they once again recognized central Indiana super late model racing as among the best in the nation in the annual 51 Sports award voting.
Two traditional super late model events sanctioned by the Champion Racing Association in the Hoosier state were voted in the top three when it came to the best finish of the year.
The Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway was voted the best finish of the year, followed by the Red Bud 300 at Anderson Speedway and the Winchester 400. The Red Bud 300 was voted the best finish in 2010.
CRA partners R.J. Scott and Glen Luckett for the second consecutive year were named Promoters of the Year in voting, which included Anderson Speedway owner Rick Dawson as a candidate for the award.
The CRA Super Series, JEGS All Stars, Sportsman and Street Stock series will all be at Indiana tracks in 2012. The Red Bud 300 on July 21 is a race to look forward to with the last two races being determined on the final lap.
With the JEGS All-stars competing on the Friday night before the Red Bud 300, local late model racing fans will see two of the nation’s top touring series in action at Anderson Speedway on the same weekend.
CRA was voted the best touring series, and the Winchester 400 was voted the second best annual race.
Kenzie Ruston’s win in the CRA Super Series at Lucas Oil Raceway after Boris Jurkovic ran out of fuel was voted second in the most inspirational moment of the year.
Jurkovic’s win in the Winchester 400 after being several laps down, earned him the “Comeback Driver” of the year honors.
Illinois driver Eddie Hoffman was voted “Best Bad Boy” in short-track racing, and his rivalry with Erik Jones was deemed to be the best one of the year. Jones, the JEGS champion, captured “Rookie of the Year” honors in the voting.
Ross Kenseth, a regular competitor at the Red Bud 300 and CRA Super Series events, finished second to Chase Elliott, another CRA competitor, for Short Track Driver of the Year honors.
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Contact Ken de la Bastide: ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com
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Ken de la Bastide: 'Mile' back on IndyCar schedule
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