Williams Grove Plans New Season Opener Friday, March 17th
Story By: SHAWN BROUSE / WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY – MECHANICSBURG, PA – After losing the March 12 season opener to weather, Williams Grove Speedway is slated to open the 2017 racing season coming up Friday, March 17 at 7:30 pm.
Presented by Dieffenbach’s Potato Chips of Lebanon, the rescheduled season opener will feature the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprints in a 25-lap feature paying $3,600 to win.
The super late models will race for a $2,000 to win payday.
Adult general admission for the prestigious season opener is set at just $16 with youth ages 13 – 20 admitted for just $10. Ages 12 and under are always admitted for FREE at Williams Grove Speedway.
The Williams Grove portion of opening day 50/50 ticket sales will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.
The sprint car drivers will be competing to win the Williams Grove opening day Hard Charger Award, presented by PAPosseRacing.com.
The hard charger of the race will earn $300 for his efforts.
Last season it was Rick Lafferty of Pennington, NJ., scoring the opening day sprint car feature at Williams Grove Speedway on a Friday night after being pressured for the lead by Freddie Rahmer and having been passed for the win by Greg Hodnett.
Since 1939 when Tommy Hinnershitz won the inaugural race at the famed facility, so many highly recognized names and even some not so much have scored the prestigious first Williams Grove race of the year.
Well-knowns or on their way up the ladder at the time of their victories were the likes of Jan Opperman, AJ Foyt, Ted Horn and Hinnershitz.
Kasey Kahne, destined for bigger and better things in todays NASCAR arena, took the opener back in 2000.
But perhaps lesser-known at the time or even unique names like Kevin Collins, Brian Paulus, Marlett Naill and Gig Stephens have also taken that famous first checkered flag of the year at Williams Grove.
Williams Grove Speedway will return to action on March 24 at 7:30 pm with another 410 sprint and super late model doubleheader.
The super late model winner on March 24 will earn $2,000 for the win but he will actually earn more than that.
The March 24 event will serve as a Late Model Speedweek qualifer for the stock cars at Williams Grove, meaning the winner on March 24 is guaranteed a starting position in the Williams Grove Late Model Speedweek event coming up at the track on June 9.
Keep up to date on all the latest speedway news and information by visiting the oval’s official website at www.williamsgrove.com or by keeping up with the oval on Facebook or Twitter.
