| From: [email protected] (Richard Day)
Subject: WOO: TNN to cover Outlaws in 1996
World of Outlaws to Enter Electronic Era in 1996
By Richard Day
PLANO, TX (December 18) - With the opening of the Skoal Outlaw
Series' 1996 season at St. Augustine Speedway February 15-17, so
begins its electronic era.
World of Outlaws sprint car racing - "the greatest show on dirt" -
will be beamed live into homes across the country on a regular basis
by TNN: The Nashville Network beginning in 1996. The feature programs
of the April 24-25 Williams Grove event, Eldora Speedway's King's
Royal (July 19-20) and the Knoxville Nationals (August 14-17) will all
be televised live on TNN between 10 p.m. and midnight (EDT). Each
event's preliminary programs will be taped, then aired on Saturday
nights later in the season.
Officials are also considering other Skoal Outlaw Series events
for live television coverage next season.
"TNN was very, very pleased with all aspects of the Amoco
Knoxville Nationals telecast last August," Dave Bowman, who was
instrumental in securing the World of Outlaws' television package,
said during the series' 18th Annual Awards Banquet in October. "It was
scheduled in a time slot that is not normally dedicated to motorsports
programming (10-12 p.m.) and generated a 1.1 Nielsen rating. That is a
tremendous rating, and it proved the vitality of not only the Amoco
Knoxville Nationals, but of the World of Outlaws series in general.
"The bottom line of the entire experience is that the World of
Outlaws put on a tremendous show for the fans in the grandstands, and
on television. Knoxville was a live race, and we proved we could do
it, and do it with class.
"TNN has believed for some time that the World of Outlaws could be
very successful with live national exposure. They were willing to
proceed only when sponsors financing, track owners and the World of
Outlaws organization itself could agree on an overall deal that would
provide a solid foundation to build on for years to come. The Amoco
Knoxville Nationals made that happen.
"It took a while and a lot of hard work by a lot of people to get
this done. Now that we have a live series in place, things will begin
to change. Live television will educate a whole new audience about the
excitement of the World of Outlaws series. Not only will they watch on
television, but they will attend the races. When sponsors see this
audience building, we believe they will want to participate to a
greater extent also. All of this will not happen overnight, and we
will measure our success two or three years from now. TNN and the
World of Outlaws are convinced that we are poised to see an impressive
level of growth."
World of Outlaws President Ted Johnson added that the televised
events will feature inflated purses.
Another electronic advancement the World of Outlaws will make by
the time the season starts will be the installation of its own world
wide web page on the Internet. The interactive page will allow the
Internet's 40 million members to learn more about the world's largest
sprint car racing series, pick up its latest-breaking news or leave e-
mail for series officials and their favorite drivers.
The Skoal Outlaw Series' 1996 schedule will follow a route similar
to those in years past, opening in Florida in mid-February. Following
that $105,950 event, the tour will resume at Pike County Speedway in
Magnolia, MS, and continue through Texas at Battleground Speedway in
Houston and Devil's Bowl Speedway, where the series held its first
event back in 1978. An afternoon race at State Fair Speedway will
follow on March 24th.
Eldora will host its first of four events April 5-6. The Skoal
Outlaw Series is scheduled to return to Earl Baltes' high-banked, 1/2-
mile oval on June 15th, July 19-20 and August 9th.
A double-feature event at Memphis Motorsports Park will be
followed by the World of Outlaws' inaugural visit to West Plains Motor
Speedway, a semi-banked, 3/8-mile oval in West Plains, MO, on April
19th. The series will remain in The Show-Me State and run a $34,485
event at Missouri International Speedway in Benton the next evening.
The Skoal Outlaw Series' first of four visits to Knoxville Raceway
is scheduled for April 26-27. The series is scheduled to return to
"The Home of the Nationals" for the Valvoline Classic June 21-22, on
July 24th and for the 36th Annual Amoco Knoxville Nationals in August.
"The greatest show on dirt" opens the month of May at I-80
Speedway in Greenwood, NE, before running its inaugural event at
Hartford Speedway in Hartford, MI, a week later. Hartford is also
scheduled to host Gerry Olson's Fifth Annual U.S. Dirt Nationals'
October 11-12.
Tri-City Speedway and Tri-State Speedway are scheduled to host
their first of two Skoal Outlaw Series events May 11-12.
The series' annual spring tour of Pennsylvania is scheduled to
open at Lernerville Speedway on May 21st. The tour continues at
Williams Grove Speedway May 24-25, and runs through Hagerstown
Speedway May 26th, Grandview Speedway May 28th and Williams Grove May
31st before climaxing at Lincoln Speedway on June 1st.
The World of Outlaws' annual June tour of New York is scheduled to
open at Orange County Speedway on June 2nd and run through Lebanon
Valley Speedway, Rolling Wheels Raceway, Canandaigua Speedway and
Ransomville Speedway on successive nights.
NASCAR Winston Cup superstar Kenny Schrader and Ray Marler will
promote the World of Outlaws' first race at I-55 Raceway in four years
on June 12th. From I-55, the series is scheduled to run $34,485 events
at Kokomo Speedway, Bloomington Speedway and Eldora June 13-15.
Hales Corners Speedway is scheduled to host the Seventh Annual
Beer Town Showdown on June 19th. Following another double-feature
event at Knoxville, the World of Outlaws will invade Thunder Hill
Speedway in Mayetta, KS, on June 23rd.
Tulsa Speedway is scheduled to host its first Skoal Outlaw Series
event in two years on June 25th. The World of Outlaws will sanction
the 13th Annual Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway June 28-29.
The Third Annual STP Classic is scheduled for July 2nd at Huset's
Speedway. A tour of the upper Midwest is scheduled to continue through
Red River Valley Speedway July 5-6, Cedar Lake Speedway July 8th,
Davenport Speedway July 10th, LaSalle Speedway July 12th, Tri-City
Speedway July 13th and Tri-State Speedway July 14th.
The 10th Annual King's Royal will be sanctioned by the World of
Outlaws and be on live national television for the first time in 1996.
The Skoal Outlaw Series is scheduled to visit I-96 Speedway and
Knoxville Raceway before heading to Pennsylvania again. The series'
second Keystone State tour opens with the Don Martin Memorial Silver
Cup Race at Lernerville Speedway on July 30th. A double-feature event
at Williams Grove Speedway is scheduled for August 1-2, with
Hagerstown Speedway hosting another $64,895 event August 3-4.
Bridgeport Speedway's first of two single-program events (August
5th) leads the World of Outlaws into its final visit of the year to
Eldora Speedway. The series will sanction its annual "Night Before The
Big One" race on August 9th.
After sanctioning sprint car racing's crown jewel, the Knoxville
Nationals, the World of Outlaws is scheduled to visit Eagle Raceway
for the One/Third-Mile Nationals before opening its Third Annual Wild
Wild Northwest Tour at Magic City Speedway on August 21st. The site of
a double-feature event scheduled for August 23-24 will be determined
at a later date. The tour of the Pacific Northwest is scheduled to
climax at Riverside Speedway on August 27th.
The Skoal Outlaw Series' annual fall tour of California will open
with a $105,950 event at Calistoga Speedway. The tour is scheduled to
run through San Jose Speedway September 6-7, Kings Speedway September
11th and Santa Maria Speedway September 13-14 before climaxing with
the 43rd Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway
September 19-21.
The World of Outlaws' eastward trek has it visiting I-80 Speedway
before sanctioning the Williams Grove National Open October 4-5.
Following the U.S. Dirt Nationals, the series is scheduled to
visit Battleground Speedway and the Devil's Bowl in Texas before
closing out its 19th season at Manzanita Speedway October 25-26. WoO
WORLD OF OUTLAWS/SKOAL OUTLAW SERIES
1996 Racing Schedule
Date Track City
Feb. 15-17 St. Augustine Speedway St. Augustine, FL
March 15 Pike County Speedway Magnolia, MS
16 Battleground Speedway Houston, TX
22-23 Devil's Bowl Speedway Mesquite, TX
24 State Fair Speedway Oklahoma City, OK
April 5-6 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH
12-13 Memphis Motorsports Park Memphis, TN
19 West Plains Motor Speedway West Plains, MO
20 Missouri Int'l Race Park Benton, MO
26-27 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA
May 2-3 I-80 Speedway Greenwood, NE
10 Hartford Speedway Hartford, MI
11 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL
12 Tri-State Speedway Haubstadt, IN
21 Lernerville Speedway Sarver, PA
24-25 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA
26 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD
28 Grandview Speedway Bechtelsville, PA
31 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA
June 1 Lincoln Speedway New Oxford, PA
2 Orange County Speedway Middletown, NY
3 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon, NY
4 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge, NY
5 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua, NY
6 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville, NY
12 I-55 Raceway Pevely, MO
13 Kokomo Speedway Kokomo, IN
14 Bloomington Speedway Bloomington, IN
15 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH
19 Hales Corners Speedway Hales Corners, WI
21-22 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA
23 Thunder Hill Speedway Mayetta, KS
25 Tulsa Speedway Tulsa, OK
28-29 Eagle Raceway Eagle, NE
July 2 Huset's Speedway Sioux Falls, SD
5-6 Red River Valley Speedway Fargo, ND
8 Cedar Lake Speedway New Richmond, WI
12 LaSalle Speedway LaSalle, IL
13 Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL
14 Tri-State Speedway Haubstadt, IN
19-20 King's Royal (Eldora) Rossburg, OH
22 I-96 Speedway Lake Odessa, MI
24 Knoxville Raceway Knoxville, IA
30 Silver Cup (Lernerville) Sarver, PA
August 1-2 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, PA
3-4 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD
5 Bridgeport Speedway Bridgeport, NJ
9 Eldora Speedway Rossburg, OH
14-17 Knoxville Nationals Knoxville, IA
19 Eagle Raceway Eagle, NE
21 Magic City Speedway Billings, MT
23-24 To Be Announced Washington state
27 Riverside Speedway Cottage Grove, OR
30-31 Calistoga Speedway Calistoga, CA
Sept. 1 Calistoga Speedway Calistoga, CA
6-7 San Jose Speedway San Jose, CA
11 Kings Speedway Hanford, CA
13-14 Santa Maria Speedway Santa Maria, CA
19-21 Gold Cup (Silver Dollar) Chico, CA
27-28 I-80 Speedway Greenwood, NE
Oct. 4-5 Williams Grove Nationals Mechanicsburg, PA
11-12 Hartford Speedway Hartford, MI
16 Battleground Speedway Houston, TX
18-19 Devil's Bowl Speedway Mesquite, TX
25-26 Manzanita Speedway Phoenix, AZ
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