KALISPELL, Montana — Montana Raceway Park’s summer of thrills and excitement gets underway this weekend with the 8th Annual Legends Thunder National Qualifying event for Masters, Pro and Semi-Pro divisions sponsored by Coors Light, Hilton Garden Inn, Westward Bound Construction and WannaRace.
Also on this weekend’s schedule will be Thunder Roadsters and Bandoleros Young Guns and Bandits.
Legends Thunder leads into the 4th of July Firecracker USA 125 for the ARCA West Macs Series followed by the 19th Annual Coors Light Montana 200 on July 16-18, the Red Bull/Triple W Equipment Flathead Valley 75 on August 8, the Kalispell Toyota ‘Best of the West’ on August 14 followed by the Kalispell Toyota International Tundra Challenge USA vs. Canada 150 for the ARCA West Macs Series on August 15.
This weekend drivers from as far as South Carolina, Florida, Arizona and California will make the trek to the high-banked quarter-mile oval in search of a win that could propel them into the INEX 600 Racing national championship. Points earned this weekend in all divisions qualify for national championship standings.
Activities get started with open practice on Friday followed by a free FanFest that evening. Food, prizes and driver appearances highlight FanFest with race fans able to see the cars up close at no charge.
Saturday afternoon all teams will get plenty of practice prior to qualifying and main events for all six classes of competitors.
Kory Abott of Apoka, Florida will be out to make it three consecutive wins in the Pro division. Local driver Wrango West will be out to defend the home turf and try to return the class title back to Montana Raceway Park for the first time since Alex Lessor won the division in 2005.
In the Master’s class Tommy Jordan of South Carolina will be one fan favorite sure to make some noise.
Jordan, who has raced in every Legends Thunder event since its inception but has yet to take the coveted winner’s trophy back to the Palmetto State, has several top-3 finishes and considers 2009 his best chance for a breakthrough victory. Spike Schultze of Missoula, Mont. will be out to keep the Master’s trophy in Big Sky country for another year as he goes for two straight wins in the class.
Semi-Pro features some of the best talent in Legends Thunder as the likes of Matt Henderson, Rowan and Nick Carey and Kyle Oman have all claimed main event victories in the past.
This weekend may be a breakout opportunity for Spokane brothers Joey and Jake Bissett who are the highest ranked Semi-Pro drivers in the local Legends points standings. Both young drivers have national karting titles to their credit but are looking to advance their driving careers with a Legends Thunder victory.
Montana drivers to keep an eye on in the Semi-Pro division include Zach Havens, Tyfini West and Giles Thornton.
Matt Henderson is the defending Semi-Pro champion and will be back to make it two straight main event victories on Saturday.
Thunder Roadster drivers out for Thunder victory include local’s Scott Lee, Tyler Corpron and Zach Havens who will be pulling double-duty.
Defending Bandolero champions Tommy Kelly (Young Guns) and Jonathan Eakin
(Bandits) return to this year’s event along with Raceway Park’s Devin Clayton, Mike Hilliker, Dalton Halden and Tristan Corpron.
FanFest including free food and entertainment gets the 8th Annual Legends Thunder weekend started on Friday evening followed by a full slate of racing on Saturday. For more information log onto www.montanaracewaypark.com or call (406) 257-RACE (7223).
