SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Cars will tackle one of the biggest races in series history this weekend as they’ll invade Washington’s Skagit Speedway for the 50th edition of the Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup.
The action kicks off with a pair of prelim nights on June 23-24 before the $50,000-to-win, 50-lap finale on Saturday, June 25.
With a unique format planned, plenty of money up for grabs, and a loaded roster with not just the West Coast’s best drivers but some of the top talent across the country, Dirt Cup’s return to 410ci sprint cars is set to be a memorable one.
The Format
The two preliminary nights will put an emphasis on line-up inversions and accumulated points will establish the lineups for the final night on Saturday.
On both Thursday and Friday points will be handed out right away for qualifying. The fast qualifier will earn 200 points with a two point drop for each subsequent position.
The heat races will be lined up with an eight-car inversion. The heat races will award 100 points to the winner with a three point drop for each subsequent position.
The top 20 in points after qualifying and heat races will be locked into the prelim features. Those outside the top-20 will be positioned in the C-main and B-main with the C sending the top-four finishers to the B, and the B sending its top-four finishers to the feature. The feature will invert the top-16 in points. The feature winner will earn 200 points with a two point drop for each subsequent position.
The top-18 in accumulated points from Thursday and Friday will be locked into Saturday’s feature. The top-six of those 18 are locked into the Pole Shuffle. The finish of the Pole Shuffle will set the top-three rows of Saturday’s Feature. The B-main will line up straight up on points and transfer the top-six finishers to the Feature. Two cars will be added to the finale via a fan choice and a promoter’s choice, totaling 26 cars. There will be a fuel/tire stop on lap 40.
Money, money, and more money
On top of already paying a whopping 50 grand to win, there will be plenty of other ways for drivers to earn some stout paydays.
Firstly, simply making Saturday’s main event will be worth $1,000.
Each lap led in Saturday’s 50-lap main event will award an extra $1,000, making it possible to take home $100,000 should a driver lead every circuit.
For any 360ci sprint cars who are bold enough to take on Dirt Cup, there are some bonuses up for grabs. The highest finishing 360 of the event earns an extra $3,700 while second-highest gets $2,500 and third takes $604.
Who to Watch
Jonathan Allard makes his highly anticipated return to Dirt Cup aboard the Williams No. 0 and will be one to keep an eye on. He hasn’t competed in the prestigious race since 2014, but his four Dirt Cup titles (2005, 2006, 2011, 2013) rank second all-time. All of his victories came aboard the Williams machine.
“Dirt Cup is a very special place,” Allard said. “It allowed me to buy my first house and do a lot of things in my life because of the prize money. With the history up there, it’s pretty special to be a part of it and be one of the guys who have won multiple Dirt Cup championships. It’s special to me, and we’ve got a lot of great fans up there. To go right up into there, it’s pretty neat to be able to be in this car again and represent the 0 team.”
Last year, Dominic Scelzi starred in his Dirt Cup debut by finishing runner-up on night one then winning the final two nights. Scelzi and crew chief Jimmy Carr have already proven that their chemistry is just as strong this year as it was during their dominant 2021, but a tall task awaits them if they plan to repeat at Dirt Cup. Last year it was still a 360 event that paid $15,000, and with the 410s on the card chasing a $50,000 payday, coming out on top of Saturday is certain to be a challenge.
One Californian especially eager to experience Dirt Cup victory is San Jose’s Tim Kaeding. The two-time NARC champ has finished runner-up in the prestigious event on three occasions (2006, 2009, 2011) and third twice (2004 & 2008). After rain washed out his planned return to the Bates-Hamilton Racing No. 42X this past weekend, he’ll now return to the seat for Dirt Cup.
Trey Starks has been on fire in limited races so far in 2022, and he’ll look to translate that momentum into his first Dirt Cup title. Starks already owns a pair of victories at the three-eighths-mile this year, one where he drove from 24th to the front. He also topped NARC just a month ago as the series visited Grays Harbor Raceway.
A pair of Washington born Dirt Cup champions will be vying for their second titles. Jason Solwold (2015 winner) and Seth Bergman (2018 winner) are always stout at Skagit.
Dirt Cup will also draw some stars from across the country as a pair of Hoosiers in Tyler Courtney and Zeb Wise plan to make the trip West. Cory Eliason intends to use the All-Star off weekend to return to his home region of the West Coast to compete in Kevin Rudeen’s machine.
Plenty of other drivers will be in attendance including some potent Californians in Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Joel Myers Jr., Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Max Mittry, D.J. Netto, Ryan Robinson, Corey Day, Bud Kaeding, Billy Aton, and more.
More Pacific Northwest locals plan to be in the mix including Tanner Holmes, Tyler Thompson, Cam Smith, Garen Linder, Logan Forler and more.
Keyword: NARC Notes: $50,000 On The Line At Skagit Speedway