Bloggin' is Racin'

Free racing at Cowtown Speedway. No joke.

Local motorsports fans will be treated to some free racing Thursday as Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale opens its doors for "Fan Appreciation Night at the Topless 100".

When rainy weather canceled part of the action for the big Cowtown Sprint Nationals in early October, the track decided to finish the Topless 100 portion of the event this week as a prelude to the third annual $86,000 November Sprint Shootout on Friday and Saturday.

Thursday's slate includes two Limited Modified qualifiers, and all three championship features: The Topless 100 for Modifieds, the 40-lap Topless Limited Modified Championships and the 30-lap Winged 600s Championships.

Thursday's grandstand admission is free for all age groups, regardless if you were in the grandstands for the rained-out races on Oct. 11 or not.

Pit gates will open at 5 p.m. Thursday and grandstands will open at 6 p.m. Hot laps will be at 6:30 p.m. and races are scheduled for 7 p.m. Those who purchased reserved seats for Oct. 11 will still have access to the reserved section from Thursday's races.

For Friday and Saturday's $86,000 November Sprint Shootout, fans can save $10 through Thursday on weekend passes by visiting www.CowtownSpeedway.com and then clicking the 'tickets' link for more info. Two-day adult passes are $35.

As of Tuesday there were more than 180 drivers entered for the five race divisions from as far away as California and Iowa. Fans can once again expect more than 200 cars by race night on Friday.

And if that wasn't enough, the first 1,300 fans attending Friday's races at Cowtown will receive free grandstand tickets to the Dec. 4-5 Texas Winter Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. Visit www.HoustonRaceway.com for details on the Texas Winter Nationals.

Third annual $86,000 November Sprint Shootout
When: Friday and Saturday
Where: Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale
Friday's schedule: Pit gates open at 3 p.m.; grandstands open at 4 p.m.; hot laps begin at 5:30 p.m. for all five classes; races are scheduled for 6 p.m.
Saturday's schedule: Pit gates open at 1 p.m.; grandstands open at 1 p.m., hot laps begin at 3:30 p.m.; racing is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Tickets
Two-day adult reserved: $40 (no single-day reserved seats will be sold)
Two-day child (12-under) reserved: $20
Two-day adult general admission: $35
Single-day adult tickets: $20 on Friday, $25 on Saturday
Single-day youth (6-11): $5
Single-day child (3-5): $2
Pit passes for each night: $35
More info: www.cowtownspeedway.com

Grand Prairie Speedway Stampede

88xx Bobby Malcus was the $2,000 Modified winner.

By Don Cook
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Grand Prairie Speedway (Grand Prairie)
Nov. 7 (Saturday)

Grand Prairie Speedway held their 7th Annual Stampede last weekend. Dunn Motorsports was the big winner in the Modified class. 88xx Bobby Malcus won the A feature and the $2,000 prize. 88xxx Clyde Dunn Jr. was second and "Downtown" Scottie Brown was third. 

In the Limited Modifieds Jacob Pirkle took the checkered flag. Mike McCoy was the winner in the Street Stock race. Tyler Webb won the Young Guns Shootout feature and Brad Dudley was crowned the 2009 Young Guns Champion.

For more information and results go to: www.gpspeedway.com

To view more photographs taken Saturday of the race cars, click on the slide-show below.

To view a video of Saturday's races, click on video below.

Montoya off the track

Juan Pablo Montoya is off the track after an accident on Lap 175. His crew is trying to get his car ready to return so he can keep as many points as possible. "It's not the car we wanted, but we were getting better and better as we were going," he said.

Montoya got loose out of a turn, and he clipped Carl Edwards. As Jeff Gordon tried to avoid them, he got loose and spun out, also.

Edwards said it's just racing. "I had gotten close to Juan before, and the next time, I gave him a little more room. But it's the nature of these cars," he said. "He got loose. From the replay I saw, it looked like he almost had it saved, but that's racing. It's too bad."