Gressel Racing

King of America, Battle at The Bullring too wet Thursday, postponed to Friday and Saturday

Too much rain fell on the Humboldt Speedway throughout the morning and afternoon Thursday, forcing officials to postpone opening night festivities for the King of America X powered by Summit and Battle at The Bullring VI driven by G-Style Transport.

Every race originally planned for Thursday will be completed either Friday or Saturday, creating a gargantuan two-day event at the 54-year-old 1/3-mile clay oval in Humboldt, Kansas.

The fire-breathing Modifieds of the Summit USMTS National championship fueled by Casey’s will share the spotlight with B-Mods, USRA Modifieds and Medieval USRA Stock Cars.

Here’s the revised schedule of events:

Friday, March 26
Pits open at 2 p.m., grandstands open at 5, racing at 7.
• $5,000 to win USMTS Modifieds
• $2,000 to win B-Mods (postponed from Thursday); Top 20 in passing points from heats to A-Main, next 20 to B-Main, top 4 from B-Main to A-Main)
• $1,000 to win Medieval USRA Stock Cars

Saturday, March 27
Morning show starts at 10 a.m. (pits cleared at 8 a.m.)
• $2,000 to win USRA Modifieds (postponed from Thursday)
• Dual qualifying heats for B-Mods (postponed from Friday)
• $750 to win Medieval USRA Stock Cars (postponed from Thursday)
Evening show starts at 7 p.m.
• $1,200 to win Medieval USRA Stock Cars
• Last Chance Races and $10,000 to win B-Mods
• $20,000 to win USMTS Modifieds

All those entering the pits Saturday must purchase an $80 pit pass (kids 6-10 are $50) which is valid for both shows. Grandstands will be cleared prior to the evening show. Any competitors not already entered are welcome to join the fun… and maybe take home pockets full of cash.

General admission tickets are $25 and seniors (62+) are $20 on Friday and the same for Saturday’s morning show. General admission tickets are $30 and seniors (62+) are $25 for Saturday’s evening show. Kids ages 6-12 get in for $10 at all three shows. Pit passes are $40 Friday while kids ages 6-10 are $25. Children under 6 years of age get into the grandstands or pits for FREE all weekend.

If you can’t be at the Humboldt Speedway in person, you can still enjoy every lap of every race in every division on every night of King of America X with your Pit Pass at RacinDirt.TV (https://www.racindirt.tv/).

The Humboldt Speedway is located 0.1 mile west of US 169 at the Humboldt Exit, then 0.5 mile south, then 0.9 mile east on Georgia Rd. (1663 Georgia Rd, Humboldt, KS 66748). For more information, call (620) 431-2470 or visit humboldtspeedway.com (http://www.humboldtspeedway.com/).

Ricky Thornton Jr. captured the crown two years ago and is the defending champion of the event. Eight different USMTS drivers have claimed victory in the previous nine King of America blockbusters and the list is a who's who of dirt modified racing.

Reigning and two-time USRA Modified national champion Lucas Schott was the 2018 winner and two-time USMTS national champ Ryan Gustin won in 2013 before he became the first repeat winner at the 2017 event.

Zack VanderBeek captured the title in 2016 after a thrilling late-race battle with 2014 race winner Rodney Sanders. Jason Hughes was the 2015 champion; Stormy Scott topped the 2012 event and nine-time USMTS champ Kelly Shryock claimed the inaugural crown in 2011.

In the 53 main events staged here, Hughes has more than doubled his nearest competitor with 13 career USMTS wins at ‘The Hummer’ while Scott has six wins. Gustin and Shryock both have five and Sanders follows with four victories.

Drivers with two wins include VanderBeek, Terry Phillips, Johnny Scott, Jason Krohn and Johnny Bone Jr. On one occasion the checkered flag has waved for Thornton, Schott, Tanner Mullens, Kyle Strickler, Tim Donlinger, Jon Tesch, Jeremy Payne, Mitch Keeter, Steve Holzkamper and William Gould.

Jared Timmerman notched the biggest victory of his career in 2019 when he captured the fifth annual Battle at The Bullring, which was the last running due to the pandemic of 2020. Other past winners include Skeeter Estey (2016 and 2018), J.C. Morton (2017) and Shawn Strong (2015).

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