HAUBSTADT, Ind. -- The Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series will make its third appearance of the season at the Tri-State Speedway this Saturday night. Racing will get underway at 7:30 P.M. with warm up sessions and hot laps beginning around six.

The July 4th race card has at its core not one but two classes of race cars that have been thrilling race fans almost as long as fireworks. The POWRi Midgets will be in competition along with the MSCS Sprints. The flying dirt will testify to the power and speed that these racing machines produce. The bright colors and defining noise will signal that one of the greatest spectacles on dirt is about to envelop the speedway.

The Midwest Sprint Car Series feature this week will be for a distance of 30 laps and pay $3,000 to the winner. A glance ahead at the MSCS schedule for the next 5 races in 2009 reveals that at four of those five events $3,000 will be paid to the winner. The other race pays $5,000 to win. That race is the upcoming August 1st Hoosier Sprint Nationals which is also to be held at Tri-State Speedway.

During the six MSCS races held so far this season there have been 5 winners. Jon Stanbrough’s drive to victory last Saturday at the Vermilion County Speedway placed him at the very top of the MSCS All Time Winners List with 9 career victories. It was the second series win of the season for the Brownsburg, IN, veteran. He was the first MSCS driver this year to become a repeat winner. The fact that it was also his second win in a row with MSCS may have implications that a winning streak could be forming!

The race this weekend also marks the halfway point for the season. The season long points battle is building into a dual between the two time champion Kyle Cummins and the 2008 MSCS Rookie of the Year Ricky Williams. The two finished fourth and fifth last week in a feature long battle. They are separated in the standings by just 28 points heading to the Haubstadt event on the Fourth of July.

The battle for this year’s Gross Enterprises MSCS Rookie of the Year is shaping up just behind the two point leaders. Rookie Brandon Mattox is third in the points. Rookies Adam Nigg, Nic Faas, and Chase Briscoe are all poised in the top twelve in MSCS points and looking to move up in the overall standings with good finishes.

Some of the top MSCS drivers moving up in the points standings after last Saturday’s race include Blake Fitzpatrick, Hud Cone, Robert Ballou, Jeff Bland Jr., Jon Stanbrough, Craig Budde, Brady Short, Kevin Thomas Jr., Brian Clauson, Kurt Gross, and Hunter Schuerenberg. Stanbrough’s win lifted him 9 positions in the points! The points race underlies the actual race during the heats, B main, and A main throughout the season.

Fans can keep up with everything MSCS at the official website located at www.mscssprints.com. The point standings, records, and updates can always be found there along with photos of the MSCS drivers in action. A trip to the races is even better!