The Short Track Nationals has consistently attracted many of the nation's top sprint car drivers and teams to Little Rock's I-30 Speedway since its inaugural race in 1988, and its list of winners is a who's who of the sport.
Throughout the years, there have also been several top-notch local and regional entrants who race at I-30 week in and week out, ready to provide strong challenges to the drivers arriving from the national tours.
At a glance
WHAT 29th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event
WHERE I-30 Speedway, Little Rock
WHEN Tonight, Friday night and Saturday night. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30 p.m.
PURSE More than $100,000, including $15,000 to win and $2,000 to start in Saturday night’s main event
FORMAT Complete card with heat races, qualifiers, last-chance races and feature races held each night. The top three finishers from preliminary features tonight and Friday night will secure spots in Saturday night’s main event.
TICKETS Adult grandstand admission is $20 tonight and Friday night, $28 Saturday night. Pit passes are $35 tonight and Friday night, $40 Saturday night.
PAY PER VIEW Internet packages are available at thecushion.com. The full three-day package is $65, while single-day deals are $21 for tonight and Friday, and $27 for Saturday.
Past champions
2015 Rainout
2014 Christopher Bell, Norman, Okla.
2013 Sammy Swindell, Cordova, Tenn.
2012 Paul McMahan, Nashville, Tenn.
2011 Sammy Swindell, Cordova, Tenn.
2010 Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, Calif.
2009 Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, Kan.
2008 Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, Kan.
2007 Jason Meyers, Clovis, Calif.
2006 Jason Johnson, Eunice, La.
2005 Tim Montgomery, Fredericktown, Mo.
2004 Gary Wright, Hooks, Texas
2003 Gary Wright, Hooks, Texas
2002 Paul McMahan, Nashville, Tenn.
2001 Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tenn.
2000 Mike Ward, Memphis
1999 Gary Wright, Hooks, Texas
1998 Tim Crawley, Benton
1997 Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City
1996 Pete Butler, Mabelvale
1995 Gary Wright, Hooks, Texas
1994 Terry Gray, Bartlett, Tenn.
1993 John Gerloff, Lincoln, Neb.
1992 Rainout
1991 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Ind.
1990 Sammy Swindell, Cordova, Tenn.
1989 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Ind.
1988 Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Ind.
But for a variety of reasons, none of the regular visitors to the tricky, quarter-mile oval have found their way to Victory Lane at the Short Track Nationals for the past 15 years entering this weekend's 29th edition.
That's been too long for a group of I-30 stalwarts.
"It's time. Past time," said Benton's Tim Crawley, the most recent Arkansan to claim a Short Track Nationals title in 1998. "I'm ready, and I know there are some other guys around here who feel the same way."
The last I-30 regular or semi-regular to win a STN title was Jason Sides of Bartlett, Tenn., in 2001, two years before he became a regular on the World of Outlaws tour, where he still competes today.
Mabelvale's Pete Butler, who has since retired, was the only other Arkansan to win, taking the 1995 title. Mike Ward of Memphis, also now retired and Crawley's car owner for the past 10 years, won in 2000. Terry Gray of Bartlett, Tenn., won in 1994.
Since then, there's been nothing for the locals.
"First of all, it's difficult to win one of these things," Crawley said. "You can have everything together, drive your tail off and still not get it done. You've got to be good and have some luck."
A.G. Rains of West Memphis, this season's sprint car track champion at I-30, knows all-too-well the STN's luck factor. In the most-recent main event in 2014 -- last year's race was rained out -- Rains was leading when he suffered a broken spark plug and settled for ninth, his best STN finish.
"Everybody is going to bring their A-game to a race like this," Rains said. "Everybody is going to be fast. The equipment is all so good now. And you know there is sometimes going to be those circumstances that hit you. Got to have some luck."
This weekend, Rains' teammate will be Sammy Swindell of Cordova, Tenn., a three-time winner of the event. Swindell, 61, figures to be one of the favorites to win this year after previously taking titles in 1990, 2011 and 2013. He spent an early portion of his career racing at I-30, but it would be a stretch to consider the three-time Outlaws national champion even a pseudo-local.
"We've run real well together," said Rains, whose car Swindell drove to the Knoxville 360 Nationals title in Iowa this summer. "We've been really good everywhere we've gone. I think we've both got a shot at winning it.
"But everything has to come together and the luck has to go your way."
Marion's Derek Hagar has been a consistent winner in the region the past few seasons. In 47 starts this season, he has claimed 16 feature victories in six states, including the Ralph Henson Memorial at I-30 in September.
But in the three times he has qualified for the STN main event, his best finish has been 14th in 2012 and 2013.
"We've been good [at I-30], but just not good enough in the big race," he said. "You have to work hard all weekend to build up those passing points to earn your way into the feature. If you get in a heat where the track surface is so it's hard to pass or if get you get caught in someone's crash, you really dig yourself a hole."
Crawley was a three-time American Sprint Car Series national champion in 1994, 1999 and 2002. But for most of the past decade, he has not chased any national series championships, choosing instead to mostly race close to home -- usually at I-30.
With better luck, he knows he could have had more STN trophies on his mantel.
In 2008, he was in cruise mode, leading the opening 31 laps before a flat tire ended his hopes. In 2014, he appeared headed to the starting spot at the front of the main event before he tangled with Jerod Roller of Olive Branch, Miss., during a qualifying race.
"You can't predict that kind of stuff," Crawley said. "But we're going to be fast. I just want to avoid the bad things and give ourselves a chance to win this thing again."
Sports on 11/03/2016