Over 30 Planet Pages Mid-Am Stock Cars

expected for opener at Hawkeye Downs

 

    CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA -- Over 30 Planet Pages Mid-Am Stock Car Series

drivers are expected to compete in the series opener Friday, April 26 at

Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, IA.    Practice begins at 5 p.m. followed by

qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing on the half-mile paved oval at 7:30 p.m.

    The stock cars will be joined in a four-division program by the Hawkeye

Downs late models and super stocks along with the touring Planet Pages Mid-Am

Super Trucks.

    A 30-lap feature will be run by both the stock cars and super trucks.  

The top seven finishers from each feature will then go into a special 25-lap

stock car vs. super truck "Royal Rumble" matching the top competitors from

both divisions in one of the most unusual races in all of motorsports.

    "We ran a rumble last August at Hawkeye Downs for the first time and it

was a big hit with the fans," said Planet Pages Mid-Am divisions president

Gary Vercauteren.   "They are very equally matched, but a visually very

different," he added.   The motors in both divisions are rated at about 520

horsepower.  The trucks have a longer wheelbase, but the flat rear deck on

the trucks makes them more stable than the cars.

    Some of the top Hawkeye Downs sportsman drivers will participate in the

event.   Top touring drivers expected are Peter Hernandez of Mokena, IL and

Bill Prietzel of Franklin, WI.  Hernandez swept all three Mid-Am features at

Hawkeye Downs last year, including the "Royal Rumble".   Prietzel was the

2000 stock car series champion and will race both a car and a truck.   

Hernanez drives a Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Prietzel a Dodge Avenger.   

Prietzel will drive a Chevrolet in the super truck division.

    Drivers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana

are slated to race in the April 26 program.

    For more information about the series consult www.racingmidwest.com.