USAC midgets to run short oval

Friday, July 18, 1997 | 9:33 a.m.

Nineteen-year-old sensation Ricky Shelton of Huntington Beach, Calif., will head the field Saturday night when the United States Auto Club Midget/TQ doubleheader invades the Las Vegas Motor Speedway short oval.

Shelton has 10 top-10 finishes this season along with four fast times. He leads Rick Hendrix of Simi Valley, Calif., and Wally Pankratz of Orange, Calif., in the point standings.

Shelton set the LVMS midget track record in February with a circuit of 16.127 sec. He finished fourth behind Jason Leffler in the Western States Shootout Midget main event.

Also scheduled on the LVMS program are late models, legends and USAC three-quarter midgets.

Veteran Dick Cobb powered to his sixth late model victory of the season last weekend over defending track champion Mike Ray, who took the first race in the doubleheader showdown.

Gates will open at 4 p.m. with qualifying set for 5:20 p.m. The first races of the evening are slated for 6:30 with main events set for 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $15 for adults and $3 for children. Further information may be obtained by calling 644-4444.

* COBB MOVING UP: Las Vegas stock car veteran Dick Cobb continues to be highly rated in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series Pacific Coast standings. Cobb, who ran to his sixth victory of the season last Saturday night at LVMS, is fifth behind Robert Hogge of Watsonville Speedway, Chris Wadsworth of Antioch Speedway, Dick Shepherd of Mesa Marin Raceway and James Busby of Altamont Raceway Park. ...

* HONDA JOINS FOLD: American Honda Motor Company has entered into a multi-year agreement to become the exclusive motorcycle of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "We see great potential in Southern Nevada, especially with the opening of Las Vegas Motor Speedway," said Ray Blank, vice president of operations for American Honda in Torrance, Calif. "Las Vegas is the talk of the nation by everyone from the competitors to the fans. Everyone wants to be a part of the facility, and we're proud to be chosen." Veteran motorsports competitor Gordie Bonin, a member of the LVMS marketing department, said the addition of American Honda to the family of LVMS sponsors is more proof that the best of the best are coming to Las Vegas. "This adds tremendously to our overall program, which includes the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) events presented here each year, and world champion Freddy Spencer's High Performance Riding School," said Bonin.

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