O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Series Feature

There are three different sprint car series that make up the O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Series. The first, the All Star Circuit of Champions, are known as the Big All Stars. The second series is called the Midwest All Stars Series, and then there's the newly formed All Star Late Modified Series.



The first series, The O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions started in the late 1960's (1968-1969), when businessmen Wellman Lehman, Bud Miller, Chris Economaki, and many others were developing plays to build a big super speedway in the south of Youngstown, Ohio. After many meetings with town officials, the plans were dropped, because the developers couldn't find land suitable for their proposed super speedway. The meetings didn't all go to the waistside however, because Bud Miller came up with an idea, for a traveling outlaw series for sprint cars. The traveling series came to be known as the All Star Circuit of Champions in 1970.



Over the early 1970's, the All Star Circuit became very popular, under the direction of Miller. The All Star Circuit went national, and started to sanction their events, which included the Knoxville Nationals. Despite the successes of the series, Miller stopped the series, when the first gasoline crisis began. In 1980, the All Star Circuit of Champions returned under the direction of Miller.



In the early 1980's, the All Star Circuit joined forces with Bert Emrick and the newly formed Midwest Outlaw Super Series. With the addition of the new sprint series, the All Star series added races and strengthened their schedule in the early 1980's. The first Ohio Outlaw Sprint Speedweek came in 1983, and featured the Eldora Nationals. The popularity and prestige of the All Star Series continued throughout the 1980's. The idea for the 410 cast iron engine rule came about in 1985.



The race payouts increased to 1 million dollars in 1986, with 360 drivers racing, in 53 races in 9 different states. The race schedule grew to 59 races by 1990. 1991 saw the arrival of the aluminum engines being allowed to compete, amidst a tight battle for the Championship. The 1991 crown came down to 3 very strong drivers in Rickey Hood, Kevin Huntley, and Frankie Kerr. The race schedules, pay outs and amount of racers all increased over the 1990's.



Illinois car owner Guy Webb bought the series in 2002. Webb wanted to race in more states. Since then the O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions have added two more sprint series to their arsenal. The O'Reilly Midwest All Star Series is it's third year of existance. The third series, the O'Reilly Late Model Series is in it's first series.

Big racers to watch for in the O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Series include Dale Blaney (brother of Nascar driver Dave Blaney), current All Star Circuit of Champions Series points leader Tim Shaffer, and Stevie Smith. The O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions points race is heating up. Tim Shaffer (1867 points) leads veteran Dale Blaney (1822 points) by only 45 points. Stevie Smith is sitting in third place with 1699 points. Smith leads fourth place Greg Wilson (1695 points) by only 4 points. The fifth place in the chase is Daryn Pittman, who has 1673 points on the season. The O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Series hits the Big E, Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio on May 30th. Then they have a few days, before they travel to Sarver, Pennsylvania, to race at the Lernerville Speedway on June 5th.

There's a battle for the Champion and Rookie of the Year in the O'Reilly All Star Midwest Series. Rookie Midwest racer Kaley Gharst is leading rookie Jordan Goldesberry in both the Championship race and the Rookie of the Year standings. In both the Championship battle and the Rookie of the Year race, Gharst (203 points) leads Goldesberry (183 points) by just 20 points. Third place in points belongs to A.J. Bruns (182 points), while Paul May is in fourth place with 178 points. Rounding out the top five is Jerrod Hull with 176 points on the season. The points race is tighting up as the Midwest racers race in and around the great state of Illinois. Upcoming Midwest races to mark on your schedule are; June 13th at the Vermillion County Speedway (Danville, IL.), June 19th at the Spoonriver Speedway (Banter, IL.), and June 20th at the Lincoln Speedway (Lincoln, IL.).

In it's first full season, the O'Reilly All Star Late Modified Series has been exciting. Boom Briggs (926 points) leads Colby Frye (872 points) by 54 points in the race for this year's O'Reilly All Star Late Modified Series Championship. Sitting in third is Robbie Blair with 866 points on the season. Jared Miley (856 points) is in fourth, while Rod Conley occupies fifth place with 816 points this season. It's beginnng to get down to the wire, as the late mods travel to Michigan this weekend. On May 29th, the Late Mods race at the Hartford Speedway (Hartford, MI.), then on May 30th at the Butler Battle Grounds (Butler, MI.). Then the Late Mods get two weeks off, before they hit the Tri City Speedway in Franklin, Pennsylvania on June 14th.

There are exciting racing in and around the midwestern part of this great nation we live in. They could be hitting a city near you, so don't delay. Please check out www.oreillyallstars.com for more informaiton on each of the three series, and the racing venues they will be hitting soon.