"Mid-State Raceway opens for 2002 season" SPRINGFIELD, IL - Mother Nature held off long enough for Mid-State Raceway to hold their season opening races at the Springfield, IL facility. The club owned track enters its 43rd year of operation with sprint racing on the 1/2-mile sprint track and speedway racing on the 1/5-mile tri-oval. Rain moved in to wash out the feature races so points were awarded based on the first two heats. The Mid-State Kart Club has scheduled 16 point races this season with the best twelve counting toward year-end awards. A shifter kart demonstration was ran just before the rain started in preparation for the upcoming SKUSA race scheduled for May 4 and 5. Other upcoming special events include the WKA Mid-West Sprint Series on May 30 to June 2 and the Firecracker 400 oval event on June 29 and 30. The club continues to make improvements to the recently expanded facility with additional gravel being added to the new pit area and new fencing being installed. The fencing located adjacent to the oval turn four has been relocated to provide more run-off area. The scoring tower interior is being finished off including the installation of air-conditioning. The track is open for practice all week during daylight hours. Practice passes can be purchased from the back porch of the farmhouse located next to the track entrance. See www.midstatekartclub.com for more information. RACE RESULTS (April 7, 2002): 4-Cycle Rookie: 1.) Jeff Green 4-Cycle Junior: 1.) Greg Dinges 2.) Jennifer Best 3.) Jack Miller 4-Cycle Lite: 1.) Bryan Vought 2.) Mike Erpeldesy 4-Cycle Heavy: 1.) Chad Kruger, 2.) Todd Hayes, 3.) Jess McKee, 4.) Frank Kruger Kadet: 1.) Colton Ramsey, 2.) Trevor Gianneti, 3.) Bradley Brittin, 4.) Caleb Wankel, 5.) Jeremy Remick, 6.) Trevor Boblitt Junior Sportsman: 1.) Cole McCormick, 2.) Samantha Miles, 3.) Jordan Johnson, 4.) Matthew Laukaitis, 5.) Brooke Wankel, 6.) Tony Nika, 7.) Gino Gianneti, 8.) Cale McCormick, 9.) Tim Sykes Junior Super Can: 1.) Clayton Yates, 2.) Katie Larel Yamaha Super Can: 1.) Chris Shearburn, 2.) Gerry Booth, 3.) Dustin Kessinger, 4.) Blake Kilby, 5.) John Barnard, 6.) Ross Johnson, 7.) David Kreis, 8.) Flynn McCormick, 9.) Tim Tribbet 2-Cycle Senior: 1.) Mike Curry Junior I Oval: 1.) Nilo Scadato Junior II Oval: 1.) Jennifer Best, 2.) Matt Worthington