Traveling dirt series makes first of two regional stops

They won't share the track again on the same night the rest of the season, but at least for a da, sprints and Mid-America Racing Series late models will split time on a big schedule today at Malden Speedway.

The outlaw sprint class, scheduled to compete at the track on the last Friday of each month, makes its first visit to the track this season in a program set to start at 7:30 p.m. on the 3/8-mile dirt oval.

But the biggest spot on the card belongs to the traveling MARS late models, a 35-race series that regularly attracts fields of 30 to 40 drivers and cars from several states. It's the first of two scheduled stops by the tour at the Malden track. The other is July 4.

Leslie Essary of Crane, Mo., leads the MARS point standings after three events, but some of the biggest names on the tour are fighting for a spot in the top five. Central Arkansas racers Bill Frye, Wendell Wallace and Billy Moyer -- a trio that has made its mark on national tours for several years -- rank fourth, fifth and sixth in the series standings.

Moyer, of Batesville, Ark., made his first trip to Malden Speedway a week ago and handily won a regularly scheduled late model event worth about $1,200. Today's event pays $3,000 to the winner, enough to already lure racers from as far away as Wisconsin to commit to a schedule that takes the group to mostly Missouri and Arkansas tracks.

Modifieds also will compete today. Grandstands open at 6 p.m. with racing at 7:30.

Noteworthy

More MARS news: Winston Cup racer Ken Schrader will drop in on the MARS series May 9 at Memphis (Tenn.)Motorsports Park. Another driver familiar with the Winston Cup circuit -- Pennsylvania racer Dave Blaney -- also will switch to a late model for the one-day event on the quarter-mile dirt track.

The point chase:SEMO Raceway near Blodgett, Mo., will begin its points season Saturday. Karts and micro sprints lead the card. Gates open at 2 p.m.