Instant Replay: 9th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals - 1986
[ EDITORS NOTE: This is the ninth of several feature stories which will be forthcoming in the next few weeks, chronicling the history of the Belleville Midget Nationals in Belleville, Kan. This year's event is set for Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 2-4, 2001. ] For Immediate Release INSTANT REPLAY: 9TH ANNUAL BELLEVILLE MIDGET NATIONALS - 1986 Story by Paul Haase BELLEVILLE, Kan. (July 18, 2001) - Tommy White came to the Belleville Midget Nationals in 1986 to do one thing: "Win the big one." And that he did. As one of the hottest drivers in midget racing, White had battled the Belleville High Banks for a couple of years, but his best finish was a fifth in the 1985 finals. Although White led the finals the last 32 laps, it didn't come easy. For the first 8 laps, Ron 'Sleepy' Tripp -- the 1985 champ -- led the race only to be passed by White. A couple of laps later Tripp was forced out with a blown tire. White built up the lead over 1984 champ Mark Passerrelli for most of the race but on lap 32 a yellow flag came out for a stalled car. Passerrelli closed the gap for the remainder of the race, but White held him off to take the checkered. Robby Flock finished third. Rain on Thursday caused the preliminaries to be run on Friday as a double card. In the two qualifying feature races, Tripp won the first one followed by White and Dave Burns. The second feature saw Passerrelli, 1981 champion Mike Gregg and Dan Boorse finishing in the top three slots. Preliminary trophy dashes were not run because of the length of the show. The Saturday non-finals races saw the trophy dash going to White, followed by Boorse, Passerrelli, Scott Hatton, Tripp and Burns. The 'C' feature winner was Danny Williams, followed by Rory Peachey, John Zerbe and Steve Stasa. The semi-main top finishers were Palmer Crowell, Dave Berg, Bob Davison and Ronnie Burke. The 9th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals were not plagued by a single red flag during the two nights of racing. 9th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals - 1986 Top 5 finishers: 1. Tommy White 2. Mark Passerrelli 3. Robby Flock 4. Dean Billings 5. Don Boorse The Belleville High Banks, located in Belleville, Kan., is managed by a volunteer racing committee that host 10-12 racing events annually. "The World's Fastest Half-Mile Dirt Track" allows drivers the rare opportunity to run "wide open" the entire track, and the sweeping oval is one of the most demanding test of endurance and skill for drivers. The track's mainstay is the annual Belleville Midget Nationals, held every year during the first weekend in August. As the nation's most prestigious midget car race of the year, the best equipment, owners and drivers flock to the small rural community of 3,500, which is transformed into a racing Mecca of more than 30,000 people each August. For more information on the Belleville High Banks, write to: Belleville High Banks, P.O. Box 349, Belleville, KS 66935, or call (785) 527-6050. Sponsorship inquiries may call or fax (402) 761-3676 or via e-mail at wdake@alltel.net. Information is also available on the World Wide Web by logging on to http://www.highbanks.org or http://www.whowon.com. Reserved tickets for the 24th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals presented by WhoWon.com are available by calling (785) 527-5179, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by logging onto the Belleville High Banks Web site. - 30 - .BHB2001-19. ---------------------- Media Contact: Jeff Nun, WhoWon.com (402) 421-6894 (phone, fax) bellevillehighbanks@whowon.com (e-mail) World Wide Web: http://www.whowon.com Sponsorship/Partner Contact: Wayne Dake, JW MotorSports Associates Promotions Director Belleville High Banks/National Midget Auto Racing Museum (402) 761-3676 (phone, fax) (402) 440-3977 (cellular) wdake@alltel.net (e-mail) World Wide Web: http://www.highbanks.org , http://www.highbanks-museum.org Administrative Contact: Barry Bottger, Belleville High Banks President Fair Amusement Committee P.O. Box 349, Belleville KS 66935 (785) 527-6050 (office) (785) 527-2488 (track) bottger@republic.hpmin.com (e-mail) World Wide Web: http://www.highbanks.org