Toyota Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                              AUGUST 9, 2006

Contact: DICK JORDAN/MICHAEL HARKER

 

 

NEBRASKAN KLATT LEADS $25,000 "TOYOTA CHALLENGE"

3-RACE MIDGET SERIES CONCLUDES SEPT. 9 AT TERRE HAUTE

 

 

            Terry Klatt of Hastings, Neb. has his sights set on the $15,000 champion's prize for winning the 1006 "Toyota Challenge" which concludes Sept. 9 in the "Hut Hundred" USAC Midget race at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track.

 

            Klatt Enterprises, which fields the Midget driven by Bobby Santos of Franklin, Mass., finds itself atop the standings after two of the three USAC National Midget races which comprise the special $25,000 "challenge" series created by Toyota, the first of three initiatives announced in June to support USAC's National Midget Racing Series and its competitors.

 

            Dave Steele, driving a Toyota-powered Midget for Nine Racing of Laguna Beach, Calif., won the opening challenge event July 1 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Santos finished second in the Toyota Racing Classic feature presented by Comfort Suites of Brownsburg, Ind., then piloted the Klatt Enterprises machine to victory at the famed Milwaukee Mile in Milwaukee, Wis. July 22, round two of the "Toyota Challenge."

 

            The $15,000 champion's prize, which will be awarded to the car owner amassing the most USAC points in the three "challenge" races, will be Klatt's if he can protect the 28-point lead he enjoys over Nine Racing after the first two events. A total of 66 points are available at Terre Haute, which opens the door for six challengers to overtake Klatt. They include Nine Racing, Western Speed Racing of Fresno, Calif., Keith Kunz Motorsports of Columbus, Ind., Loyet Motorsports of St. Louis, Mo., Irvin Motorsports of Noblesville, Ind. and Wilke/Pak Racers of Milwaukee. All are within the 74 point spread.

 

            The three-race series has completed two events on pavement and will close with the dirt-track spectacular at Terre Haute, creating a diverse championship.

 

            Toyota has also announced a unique year-end owner's bonus of up to $25,000, with each of the "top-10" in the final standings receiving $100 per race attended during 2006.

 

            Toyota has also added the USAC National Midget Racing Series to its annual Toyota Motorsports/TRD, USA Contingency Awards Program, designed to reward exemplary performance at the grassroots level. The highest-finishing Toyota-powered Midget in each event receives $500 and the next-highest Toyota-powered finisher receives $350. Nine Racing is excluded from this program, which runs through 2006 and 2007.

 

 

--USAC--