By Joseph Terrell
BURLINGTON, Wash.: Thursday night, the Kubota High Limit Racing series invades Skagit Speedway for the Skagit Nationals. The teams will be greeted with the biggest overall purse and biggest winner’s share in the series history.
The total purse is over $400,000. Saturday night feature a $126,000 winner’s share and is $3,000 to start. Friday is $20,000 to win and $2,000 start, with opening night Thursday paying $10,000 to win and $1,000 to start.
Besides all the money being thrown around here is a look at the format, favorites, high rollers to watch and more.
Format: It was confirmed with the High Limit Racing Race Director Mike Hess on Monday that the Skagit Nationals will be the same as last year. It is very close to the Knoxville Nationals format except less of a heat race invert.
All cars run Thursday and Friday and earn points each time on the track. Their totals after the two nights will determine where they start Saturday. Qualifying is 200 points for fast time, 198 for second, 196 for third, etc. The heat races, which will use a six invert and transfer five, dole out 100 points to win, 97 for second, 94 for third, etc.
The A-Main will be inverted by the eight fastest qualifiers that transfer out of their heat races and will pay the same points as qualifying.
Come Saturday, the top four in points after two nights will be locked into the Dash. The four heat races are lined straight by points, with the fifth highest point getter after two nights starting on the pole of qualifier one, sixth in points starting on the pole of qualifier two, and so on.
The four winners go to the Dash. From there, the Dash determines the first four rows of the 40-lap $126,000 to win A-Main.
Friday Special: On Friday night of the Super Dirt Cup, an anonymous sponsor put money up to double the preliminary night purse, which pushed the winner’s share from $5,000 to $10,000. It added a certain excitement and added money made Friday seem bigger than Thursday, even though points wise they were the same.
With the same thing happening during the Skagit Nationals, Friday night will pay $20,000 to win. Yes, it will still be preliminary night, and teams will be in point gathering mode.
A few years ago, $20,000 was a lot to win a Sprint Car race. And to be honest, it still is a lot. Yes, drivers will be eyeing the big prize on Saturday, but with 20 grand on the line, expect the elbows to be up a little more than usual on a preliminary night.
Starks vs. Sanders: Trey Starks and Justin Sanders are the best drivers on the West Coast. There is no debate. One (Starks) dominates the Northwest, and the other (Sanders) dominates the Golden State. These two don’t race against each other much, but when they do, it is often in the big events at Skagit Speedway.
This weekend is one of those events, and the war will rage on. When it comes to Skagit, Sanders seemed to have the upper hand after winning the 2023 Dirt Cup. But then Starks won a HLR show at Skagit last year before adding a Dirt Cup and a Skagit 360 Nationals (his second) win to the tally this season. In all three instances, Starks got the better of Sanders.
Now comes the highest paying race on the West Coast and bragging rights are again at stake. The difference this time is that Sanders is in the Ridge and Sons Racing entry, and as hard as it might be to believe, the 2024 NARC Champion has found a new gear. In his four HLR races out west to date with RSR, he has a win, two seconds, a fifth, and an eighth, which was at Douglas County when he was contending for a win.
Starks is at home and is tough to beat at Skagit, but Sanders has been on a roll lately with RSR, and he might be ready to reclaim the throne as King of Skagit Speedway.
High Rollers/Invaders to Watch: Last season, it was Rico Abreu, James McFadden and Brad Sweet on the podium on the final night at the Skagit Nationals. These three should all be in the mix this weekend, as well.
Abreu has struggled, but his downswings always end with a big upswing, and he seems ripe to turn up the wick once again. McFadden already has laps at Skagit this year, finishing third at the Dirt Cup, so he and the Tarlton Motorsports team have a weekend together at Skagit already. Sweet is a contender in every West Coast HLR event so why would Skagit be different?
In addition, it was just announced Daryn Pittman, a former World of Outlaw winner at Skagit, will be aboard the Jason Meyers Racing entry. Pittman has been fast, no matter what he raced, but this will be his first race at Skagit since 2019. If the rust gets knocked off quickly and he gels with JRM, Pittman could be a driver to watch.
It’s also worth noting that Brent Marks, Justin Peck, Sye Lynch and Danny Sams III all ran the Dirt Cup in June. Though none of these drivers set the world on fire that weekend, they did get three nights of racing to build their notebook. Marks, specifically, is primed for a big run at Skagit after winning at Douglas County.
Regional Stars to Watch: Outside of the HLR regulars, James McFadden, and Cory Eliason, the rest of the field will consist of regional stars from up and down the West Coast.
California will be represented by Dominic Scelzi in a second Trey Starks entry, Landon Brooks, Max Mittry and Joel Myers, Jr. Oregon has three drivers expected to attend in Tanner Holmes, Tyler Thompson and Camden Robustelli. Then the normal group of Skagit regulars which includes Starks, Jesse Schlotfeldt, Jason Solwold, Robbie Price and Colton Heath to list a few.
With Starks already discussed, which one these regional stars have the best chance to shine this weekend? The smart money would probably be on Holmes, Solwold and Schlotfeldt.
Holmes was second at Dirt Cup this year, and although he has really struggled recently, Skagit is always nice to him. When it comes to Solwold, he always has a way of making his presence felt during big races at Skagit. Schlotfeldt has been head turning fast this year but has had trouble finishing races as of late, but if he changes that, he could be a factor.