BELLEVILLE, Kan. — Open-wheel racing has a protracted historical past at Belleville Excessive Banks.
For over 50 years, the monitor has introduced national-level midget, champ automotive and winged dash automotive racers with an enormous stage on which to compete, crowning its most iconic racers with among the most prestigious trophies within the sport.
This Thursday–Friday, July 3–4, the American Dash Automotive Collection will start carving a legacy for 360 dash automobiles on the hallowed, half-mile oval with the inaugural operating of The Huge One — a daring but becoming title for an occasion with the potential to be certainly one of 360 racing’s greatest marquee occasions.
“Every part in Belleville is larger,” mentioned monitor promoter Drew Erkenbrack. “The monitor is large, we’re quick… to win right here, we’ve at all times thought it’s an enormous deal. The winners right here — it normally means lots to guys once they win right here. There’s not a number of races held right here in a 12 months. There’s a number of huge names which have gained right here, and there’s a number of huge names that haven’t gained right here.”
Whereas the sequence’ first enterprise to the excessive banks got here with a regional occasion in 2006, the nationwide sequence has made just one look on the monitor. Missouri racer Brian Brown took the checkered flag within the nationwide sequence debut in Could 2015, and since then, ASCS has been absent on the Kansas oval.
When a brand new promotional group took over administration of the power earlier than the 2021 season, a number of new objectives have been established, together with bringing nationwide 360 dash automotive racing again to the monitor. For that, the selection of partnership was already clear.
“ASCS has sort of restructured and made their nationwide tour extra interesting to extra guys and has such an ideal following,” Erkenbrack mentioned. “We noticed that there’s a number of automobiles on the tour, and in these offers, the secret is to have a superb automotive depend, which will get you a superb crowd.
“With the World Racing Group, it simply feels prefer it was taken to an entire different stage — the competitors and quality-of-field.”
For 40 years from 1978–2017, the distinguished Belleville Midget Nationals remained the monitor’s most prestigious occasion, along with USAC Silver Crown occasions, three World of Outlaws NOS Power Drink Dash Automotive Collection appearances, and a number of other different regional Dash Automotive specials. The monitor’s latest custom — the Belleville 305 Nationals, began in 2018 — has been one other success, which additional helped to spark the curiosity in creating one other highlight dash automotive occasion.
“We have been simply at that time the place we needed to create one other huge, two-day occasion, and it simply felt excellent,” Erkenbrack mentioned. “(We thought) if we will have an enormous USAC occasion, an enormous ASCS Nationwide 360 occasion and our huge 305 Nationals… since we’re not a weekly monitor, we’ve to herald a touring sequence or placed on an enormous, special-paying occasion as a result of it’s only a totally different animal right here at Belleville.”
A $10,000 grand prize is in retailer for the winner of Friday evening’s essential occasion, marking the second of seven five-figure winner’s shares on the 2025 ASCS schedule. It’s a robust minimize of money for a 360 dash automotive occasion, and the monitor has plans on creating a fair bigger purse sooner or later.
“It simply looks like there’s room to return in right here and develop into one of many huge 360 occasions of the 12 months, and that’s what we’re attempting to do,” Erkenbrack mentioned. “I do know we’re 10,000-to-win, and that’s not the most important paying occasion on the schedule, however we need to work in the direction of that and make this an enormous deal and have any individual excited to win The Huge One right here on the Excessive Banks.”
