NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Grand National Auto Races are this weekend at the Fairgrounds.
Racing action kicks off Thursday night and runs through Saturday. Pits open at 4 p.m. each night and the grandstand opens at 5 p.m. for spectators. Hot laps begin at 6 p.m. and races kick off at 7:30 Thursday and Friday then 7 p.m. on Saturday.
"We race in July," said Warren Hardy, race announcer. "It's hotter than a baked duck. That's what the drivers expect, when we come to the midsummer classic. To keep something like that wet in July in Kansas is monumental."
Advance tickets are still on sale at O’Reilly Auto Parts Stores for $15. Tickets are $20 at the gate and children under 11 are free. No outside drinks or food will be allowed in the grandstand. Drivers from across the region come for the events all weekend long.
"That's the novelty of a half-mile oval," Hardy said. "They're so hard to maintain and make racing. We could go through probably a dozen names of drivers who have raced at Indy or with NASCAR at Daytona that have raced at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. That's another part of the lure of the Hutchinson national races."
The Hutchinson Nationals came to the fairgrounds back in 1957 when the event was moved from Oklahoma City.