The highest-paying USAC iRacing event to ever be held will take place on Saturday, April 11, in an invitation only race featuring the top stars of the United States Auto Club.

The AME Electrical “Saturday Night Lightning” FALS Invitational will pad the wallet of the front runners who can get the job done in the virtual USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature held at the quarter-mile Fairbury Speedway in Illinois.

The total payout includes $2,020 to win courtesy of AME Electrical. $1,000 will go to the second  place finisher from Rex Reinbold, and $500 for third from Hunter & Hammer Head Garage. A $100 hard charger prize will be posted by Todd Underwood of Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports as well.

Event sponsor and 2019 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Champion owner Andy Reinbold got the idea to put together the event for the entertainment value of it and also to give racers a place to race during these trying times.

“Everybody’s stuck at home bored over this Coronavirus deal and secondly, and just as important, is the idea that these kids that race to entertain us.   We think they live the dream by racing full-time and that’s their full-time gig, which a lot of them survive by.  But, suddenly, the work dries up and there’s no paycheck for those guys – the ones that are commission-based like our drivers are.   Affording these guys an opportunity to make a little dough and just trying to help them out, that’s all.”

With all the ongoing downtime for racers, teams and race fans alike, Reinbold finds the long-term importance of this event and finding a greater cause for the sport in the long run.

“It’s huge for the exposure of our sport that we all like,” Reinbold said.  “Dirt racing, whether it be midgets, sprint cars, wing cars, late models or dirt modifieds, we’re all kind of a family.  I’m a sports freak, I don’t care what it is, there nothing much to watch out there.  We’re just taking the opportunity while we have the stage to draw interest.”

“I would like to think it would never replace live racing,” Reinbold added. “By using this for exposure to get more fans out there while we wait to return to normality, we can grow our sport and put it on the map a little more than it already is.”

USAC iRACING FORMAT CHANGES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

Meanwhile, format changes for the USAC AMSOIL iRacing Challenge presented by NOS Energy Drink will be announced soon for the upcoming events on Thursday, April 9, with the Sprint Cars at Knoxville Raceway, followed by Sprints on April 16 at Williams Grove Speedway and a Sprint/Midget doubleheader on April 23 at Eldora Speedway.