No one is looking forward to this weekend more than Bridgeport’s Danny Serrano.  It’s Skyscraper Weekend on the Spirit Speedway quarter mile!!

When Serrano first came to the Bridgeport Speedway management team for the 2013 season, he didn’t know anything about “small car” racing.  Serrano was a Modified guy who lived for racing.  He worked at the track and headed to races all over the Northeast whenever his work allowed.  When he came to Bridgeport that season, the Friday night quarter mile shows were new to him and with so much already on his plate with the new management team, he went through the motions without giving it much thought.

But when 2014 came around, it was a different story.  Serrano decided that these competitors deserved his time and attention and he set out to get to know the drivers and owners.  Track management decided to introduce a three race Poker Series for the quarter mile competitors that season and Serrano traveled around to promote the series.  Serrano made his first visits to tracks like Linda’s, Hamlin, Path Valley and Lanco and promoted the Poker Series events by talking to the competitors about the upcoming events.  It took many by surprise because no one had ever taken this approach with the micro sprint racers in the past.

Serrano and Keith Hoffman took their big track approach to the quarter mile with Serrano promoting the events just like he would the stock cars and Hoffman providing the track preparation on par with what he did for the 5/8th mile track.  Then they tried wingless racing for the 600 Micro Sprints and the quality of the racing greatly improved.

Each year, the Spirit Speedway fields have grown for their regular Friday night competition.

During the 2016 season, Serrano started to think about offering a big event for the small cars.  After attending Super Dirt Week at Syracuse every year, Serrano wanted to create that kind of atmosphere for a Micro Sprint event.  And the Skycraper was born.

“I was trying to come up with a name,” Serrano explained.  “I was on the computer, trying to find something that meant huge or grand or colossal.  The word Skyscraper came up and I really like that!”  The Skyscraper image lent itself well to the slogan – “Elevating micro sprint racing to new heights!”

The Skycraper is a three day event that offers competitors many opportunities to qualify for the main events run on Sunday.  Two drivers – Matt Smith and Lee Reinhardt – picked up feature wins during Spirit’s Championship Night and also won guaranteed starting positions in their respective Skycraper feature events.

On Friday night, October 5th, practice sessions will be held for the 270 and 600 Micros with two time sessions for each.  The fast timer in each session will earn a starting spot in Sunday’s main events.  New this year will be the Winner’s Classic for the 270s  and the U6SA Skyscraper Showdown for the 600s.  Any driver who has won this season in 270 Micro Sprint competition will be eligible to compete in the Winner’s Classic with a top seven starting spot on the line for the Friday night winner.  The same will be true for the 600 competitors where the top twenty-four in the Champion Oil U6SA point standings will be eligible to compete in Friday night’s event with the winner earning a top seven starting berth in Sunday’s main event for the 600s.

Saturday’s events will consist of double heat races for both divisions with passing points being awarded.  The day will conclude with an after-race party with food, beverage and live music being provided by the track for all competitors.

Sunday will see another set of heat races and then consolations to determine the final qualifying spots.  The day will conclude with the Skycraper main events with $4,000 going to the winner of the 600 feature and $3,000 to the winner of the 270’s feature event.  Both races will pay $400 to start with the pay out progressing through each position.  There will be contingency prizes for all non-qualifiers.  No one will go home empty handed.  Every driver will take home at least $100 worth of contingency prizes via gift cards or actual product!

Matt Smith and Jacob Hendershot were last year’s winners, taking home their share of the purse and the unique trophies created by Andreas Machine.  These trophies are a one-of-a-kind, created just for this event.

Friday’s racing gets underway at 7:30pm with grandstand admission for just $5 and pit admission for $25.  Racing will get underway at 6pm on Saturday with $15 grandstand admission and $30 for the pits.  Sunday will feature a 5pm start time with $20 grandstand admission and $35 pit admission.    A three day pit pass is available for $75 while a 3 day grandstand pass sells for $30.  Free camping is permitted and even encouraged.  (no hook ups)

This is an event that you won’t want to miss.  The Skyscraper promises to provide some of the best Micro Sprint racing of the 2018 season.  You won’t be disappointed!

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