The High Limit Sprint Car Series features a championship within a championship and it begins on Tuesday night at Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Oklahoma.
Let’s call Midweek Money for what it is — a chance for Kyle Larson, who co-owns the series with brother-in-law Brad Sweet and streamer FloRacing, to chase a championship around his NASCAR Cup Series obligations.
It certainly worked last year, where Larson was able to run the full nine-race schedule, which was contested entirely on weekdays, and outdueled Rico Abreu to win the inaugural championship. Since then, High Limit Racing has expanded into a full-fledged coast-to-coast national championship, which precludes Larson from entering every event.
But this isn’t entirely about Larson.
Midweek Money also incentivizes weekly racers from Pennsylvania or Knoxville to race for a High Limit championship too, without distracting from their home track investments. It allows for High Limit contenders, who might otherwise be out of the national championship picture to reset their seasons and still have a big money prize to chase throughout the summer.
The 10 races, that take place across nine states, count towards the national championship but also its own self-contained season. All Midweek Money races pay a minimum of $20,000-to-win and $1,500-to-start but the most lucrative race of the 10 is a $50,000-to-win, $2,000-to-start race at Eagle Speedway in Nebraska on Tuesday, June 11.
The Midweek Money champion will make $100,000, compared to the $250,000 prize for the High Limit national champion at the end of the year.
“Obviously, it allows guys like Kyle and the teams that don’t want to sign up for the full national series to still have that midweek money series that they can compete for those bigger shows,” says Sweet. “It worked really well last year and we’ll certainly have a lot of those same tracks, and some different tracks as well.”
In addition to the current full-timers, Larson headlines a group that includes Cap Henry, Cole Macedo and Kevin Newton, who have already committed to the full 10-race slate that isn’t full-time in the national championship.
James McFadden missed the first four races of the season due to a work visa issue but can still chase this championship as well.
All the races air on FloRacing
High Limit Midweek Money
Tuesday April 16 | Red Dirt Raceway | $20,000
Tuesday April 23 | Riverside Int’l Speedway | $20,000
Wednesday May 1 | 81 Speedway | $20,000
Tuesday May 14 | Kokomo Speedway | $20,000
Tuesday May 28 | Grandview Speedway | $20,000
Tuesday June 4 | Davenport Speedway | $20,000
Tuesday June 11 | Eagles Speedway | $50,000
Wednesday June 26 | Lake Ozark Speedway | $20,000
Tuesday October 1 | Atomic Speedway | $20,000
Tuesday October 8 | I-70 Motorsports Park | $20,000
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.