Tony Stewart will be making not one, but two appearances at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds this year, after all.
The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Columbus, has competed in a Three-Quarter Midget race in his hometown the past few years. He was scheduled to again in July, but the entire fair was canceled because of COVID-19.
Stewart acquired the King of the UMRA King of the TQ Racing Series in December and rebranded it as Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets. The circuit will race at the Fairgrounds Sept. 26 and Oct. 3.
"He’s the one that called me and approached me about doing this," said Troy Foist, a member of the track committee. "He will be at both of them."
Go-karts also will run on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 at the Fairgrounds. Practice for the TQ Midgets will start at 7 p.m., followed by qualifying at 7:30 p.m. and the feature races at around 8:30 p.m. on each of those nights.
The event will be limited to 1,250 spectators, which is 50 percent of the facility’s capacity.
"It’s just come up in the last couple of days," Foist said. "We had to come up with a plan to turn into the health department. We had to get all that taken care of. We finally cleared all the hurdles so we can have a race."
Tickets will go on sale for $10 Monday at the fair office.
Foist said he hopes the fair can recoup some of the money it lost when this year’s fair was canceled.
"It’s really affecting us," Foist said. "Normally, we take in $120,000, and since there wasn’t a fair this year, we’re on very limited funds, and we’re just trying to make some money to pay the bills."
