FORT DODGE, Iowa -- For two weeks prior to the Friday night’s historic Fan Appreciation Night at the Mineral City Speedway, competitors at the high-speed half-mile clay oval handed out free passes to their family members, friends and co-workers to invite them out to watch them race.

What followed was the largest audience in the history of the facility, and possibly the community of Fort Dodge.

Presented by Motorsports Safety Products, an estimated crowd of nearly 5,000 people packed the facility for a picture-perfect night of racing while the drivers who recruited the most fans received special prizes for their efforts.

After sorting and counting nearly 4,000 free passes, Mineral City Speedway officials are pleased to announce the top recruits and winners of some fantastic awards.

Lance Deal of Fort Dodge topped all drivers with 375 fans filtering through the gates with a free pass embellished with his name and car number. The USRA Stock Car points leader coming into Friday’s event, Deal will receive $1,000 gift certificate for a custom-made Awesome Race Suit from Motorsports Safety Products in Mason City, Iowa.

USRA Hobby Stock driver Adam Suhrbier of Fort Dodge finished in second place and gets a $500 gift certificate from Motorsports Safety Products toward new safety products for his team as Hobby Stock competitors claimed six of the ten prizes.

Miles Michehl won Friday night’s USRA Hobby Stock feature, and wound up third place in the final free pass fan count. He will receive a new Bell K1 Sport racing helmet while fellow Hobby Stock pilot Zach Angstrom earned $200 cash for finishing fourth in the final tally.

Each of the racers ranked fifth through tenth in fan recruitment get a free $25 pit pass for the next weekly race on Friday, July 6. They include USRA Hobby Stock drivers Matt Mundt of Callender, Jeff Lyon of Duncombe and Chris Friesth of Vincent; USRA Stock Car driver Jeff Deal of Fort Dodge; Hornet driver Jarid Kuchenreuther of Rockwell City; and USRA B-Mod driver Clayton Crimmins of Fort Dodge.

Action heats up again at the Mineral City Speedway as the USMTS Modifieds invade on Tuesday, June 26. Joining the nation’s hottest open-wheel dirt modified drivers will be the top Stock Car and B-Mod pilots in the region as they compete in the Iron Man Challenge.

As if that wasn’t enough, kids will get their chance to catch some cash in the $1,000 Kids’ Money Drop.

Grandstand gates open at 5:00, hot laps start at 7:00 and racing begins at 7:30. Adult grandstand tickets are $17, kids ages 6-12 are $5 and children ages 5 and under get in for free. Pit passes are $30.

For those 5,000 fans in attendance for Fan Appreciation Night on Friday, bring your ticket stub and save $5 off adult admission this Tuesday.

The Mineral City Speedway is a 1/2-mile semi-banked dirt oval located 0.9 mile north of US 20 on US 169, then 0.5 mile east on 230th. For a complete 2012 schedule, complete weekly payouts and more check out www.mineralcityspeedway.com online.