Arkansas State’s most accomplished football team will find its place among Arkansas’ sporting greats this fall.
ASU announced Friday that its 1970 football team that finished 11-0 and was ranked No. 1 by two different polls will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
A dinner honoring the team will be held Sept. 18 at Centennial Hall in the Carl R. Reng Student Union on the ASU campus in Jonesboro. The event will induct only the 1970 ASU football team, while the rest of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Class will be inducted in February.
The 1970 team is the third team to be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, joining the 1964 University of Arkansas football team and the 1994 University of Arkansas men’s basketball team.
“We are extremely proud to bring the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet to Jonesboro and Arkansas State University,” said Nelson Catalina, a former ASU men’s basketball coach and member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame who serves on its board of directors. “It is also a privilege to honor the 1970 football team from Arkansas State by inducting the entire team. Collectively, this team group achieved something that should not be forgotten.”
Under Coach Bennie Ellender, ASU went 10-0 in the regular season and beat Central Missouri 38-21 in the Pecan Bowl in Arlington, Texas.
ASU was ranked No. 1 by The Associated Press and United Press International, serving as a national championship in the College Division.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 per person or $800 for a table.
MOTOR SPORTS
USCS slated for I-30
The United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour will compete tonight at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway.
The event is the second race of five in the USCS Super Dirt Week which started Friday night at Diamond Park Speedway in Murfreesboro. Other events in the mini-series are Thursday at Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, next Friday at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove and next Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis.
The defending champion of the I-30 event is 2012 USCS champion Tim Crawley of Benton, who also won the most recent series race last Friday at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss.
Tonight’s racing will include I-30’s IMCA modified, super stock and mini-sprint divisions. There also will be a fireworks display.
Adult grandstand admission is $20, and children ages 6-12 get in for $2. Pit passes are $30. Gates open at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30 p.m.