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Middletown, NY — April 15, 2007 — By John Snyder, Orange County PR
Over the past 30 years 17 different drivers have won ‘Opening Night’ Modified features at Orange County Fair Speedway. But the “wealth” hasn’t been spread evenly. Just six drivers own 19 of the past 30 Opening Night trophies and four of them are expected to be in the starting lineup this Saturday evening when the 58th consecutive season of weekly stock car racing gets the green flag at the five-eights-mile Hard Clay track in Middletown, New York.
Brett Hearn, the defending DIRTcar Big-Block Modified champion and the track’s all-time winner has seven Opening Night victories to his credit, while former champions Jeff Heotzler and Rich Eurich have each won three first night races. Chuck McKee, also a former track titlist, has won two Openers as has veteran driver Frank Cozze (a frequent Orange County competitor) and the retired DIRT Hall of Famer Bobby Bottcher.
Eleven drivers have posted single Opening Night wins, including Craig “Hollywood” Mitchell, who won last year, and Tommy Meier, who won in 2004. Both are expected to battle for this year’s inaugural prize money and trophy.
Since 1977, other drivers who have won on Opening Night are Jack Johnson, Sammy Rogers Jr., Carl Reynolds and Bob McCeradie as well as Larry Brolsma, C.D. Coville, Harry Behrent, Billy Osmun and MeMe DeSantis.
Every Orange County DIRTcar Racing weekly division ---Big-Block Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman, Pro Stock, Pure Stock--- will see action this Saturday, with a full program of heat, consolation and feature races beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Opening night adult General Admission is $15.00. Seniors pay $13.00, Youth 13-17 just $10.00, while Children 12 and under are free. Reserve seating is $2.00 additional; a child’s ticket in the reserved sections is $5.00. Prices in the unique Orange County Drive-In section are the same as General Admission, plus $1.00 for parking. The parking charge goes towards the Drivers’ Point Fund. Season Passes are also available.
Advance ticket sales and track information is available at the Track Office. Call 845/342-2573 during business hours or log into www.ocfsmotorsports.com anytime to get the latest news and notes from Orange County throughout 2007.
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