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By Mike Leone
April 24, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Carnesville, GA)
The FASTRAK Late Model Touring Series will resume
action this weekend with the second Southern and Mid East Region
combination event. Volunteer Speedway or "The Gap" as it's more
affectionately known as for its location in Bulls Gap right off of
Interstate 81 in Tennessee will have an open practice this Friday
night, April 27 followed by a complete show on Saturday, April 28.
Bulls Gap is one of the most talked about tracks in the country with
steep 34-degree banking and considers itself the world's fastest dirt
track. Many major improvements have been made over the winter by
owner Joe Loven.
Many of the more popular dirt late model drivers in the country are
expected to be in competition including track favorites Shanon
Buckingham and Dale Ball. Ball has won three in a row taking all of
the FASTRAK weekly-sanctioned events at the track. Buckingham has
become synonymous with winning in the FASTRAK Late Models all over
the country. 2007 Late Model Hall of Fame inductee Jack Pennington,
SAS East Champion Dennis "Rambo" Franklin, former Volunteer Speedway
Champions Allen Champ and Warren McMahan, 2006 FASTRAK Grand National
Runner-up Timbo Mangum, many time track champion John Pursley, 2006
FASTRAK Southern Region Champion Lee Cooper, 2006 Wythe Raceway Track
Champion 16 year old Chase McCormick along with Winter Nationals
Champion David "Bad Boy" McCoy. One name that's synonymous with
racing all across the country is former NASCAR Craftsman Truck and
Busch Series racer Shane Hmiel, who will be in action.
"The Gap" will be a busy and popular place for the FASTRAK Series for
the 2007 season. This weekend's event will serve as a warm-up for
the third annual "Firecracker 75 paying $5,000 to win on June 28 and
29. Also, another $2,000 to win event will convene at Bulls Gap on
September 28 and 29. In addition to all of the normal FASTRAK season
activities, "The Gap" has been awarded the final night- Night 3 of
the FASTRAK Grand Nationals, which will determine the $50,000 2007
National Champion.
Saturday's feature event pays a handsome $2,000 to-win with a $2,500
bonus program between this event and next weekend's event at Wythe
Raceway in Rural Retreat, Virginia. 24 cash drawings will be
available to every team that attends both the Bulls Gap race this
weekend and the Wythe Raceway event next weekend. The amounts are as
follows: $300, $250, $225, $200, $175, $150, $125, $115, $110, $100,
$95, $85, $75, $70, $65, $60, $55, $50, $45, $40, $35, $30, $25,
$20.
"I had a silent sponsor call and said he wanted to help," revealed
Series Founder Stan Lester. "He said he called us because he knew
we'd give 100% of the money back to our teams. With the high price
of fuel these days and time restraints, we decided to go with a bonus
program that gave every team a chance to take home some extra money.
We wanted to do it this way to give every driver a chance. This way
the guys that might not even make the event either night still have
the opportunity to leave with some extra cash. This helps everyone
involved and I really appreciate the sponsor stepping up to do this.
The sponsor doesn't even want their name known and aren't looking for
any glory; he just wanted to help. This is a FASTRAK family and this
is certainly living proof of that."
The drawings will be held on May 5 at Wythe Raceway after the race is
completed and cars have gone through post race tech. "We have fun
with these types of things," explained Lester. "Everyone's standing
around after the race is over and even the teams that didn't make the
show have just as good a chance as the man that just won".
"The Gap" has been one of the more successful FASTRAK weekly-
sanctioned tracks in the country," stated FASTRAK National Director
Terry Harris. "The Gap stuck 100% to the FASTRAK rule book and it has
proven very successful for them. Last year they averaged 18 cars in
their first year with the class and this year had 24 or more every
race with 34 registered members. The Gap has proved if you follow the
FASTRAK system 100% it works. I am very proud of our affiliation with
The Gap and look forward to continue that for years to come".
Friday, April 27: OPEN PRACTICE: Gates open at 5:30 PM with practice
form 7-10.
Saturday, April 28: Pit gate opens at 3 PM, tech stars at 4, with hot
laps at 7 followed by qualifying, heats races, last chances last
races, concluding with the 50-Lap $2,000 to-win feature. (Fireworks,
4 wide salute to the fans, tennis ball toss)
The required Goodyear tires are in short supply right now. So every
competitor needs to come prepared. There
will be tires for sale the track, but not the normal 100 or so the
Series normally brings.
For more information on this weekend's event, check out
www.volunteerspeedw ay.com or call 423-378-5942 or 423-235-5020.
Partners of the FASTRAK Racing Series Include: Goodyear Racing, GM
Performance Parts, Maypole Chevrolet, Duralite Wheels, PPM Racing
Products, Heintz Performance, MK-Direct, Braswell Carburetion,
Mastersbilt Racing Chassis, TNT Racing Chassis, Rocket Racing
Chassis, Modern Chevrolet and Schoenfeld Headers.
For more information on FASTRAK, check out the website at
www.fastrakracing. com or call 678-935-7304. To join our mailing
list, simply send an e-mail to fastrakpr-subscribe @yahoogroups. com |
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