News Archive
2005-2007
2007 Season News
Lawler Wins 36th Annual Winchester 400
Winchester, IN (October 15, 2007) – Colleyville, Texas native Ryan Lawler put his name in the record books by winning the CRA Super Series sanctioned 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway this past Sunday afternoon. Lawler got to start the event from the pole after setting a new track record in qualifying, leading a strong group of 40 late models qualifying for the event. Brian Scott got the jump on Lawler at the drop of the green flag leading most of the laps with NASCAR Nextel Cup driver David Stremme until Lawler assumed the lead on lap 311 when the leaders pitted. Lawler had made his final pit stop earlier in the event and had saved his car for the end as no one had anything for the young Texan who cruised to his biggest ever victory.
"This is the awesome, especially with all the history of the Winchester 400, I got to sign the big checkered flag that all the winners hear sign, next year my name will be on the event t-shirt. This is my favorite track, even after I wrecked the last time I was here I really liked this track." Lawler commented. "My crew chief, Robert Hamke was the crew chief for 1998's winner Derrick Gilchrist, and that is pretty cool."
Lawler collected $12,000 for the win, plus another $3,600 bonus for winning the event as a non-regular series competitor. In addition Lawler collected over $2500 in additional monies in event lap leader and series award bonuses.
Stremme and fellow Cup driver Kyle Busch flew to Indiana from Charlotte, North Carolina Sunday morning after competing in Saturday nights NASCAR Nextel Cup event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, were Busch finished third and Stremme ninth, to compete in the Winchester 400. Stremme and Busch started 35th and 36th in the event as promoter’s options after missing Saturday’s qualifying. Busch’s day ended on lap 85 after a broken wheel sheared off the wheel studs on the right rear of his #51 late model. It was Busch’s third time running in the Winchester 400.
Stremme lead laps 165 through 215, and then lead again from lap 277 until lap 310, giving the lead to Lawler after making a pit stop. Stremme would hang on to finish third, the last car on the lead lap, even after his car’s handling went away when his left rear wheel started coming loose after losing three lug nuts while charging from the rear of the lead laps cars after pitting. The South bend, Indiana native is a long time friend of Winchester Speedway owner Charlie Shaw, who helped Stremme in his early days of late model racing.
CRA Super Series Rookie Of The Year John VanDoorn pursued Lawler through out the last 80 laps but could never challenge for the lead. The 19 year olds car became very loose after some right side contact with the turn two retaining wall. CRA Super Series veteran Rick Turner finished in fourth place one lap down with series regular Terry Fisher Jr. in fifth place, two laps down. Tommy St. John was sixth, Dennis Schoenfeld was seventh, Jeff Fultz was eighth, Jim Crabtree Jr. was ninth and Andy Hanson tenth.
Chris Gabehart claimed the 2007 CRA Super Series Championship for owner Jim Winters and his Hendricks County Motorsports team by taking the opening green flag of the Winchester 400. Gabehart stayed in contention through out the event until a broken right front hub would end his day on lap 371. Early leader Brian Scott looked to have the car to beat, but he made contact with 2007 Winchester 400 winner Scott Hantz while trying to pass Hantz on his way through the field after pitting, his car and Hantz’s made heavy contact with the inside retaining wall ending both driver’s day.
In Saturday night’s Run For The Gun for the American Modified and the USA Modified Series, veteran Ohio racer Dave Stacy came away with the victory after charging to the front to get an early lead. Stacy would hold off Brad Springer to get the win and the mounted Winchester Rifle Trophy. Scotty Tomasik finished in third, Scott Coe in fourth and Ross Klingelhof in fifth.
Six cars were eliminated in a huge lap six pile-up including Modoc native Don Skaggs. Multi-time Winchester feature winner Mike Stacy, brother of winner Dave Stacy, went to the pits on lap seven with a blown motor. Huntsville, Alabama native Jeff Letson won the 15 lap Last Chance race. Veteran New Castle, Indiana racer Harold Scott was the Fast Qualifier out of 31 cars that took times.
Bob Varney was victorious in Saturday nights US PRO Series Sneak Peak 50. Varney took the lead at the drop of the green flag and led all 50 caution free laps to claim his first ever victory at Winchester Speedway. Varney’s early competition Tommy Cook and Michael Gaier both fell out of the event. Gaier on lap 27 and Cook on lap 34. Wes Griffith Jr. would finish in second, Al Cook Jr. in third, Kevin Todd in fourth and Royce Mason II in fifth.
In Saturday night’s final event it was CRA Street Stock rookie competitor Jacob Owen getting his first ever series points event victory by winning the Moser Engineering 50, the Season Championship event for the CRA Street Stocks. Owens took full advantage of his outside row one starting position to claim the lead at the drop of the green flag. Owens would hold off veteran Indiana racer Steve Blair to get the victory. Owens won a series non-points event at Winchester Speedway in May.
Carl Muffley would finish in third, with Joe Beaver in fourth, claiming the series Drivers Championship over Rich Boyer who came into the event leading the Drivers Points, but his night ended on lap 14 after his car was forced to the pits smoking heavily. Beaver was the 2006 Drivers Points Champion as well. Jeff Perry would finish in fifth place. Boyer was the Fast Qualifier out of the 26 cars that took times. The #21 car owned by Steve Davis had already clinched the Owners Points Championship prior to Saturday night’s event. Calvin Parham was running in the top five in the #21 when his night ended on lap 21 with mechanical problems.
In Friday night action the Howe CRA Sportsman had their 50-lap Season Championship event. Flagged winner Bobby Blount, who took the lead on lap 25 from Rick Tackman, was disqualified after failing post race inspection, giving the win to second place finisher Charlie Hanna who had challenged Blount for the lead for several laps before losing his power steering late in the event. Hanna, who was the series Rookie Of The Year, was happy just to finish the race in one piece after nearly crashing when the power steering went away.
Rick Tackman would get a second place finish, Rick Rinehart was third, Bobby Stremme was fourth with Tim Greene in fifth place. The event was marred by a huge lap six wreck that damaged several racecars including series points leader Billy Hutson, who lost his lead at one point in the event to Rick Rinehart who got as high as second before he was forced to pit with a flat tire. With the help of several people, Hutson got his car back on the track to gain enough positions to win the 2007 Howe CRA Sportsman Championship over Rinehart.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts also had their Season Championship event Friday night. Point’s leader Greg De St. Jean charged from his ninth place starting position to grab the lead on lap three and never looked back in claiming the victory and the 2007 series Championship.
“I want to thank the sponsors, Winchester Speedway and Baer Field, the CRA and most of all my wife. I wanted to run just a few races, but she said no, if you are going to race, run them all," remarked a jubilant De St. Jean in Victory Circle. "Everybody raced clean all year it was great, I love these high banks compared to the short tracks this is an amazing place, I love it.”
Richard Isabell finished in second, Randy Owens was third, Tim Dilq was fourth, and Matt Hall was fifth.
Veteran Indiana stock car racer Carl Muffley won the CRA Street Stocks MAX Rocks New Star 25, a non-points event for any series driver who had never won a CRA Street Stock feature points event. Eric Evans grab the early lead from his third place starting position and led the first 10 laps before being black flagged and placed at the tail of the field for breaking out on his lap times, which going a lot faster that his qualifying time or what is commonly referred to as sandbagging to get a better starting position. Muffley took over the lead on lap 11 and held off a hard-charging Steve Blair to get the win. Jacob Owens finished third, Phil Evans fourth and Johnny Magee in fifth.
The 2007 racing season at Winchester Speedway has come to an end, owner Charlie Shaw and everyone at Champion Racing Association would like to thank all the sponsors, fans, racers and track workers for their support and help during a great 2007 season. Keep checking back on the track’s web site for announcements on the 2008 season that is currently being planned. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com for additional information.
Salem, IN October 9, 2007) – Champion Racing Association has announced that Moser Engineering will be the sponsor of the CRA Street Stocks 50 lap Season Championship race this Saturday night at Winchester Speedway as part of the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade. The Moser Engineering 50 will be the final event of the 2007 season, closing out the third season for the CRA Street Stock Series.
The #21 Steve Davis owned team have already clinched the CRA Street Stocks 2007 Owners Points Championship with a 92 point lead over the #78 Jacob Owens owned team. Calvin Parham and Steve Christman have both drove the #21 for owner Steve Davis during the 2007 season. Christman got victories in both series events at Baer Field Speedway. Parham drove the rest of the events during the season including victories at Winchester Speedway on Labor Day and in the Budweiser 150 at Anderson Speedway in August. Jacob Owens has raced his car at each event except the last series race at ORP were Steve Blair drove a #78 Owens owned car.
The CRA Street Stocks 2007 Driver Points Championship is far from decided yet. Rich Boyer holds a mere three point lead over 2006 series Champion Joe Beaver heading into Saturday nights event. There is also a close battle for series Rookie Of The Year also, with leading series rookie Phil Evans in third place in driver points with 860 points, while fellow rookie Larry Matillo is only 11 points behind in fourth place in driver points. Rookie Jacob Owens is not out of the rookie battle yet, he is in fifth place in driver points with 827 points. Rookie Winston Wood is in sixth place with 800 points, followed by Bobby Murany in seventh with 761 points, John Weisenauer in eighth with 727 points, Shawn Bonar in ninth with 711 points and Beau Mitchell in tenth with 709 points.
Mitchell started the 2007 season very slow after getting five straight wins with the series at Winchester Speedway in 2006. Mitchell has now won the last two series events, the MAX Rocks 200 on September 16th at Winchester Speedway and the 40-lap event at ORP on September 22nd.
Moser Engineering, founded in 1982, manufactures aftermarket performance rear end components for various racing applications. Located in the ‘Heartlands of America’ in the modest town of Portland, Indiana, the company prides itself in its’ ability to supply quality American-made products, at an affordable price, with an industry-leading two-day turnaround. Moser Engineering is in business to supply the highest quality American-made products, at an affordable price. The combination of precision workmanship, know-how, price, and prompt turnaround are qualities that make Moser Engineering the leader in aftermarket rear end components. More information on Moser Engineering is available at www.moserengineering.com.
Pit gates open on Saturday at 8am, with Practice beginning at 10:30am. Qualifying will begin at 3:15pm, the Saturday night race program will begin at 5pm and will include the Moser Engineering 50 for the CRA Street Stocks. More information on the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade, including purchasing advanced tickets, is available at www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Salem, IN (October 8, 2007) – All Chris Gabehart has to do is take the opening green flag in this Sunday’s 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade to claim the 2007 CRA Super Series Championship for himself and car owner Jim Winters in what has been a true Championship Season for the young hard working Purdue Engineer, who is not only the teams driver but also his own Crew Chief. Gabehart and his Hendricks County Motorsports team have had one of the best season’s a series Champion has ever had, not the most wins, but by far the most consistent season on record.
Gabehart took over the series points lead after the second event of the season at Winchester Speedway, a lead he never gave up. In 12 series point’s events to date, Gabehart has no DNF’s. He has finished in the top ten in all 12 events. Of those 12 events, nine were top five finishes including the first six races of the season. His worst finish was ninth in the Anderson 250 after running out of fuel late in the event. Gabehart is the only driver with more than one win during the 2007 season. His first win was a dominating performance at Toledo Speedway with a brand new car just finished the night before. He also got a win at Anderson Speedway in June and the big win in The 100 at the Circle Track Nationals, an event he co-promoted with his car owner, at O’Reilly Raceway Park on September 22nd.
Gabehart’s great season is also reflected in his qualifying results through out the 2007 season, showing he was not only a good driver but also good crew chief giving his car the set-up to be fast on the short run to earn valuable qualifying points, but to also be competitive through out each race. Gabehart earned qualifying points, which are earned by being in the top five qualifiers, at 10 of the 12 events to date. He was the Appleton Rack & Pinion Fast Qualifier a season leading four times, at a variety of tracks including Toledo Speedway, Angola Motor Speedway, Illiana Motor Speedway and set the new track record at Columbus Motor Speedway.
This will be the first CRA Super Series Championship for Gabehart, but it will be the second series Championship for the Hendricks County Motorsports team and owner Jim Winters, who won the series 1998 Championship with driver Brian Rievley. Last season the team finished in 7th place in owner’s points in a car driven by Gabehart and Sondi Eden, Gabehart finished in 9th place in drivers points, after missing a couple of races in the middle of the season. The team finished 5th in series points in 2005 and finished 5th in 2004 with Gabehart earning Rookie Of The Year honors over Steve Moenck.
After a couple of seasons open wheel racing in USAC Midgets and Sprint Cars, Gabehart first competed with the CRA Super Series in selected events during the 2003 season including that season’s Winchester 400 were he was in a team car with Kyle Busch. Gabehart qualified 5th fastest for that event, while Busch was second fastest. Unfortunately both drivers had their day end early after being involved in accidents, but Gabehart showed he had the talent to compete with the best in the CRA Super Series.
Gabehart put on a memorable performance in last season’s Winchester 400, patiently working his way to the front from his third place qualifying position to take the lead on lap 321. Gabehart battled North Carolina driver Clay Jones, who was racing on seven cylinders, for several laps for the lead racing side by side with the entire grandstand on its feet as the laps started to wind down when sudden contact between the two cars resulted in both cars crashing hard into the back stretch wall ending both drivers day on lap 380. Scott Hantz would go on to get the victory after being a lap down to Gabehart and Jones prior to the lap 380 accident.
Gabehart hopes to end his 2007 CRA Super Series point’s season like the last two CRA Super Series Champions that ended their seasons with the Winchester 400. Bobby Parsley claimed the 2003 series Championship by winning the Winchester 400. Last season the Winchester 400 was brought back after not having that event in 2004 and 2005. Scott Hantz claimed the 2006 CRA Super Series Championship with his win in the Winchester 400 last season. Gabehart will have to battle not only the best drivers in the series but some of the best late model drivers from around the country who have entered and NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers Kyle Busch and David Stremme.
Gabehart does have added incentive to win the Winchester 400, The 100 victory at ORP was the first event in the CRA Super Series Triple Crown. The second event is this Sunday’s Winchester 400, the third event will be the Adam Petty Memorial All American 400 at the Music City Motorplex at the Fairgrounds in Nashville on November 4th. If a driver can win all three events he will receive a $50,000 bonus. If a driver only wins two of the events he will receive a $10,000 bonus. If a different driver wins all three events, the driver getting the best overall finishes in the three events will earn a $5000 bonus plus an entry and a set of tires for the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway. Winning the Triple Crown would be the ultimate way to end a true championship season!
More information on this Sunday’s 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade, including purchasing advanced tickets, is available at
www.winchesterspeedway.com
Winchester, IN (October 4, 2007) – CRA / Winchester Speedway officials have announced that Culy Construction has agreed to be the title sponsor again of the Howe CRA Sportsman Season Championship event on Friday, October 12th of the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade. The Culy Construction 50 will be the final event in the exciting second season of the Howe CRA Sportsman series.
New Haven, Indiana native Billy Hutson comes into the season championship event with 42-point lead over second place Rick Rinehart. Rinehart has a 52-point lead over leading rookie contender Charlie Hanna in third place. Rookie Tim Greene is in fourth place 90 points behind Hanna, Rookie Gabe Cerny, who picked up his first series win in the series last event at the Circle Track Nationals at ORP, is in fifth place only nine points behind Greene. Hutson, Rinehart and Hanna have all gone to victory lane in a series event at Winchester Speedway this season.
The Wisconsin Cowboy Rick Tackman Jr. is in sixth place. The Chad Gaskill owned #20 is in seventh place with four different drivers so far in 2007 including Chad, Steve Blair, Jeff Ellis and Rick Pfiefer. Rookie Eric Barkus is in eighth, Bob Dumke is ninth and rookie David Fretz rounds out the top ten in series points.
Culy Construction & Excavating Company, located in Winchester, Indiana, began as a one-man operation in 1978 and has grown to include 40 employees specializing in work on water mains, inserta valves, line stops, live taps and vacuum excavation with customers in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky. Their customers include government agencies, municipalities, developers, industrial and residential groups. Although Culy Construction provides a wide range of services and operations, and is involved in fieldwork on a daily basis, they are always available to meet and talk with their customers. They have developed special areas of expertise, and have concentrated on those areas. Culy Construction believes that quality, production, and safety equal efficiency, and that is the motto and goal of their work. More information on Culy Construction is available at www.culyconstruction.com or by calling 765-584-0018.
Winchester, Indiana resident and Culy Construction employee Kevin Cook is a part-time competitor with the Howe CRA Sportsman Series. Cook is currently 25th in series points, and is expected to compete in the Culy Construction 50.
Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets for the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade featuring NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers David Stremme and Kyle Busch or for more information on the weekend including a detailed schedule of events as well as ticket and pit pass pricing.
Winchester, IN (October 1, 2007) – The CRA Street Stocks will have a special non-points event on Friday, October 12th of the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade. The event will be a 25 lap “New Star” non-points race open only to drivers that have never won a CRA Street Stock point’s event. Previous race winners and their cars will not be eligible for that event. The event will pay $300 to win down to $50 to start.
There will be an open practice on Friday, October 12th for all divisions racing during the Winchester 400 weekend. If there are at least six former CRA Street Stock feature winners present on Friday, there will be a special 10-lap Dash for Cash for those cars on that Friday night. Participants will draw for their starting positions in that event which will pay the top three finishers, $200 to win, $100 for second and $50 for third. The CRA Street Stocks will have their final points event of the season on Saturday evening, October 13th.
Pits will open on that Friday at 11am, Open Practice will go from 2 to 6pm. Qualifying for Friday night’s racing will begin at 6pm with the race program starting at 7pm. Friday nights racing action will also include the Season Championship events for the Howe CRA Sportsman Series and the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts. For more information on the CRA Street Stocks go to www.craracing.net
For more information of the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade and to purchase advance tickets, go to www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Salem, IN (February 19, 2007) –Circle Racing Wheels, the Official Racing Wheel of the CRA Super Series for entire 2007 race season, will be the Official Racing Wheel of the upcoming 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By The Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade on Sunday, October 14th on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana.
Circle Racing Wheels will award a complete set of Circle Racing Wheels by random draw of all the competitors making up the starting field of the prestigious 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By The Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade. In that event NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers David Stremme and Kyle Busch will compete against the best late model drivers from the CRA Super Series and from all over the country for the right to join the exclusive list of winners of the Winchester 400, a list that includes seven time winner Bob Senneker, three time winner Mike Cope, two time winners Mike Eddy, Mark Martin, Butch Miller, as well as Rusty Wallace, Ted Musgrave, Tim Steele, Gary St. Amant, as well as the CRA winners of the event Brian Ross, Bobby Parsley, and last years winner and CRA Super Series Champion Scott Hantz.
“We greatly appreciate the support that Circle Racing Wheels has given our series the entire 2007 season,” remarked Glenn Luckett, Director of the CRA Super Series. “It’s also great to have additional support from Circle Racing Wheels for the 36th Annual Winchester 400, one of the biggest late model events in the country. Their company has a great product that can benefit all our series racers. We ask for all our racers to support Circle Racing Wheels for supporting them!”
Since the beginning of 2006, Circle Racing Wheels has been doing business under new ownership—as a division of Wheel Vintiques Inc., located in Fresno, California. More information is available on Circle Racing Wheels at www.circleracing.com, or they can be contacted by phone at 559-251-1127.
NASCAR Nextel Cup Drivers David Stemme And Kyle Busch To Test Monday
Winchester, IN (September 27, 2007) – NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers David Stremme and Kyle Busch will be testing their CRA Super Series late model racecars at Winchester Speedway this Monday to prepare for the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade on Sunday, October 14th on the famous High Banks of historic Winchester Speedway. The test session is scheduled from 9am until 5pm with the teams having intermittent sessions on the track during that time. The grandstands will be open at no charge for fans to come watch the test session on Monday, fans can get a first hand look at the two NASCAR stars as they prepare to battle the best late model drivers in the country for the right to be known as a winner of the prestigious Winchester 400.
Stremme and Busch will be traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday morning October 14th after competing in the Bank of America 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday night, October 13th. Both Busch and Stremme will get some limited practice laps that Sunday at Winchester Speedway, but since they will miss qualifying for the event on that Saturday, they will have to start the event as Promoters Options on the tail of the field.
To date there are already 35 cars pre-entered for the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade, lead by Stremme and Busch. Some of the top late model drivers entered from around the country include North Carolina natives Jeff Fultz, a winner of the Labor Day Weekend CRA Super Series event at Winchester, and Dennis Schoenfeld who finished third in that same event and Brian Scott, who just announced he will compete full-time in 2008 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Alabama’s Augie Grill, who finished second in the 400 last year and Stanley Smith, Florida ‘s Justin Drawdy and Jay Middleton, Wisconsin’s Robert Maynor and Josh Bauer, and Minnesota’s Andy Hanson.
CRA Super Series point’s leader Chris Gabehart leads a strong group of CRA regulars already entered including Rookie Of The Year John VanDoorn, 2006 series Champion and Winchester 400 winner Scott Hantz, Jeff Lane, Rick Turner, Jack Smith, Jason Shively, Sean Matthuis, Jason Dietsch and Donald Karr Jr. Local veterans with lots of Winchester experience entered include Bull Baker, a three time series winner at Winchester, Brian Rievley a former series Champion and winner on the High Banks, Jim Crabtree Jr., Chet Blanton, and Scott Whitehouse. Track record holder Danny Jackson, who sat on the pole in last years 400 is entered along with Michigan’s Johnny Belott III, who came from 26th to finish sixth on Labor Day Weekend.
The 36th Annual Winchester 400 will pay the winner $12,000, plus another possible $10,000 will be available in lap leader bonus money. There will also be a $3,600 bonus available to any former Winchester 400 winner or non CRA Super Series regular if they can win the 36th Annual Winchester 400. The 36th Annual Winchester 400 is the second leg of the $50,000 to win Triple Crown that started at last Saturday’s Circle Track Nationals “The 100 at O’Reilly Raceway Park were Chris Gabehart picked up the $10,000 victory. Entry forms for the Winchester 400 and additional series information is available at www.craracing.net or contact the CRA office at 812-883-0455.
The 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 12th, 13th and 14th with racing action from the Vore's Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, CRA Street Stocks, Howe CRA Sportsman, US PRO Cup Series, The Run For The Gun Shootout between the American Modified and the USA Modified Series in addition to the 36th Annual Winchester 400. For additional information and to purchase advance tickets go to www.winchesterspeedway.com
NASCAR Nextel Cup Star Kyle Busch to Compete in 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade
Winchester, IN (September 17, 2007) – Winchester Speedway and Champion Racing Association, in conjunction with Kyle Busch Motorsports, announced today that NASCAR Nextel Cup star Kyle Busch will be competing in the CRA Super Series sanctioned 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade on Sunday, October 14th on the famous High Banks of historic Winchester Speedway located in Winchester, Indiana. Busch will join fellow NASCAR Nextel Cup competitor David Stremme along with the best late model drivers in the country competing for a possible $25,000 payoff in one of the most prestigious short track events in the country.
"I’m really looking forward to coming to race on the High Banks of Winchester Speedway again in this years Winchester 400,” remarked Busch. “Winchester Speedway is one of my favorite tracks to race on, it’s fast and it’s a blast, especially in a late model. The track has so much history, and so many great drivers have raced there, it’s just a neat place to race.”
Busch will be traveling with David Stremme from Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday morning October 14th after competing in the Bank of America 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday night, October 13th. Both Busch and Stremme will get some limited practice laps that Sunday at Winchester Speedway, but since they will miss qualifying for the event on that Saturday, they will have to start the event as Promoters Options on the tail of the field.
“David and I will be flying in that morning with our Cup pit crews and a bunch of friends who want to come watch the race. It should be pretty exciting to watch, especially with both of us coming from the back, but it’s 400 laps so we have plenty of time to get there. We are both coming not only to race but to win, and with Ritchie Waters preparing my car, it will be ready to compete for the win.”
This will be the third CRA Super Series event that Busch has competed in at Winchester Speedway. In 2002 Busch competed in the Car Brite 200 on the Saturday night prior to the ASA Racing Series Winchester 400 in a Hendricks County Motorsports prepared car owned by current series Owner-Points leader Jim Winters with driver Chris Gabehart. A broken wheel early in the event put Busch down four laps. Busch was able to make up three of those laps and managed a ninth place finish, the first car one lap down.
In 2003 Busch returned to Winchester to compete in the CRA Super Series sanctioned Car Brite Winchester 400, again driving for Winters. Busch’s day ended on lap 130 from damage in an accident.
“I could use a little better luck this time, but that’s just part of racing. This is how I have fun, even with all the racing I have to do on that weekend!”
Busch is currently 4th in NASCAR Nextel Cup points after a 4th place finish in this past Sunday’s first Chase event at New Hampshire International Speedway. Busch has a total of four career wins in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series including a win on March 25 of this year in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch has a total of nine wins in the NASCAR Busch Series, two of those have come this season when he won the Winn-Dixie 250 on July 7th at Daytona International Speedway and the Emerson Radio 250 on September 7th at Richmond International Speedway. Busch recently sign a contract to join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 were he will be teammates with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin.
The 36th Annual Winchester 400 will pay the winner $12,000, plus another possible $10,000 will be available in lap leader bonus money. There will also be a $3,600 bonus available to any former Winchester 400 winner or non CRA Super Series regular if they can win the 36th Annual Winchester 400. The 36th Annual Winchester 400 is the second leg of the $50,000 to win Triple Crown that will start with this Saturday’s Circle Track Nationals “The 100”, a $10,000 to win CRA Super Series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Entry forms for the Winchester 400 and additional series information is available at www.craracing.net or contact the CRA office at 812-883-0455.
The 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 12th, 13th and 14th with racing action from the Vore's Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, CRA Street Stocks, Howe CRA Sportsman, US PRO Series, The Run For The Gun Shootout between the American Modified and the USA Modified Series in addition to the 36th Annual Winchester 400. For additional information and to purchase advance tickets go to www.winchesterspeedway.com
Beau Mitchell Returns to Victory Lane In The MAX Rocks 200
Winchester, IN (September 17, 2007) - In 2006, Owensboro, Kentucky native Beau Mitchell dominated the CRA Street Stocks at Winchester Speedway, winning five races in a row including the 2006 MAX Rocks 200. This season, bad luck has plagued him at Winchester and had kept him out of victory lane. Mitchell started near the tail of the of Sunday’s MAX Rocks 200 at Winchester Speedway, patiently moving through traffic leading a little early, then taking the lead on the 103rd lap and staying there to get the win and the $5000 first place money.
"We got into a couple of pinches early, but it all went right and we missed the spins. Then we short pitted so we would be ahead when everyone else pitted later and it all worked." A jubilant Mitchell said from Victory Lane.
Mitchell was able to hold off fellow Owensboro native Brett Hudson who raced in the lead pack through out the event. Mitchell made a late bump and run on Calvin Parham to move into second, but could never get a run on Mitchell and had to settle for second in his first ever race on the High Banks of Winchester Speedway.
Veteran Salem Speedway race Chuck Barnes Sr. made a late pass also on Parham to get third. Barnes Sr.’s car made slight contact with the wall in an incident early in the event, which seemed to slow the car some for the remainder of the event. Parham would finish in fourth in the #21 Steve Davis owned machine to keep Davis’s car in the CRA Street Stock Championship points lead with only two events remaining in the 2007 season.
Chuck Cook fought a hard battle over the last part of the event with Brian Hopkins to finish in fifth place. Hopkins would finish in sixth with Carl Muffley in seventh, Johnny Magee in eighth and Tom Gossar in ninth, the last car to complete all 200 laps. Brian Bayer finished in tenth, one lap down.
The MAX Rocks 200 was another exciting event that saw 49 CRA Street Stocks take the green flag and battle through out the race with exciting racing action from the front to the back, showcasing the great talent that the drivers in this series possess.
In the Vore's Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts Winchester 75 Farmland, Indiana native Brian Redmond started near the tail, pitted once and restarted on the tail, was placed at the rear following a caution at lap 69 and still came back to get the win and the $1500 first place prize.
"This was our Daytona 500, the biggest race of the year. I'm not up there in the points due to a couple DNF's early in the season, so I really wanted to win this race, " a very happy Redmond stated. “I want to thank my sponsor Vore’s Welding & Steel, this win goes out to all the safety workers here at Winchester Speedway.”
Redmon, a safety worker at Winchester Speedway himself when not racing, had pulled to the rear bumper of first place running Matt Norm when the two-made contact going into turn one resulting in Norm slamming the turn one wall hard, ending his day after leading several laps.
“I want to apologize to Norm for the contact,” remarked Redmon. “I had a great run, I don’t know if something happened to his car or if he just checked up, but he slowed suddenly and I couldn’t stop and ran into the back of him.”
Redmon was placed at the rear of the lead cars for the restart with only five laps left in the event. Redmon charged to the front to regain the lead and get the victory. Kevin Claborn racing at Winchester for the first time this year, finished second, Bill Leisure third, series point leader Greg De St. Jean fourth and Justin Kelley fifth.
The next event at Winchester Speedway will be the season ending 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 12th, 13th and 14th with racing action from the Vore's Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, CRA Street Stocks, Howe CRA Sportsman, US PRO Series, The Run For The Gun Shootout between the American Modifieds and the USA Modifieds and the CRA Super Series in the Winchester 400 with NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers David Stremme and Kyle Busch. For additional information and to purchase advance tickets go to www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Winchester, IN (September 12, 2007) – The CRA Street Stocks are ready to hit the High Banks of Winchester Speedway in this Sunday’s $5000 to win MAX Rocks 200. This will be the biggest event of the season for the CRA Street Stocks as their 2007 winds down with only three events left to run. This is a special points event, the lowest any team that shows up will get will be 80 points, additional points can be earned for teams finishing in ninth place or better.
In last seasons MAX Rocks 200 Owensboro, Kentucky native Beau Mitchell waged a 200-lap war with Sellersburg, Indiana native John Collins. The two battled from beginning until the end, staying close to each other avoiding several accidents and dicing through tough lapped traffic The two drivers were never separated by much during the entire 200 laps including the finish were Mitchell was able to hold off Collins to get the win but by only .153 of a second.
Collins took the lead at the start of the event, taking full advantage of his drawn pole starting position and led the first 59 laps. Mitchell passed Collins in lap traffic on lap 60 and lead until lap 80 when Collins got back around. Collins then led until lap 125 when the leaders pitted under caution. Mitchell beat out both Collins and Chuck Cook, but Tim McLaughlin, who had not pitted at that time, had taken over the lead under yellow. McLaughlin’s lead was short lived as he crashed into the turn one wall on the next restart taking second place running Joe Beaver with him, this handed the lead back to Mitchell. Mitchell led for six laps only to have Collins pass for the lead on lap 139, but Mitchell came right back and got the lead on lap 142 for good.
Greensboro, Indiana native Chuck Cook stayed in the lead back through out the event, never getting to lead, but running second and third through out the event. Cook would finish in third only a half second back of Mitchell and Collins. Veteran driver Steve Christman finished in fourth, the last car to complete all 200 laps. Chuck Barnes finished in fifth, Brian Hopkins was sixth, Bret Miles Jr. in seventh, Bubba Trinkle was eighth, Steve Rapier Jr. in ninth and Dennis Moser was tenth.
Steve Davis’s #21 Team is the current owner point’s leader coming into Sunday’s event, that team has visited victory lane four times so far this season. Calvin Parham has two of those victories including the last CRA Street Stock event which was at Winchester Speedway on Labor Day were Parham made a miraculous save after contact with a lap car. Parham also got a victory earlier this season at Anderson Speedway. Steve Christman got the other two victories for Davis this season, both of those came at Baer Field Speedway in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Christman’s hometown. Parham is entered to drive the #21 in Sunday’s event.
Rookie competitor Jacob Owens comes in to Sunday’s event second in owner points, 55 points behind the #21, but holds a one point leader over Joe Beaver in the driver’s points, Beaver is third in owner points. Rich Boyer is only seven points behind Beaver and is fourth in owner points. Rookie Phil Evans is in fifth place, with fellow rookie Larry Matillo in sixth place, John Weisenauer is seventh, 16 year old rookie Winston wood is eighth, Shawn Bonar is ninth with Pat O’Connor in tenth.
Last year’s winner Beau Mitchell and the 2005 winner of this event, CRA Super Series competitor Jeff Lane are both entered for Sunday’s event. The entire top ten in points is expected to compete. There are several drivers entered who have won 200 lap street stock events at Salem Speedway including Chuck Barnes Sr., Todd Kempf, David Bayens, and veteran Joe Williamson. Veteran Ohio late model driver Scott Baker is entered in the Frank Oriti owned car.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts will also be in action with their next to last event of the season. Which will be a 75 lap $1500 to win event. A.J. Ridner and 13-year-old Matt Norm got their first Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compact victories at Winchester Speedway over Labor Day Weekend. With the win, Norm becomes the youngest driver to ever win a race on the legendary High Banks of Winchester Speedway, both are entered for Sunday’s high paying event.
Greg De St. Jean is the current points leader and will have the option along with Sunday’s feature event pole sitter to go to the tail of the starting field to try and win the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge Bonus, which has grown to $700 after not being claimed in the first six events. Derek Young is second in points, only seven points behind De St. Jean. Randy Owen is third in points only two behind Young, with Bobby Sanders only 27 points out of the lead in fourth place setting up a four way battle for the inaugural series Championship. Bill Leisure is fifth in points followed by Brian Redmond in sixth, A.J. Ridner in seventh, Randy Watson in eighth, Richard Isbell in ninth and Bill Charles in tenth.
Pit gates open on Sunday at 9am, practice will begin at 12 noon, the first race will begin at 2pm. The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts 75 lap event will run first followed by the MAX Rocks 200. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets or for more information on upcoming events.
Winchester, IN (September 4, 2007) – Over 170 racecars and a full grandstand of race fans enjoyed the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival Presented By Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep at Winchester Speedway on Sunday and Monday. Blessed with some great weather, fans flocked to the famous High Banks to watch eight different divisions race during the two day show, many camped the entire weekend at the track taking in what has become a huge racing tradition in Central Indiana.
Veteran stock car race Jeff Fultz came back home to get his first ever CRA Super Series victory in Monday afternoon’s McGunegill Engine Performance 100 Presented By Great Deals in the feature event of the weekend. Fultz, who grew up in near by Ohio, and cut his teeth racing in mini-stocks and late models early in his racing career at Winchester Speedway, but has lived for several years in North Carolina while still racing and working full-time for several NASCAR Nextel Cup Teams. Fultz returned to the High Banks on Monday to get the victory for car owner Curtis Venable.
"I won my first feature here, my first championship here and it’s really cool to comeback and win this race today," an elated Fultz commented in victory lane. “We had struggled all weekend with steering problems, I hung in there and kept racing, then things worked out in our favor and we ended up in victory lane. I want to thank Curtis my car owner, and all the guys who worked so hard this weekend.”
CRA Super Series points leader Chris Gabehart looked like he would be pulling into victory lane, leading from the drop of the green flag until lap 89 when contact from Tommy St.John caused Gabehart to spin, putting him and St. John on the tail of the field. This handed the lead to Fultz who had worked his way to third from the tail of the field after pitting for adjustments. Fultz had to hold off a hard charging Terry Fisher Jr., who was also looking for his first series victory.
Fisher would finish in second with Concord, North Carolina racer Dennis Schoenfeld in third. Gabehart would battle back to finish in fourth, maintaining his series points lead with only three events remaining in the 2007 season. Gabehart seemed to be salvaging a very trying weekend, after spending part of the weekend in the hospital coming back to the track to qualify after passing a kidney stone Sunday afternoon. St. John would finish in fifth. John Belott finished in sixth from his 26th starting position after showing up on Monday and missing Sunday’s qualifying.
Mike Stacy put on a strong performance is winning the Fire Bottle 40 for the American Modified Series on Monday. Stacy fought through the field to grab the lead from series point’s leader Bud Perry, he pulled out to almost a half lap lead before a late caution tightened the field. Perry would battle back but could never make a pass as Stacy would grab the win with Perry second, Jason Dietsch in third, Greg Stapleton in Fourth and Scott Tomasik in fifth. Dietsch came from eighth to win the 10-lap dash on Sunday night.
The recently revived US PRO Series had six cars compete in its Sneak Peek 35 that showcased the highly competitive crate engine late model series that will return as part of the Winchester 400 weekend in October. Al Cook Jr. got the win over brother Tommy Cook with Bob Varney in third in his first ever appearance on the High Banks with Bob Sibila Jr. in fourth and Royce mason in fifth.
The Short Track Truck Series returned as part of the 2007 World Stock Car Festival, they last competed on the High Banks during the 2005 event. Veteran Indiana racer Steve Blair fought off fellow Hoosier Jared Waldhoff to get the win for the Michigan based series. Keith Winncek got third, Justin Claucherty was fourth with Paul Schaffer in fifth. Sunday night’s heat races were won by Stuart Quakenbush and Jared Waldhoff, Waldhoff was the fast qualifier of the 19 trucks that took times.
The Howe CRA Sportsman, CRA Street Stock and Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts were also on hand for the annual World Stock Car Festival presented by Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep.
Charlie Hanna beat a hard charging Rick Rinehart to become the first multi-feature winner with the Howe CRA Sportsman series in 2007 taking the Maple-Tarr 40 on Monday afternoon. Hanna started eighth and worked his way through the field to second place behind Dean Baker who had built up a large lead. When Baker spun in the first turn hitting the wall and ending his day, Hanna inherited a spot he never gave up.
"We were really lucky today, I was settling in thinking we were going to finish second, when he had his problem and we were there to take the win." Hanna said.
The Howe CRA Sportsman heat races on Sunday featured wins by Billy Hutson and Rick Tackman Jr. Charlie Hanna was the fast qualifier of the 20 cars that took times.
The CRA Street Stocks Calvin Parham took the lead from Brian Hopkins on lap 26 of the MAX Rocks 40 and held off all comers to win. Parham made a miraculous save after contact with another car caused him to slide sideways going into turn one and still came out the leader as the other car spun. With five laps to go, Rich Boyer caught up following a caution and nearly passed him several times, including crossing the finish line side by side, but he could not get ahead.
"I don't know how I saved it in the first turn, but the front end was not right after that and bumped and grinded the rest of the way. But it held together long enough for me to win." An elated Parham stated.
The Street Stock heat races on Sunday featured wins by Winston Wood, Phil Evans, Brian Hopkins and Johnny Magee. This victory was the first win in a stock car by Wood at any track. Rich Boyer was the fast qualifier of the 34 teams that took times.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts featured a first time winner in that series when Plymouth Indiana's Matt Noren won Monday’s Winchester 20, in his first ever race on the High Banks. Noren ran just head of second place finisher Brian Redmond. Redmond jumped out to the early lead from his fourth starting position leading the first 12 laps of the race before Noren worked his way through traffic from his 11th starting position. Noren caught Redmond and passed him to take the win.
AJ Ridner won his first Vore's Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compact feature Sunday night coming from the tail to win the Winchester 20. "The odds were in our favor tonight, we got in front and held on and our luck held out. I am really happy to win here at Winchester, and want to say a big thank you to Jim Winters for helping make this happen." A very happy Ridner stated. Randy Walton finished second and Derick Young third. Greg De St. Jean and Brian Redmond won the heat races.
Sunday night racing featured the Thunder/Enduro cars with veteran Anderson Speedway racer Rod Phipps taking the win in one of the best races of the entire weekend. Phipps was sure about who was behind him for most to race, and Mike Riddle, Jr. made sure he did not forget he was there, as Tom Gossar ran up in the front (after starting on the tail) making it a three way dogfight to the end with Rod having just enough to win.
"Mikey let me know he was back there, several times. Last night at Anderson the shoe was on the other foot as I chased him and let him know I was there. But it was fun." Commented Phipps after the win.
Riddle finished second, Gossar a close third and Randy Hoppes battled to get a third place finish.
Gossar and Jason Thompson won the heat races.The next event at Winchester Speedway will feature the CRA Street Stocks in the $5000 to win MAX Rocks 200 at Winchester Speedway on September 16. The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts will have a 75 lap event that day that will pay the winner $1500. For more information see the Winchester Speedway website at www.winchesterspeedway.com or the CRA website at www.craracing.com.
Salem, IN (August 30, 2007) – Great Deals Coupon Magazine, headquartered in Anderson, Indiana, will be the Presenting Sponsor of this Monday’s McGunegill Engine Performance 100 CRA Super Series event at Winchester Speedway as part of the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival Presented By Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep. Great Deals Coupon Magazine has been involved in area stock car racing for many years, most recently as a sponsor on the Rick Turner CRA Super Series late models and Presenting Sponsor of CRA Super Series events at Anderson Speedway.
Great Deals Racing has entered both it’s cars in this Monday’s event, Rick Turner’s #26 Great Deals Coupon Magazine / McGunegill Engine Performance Ford and Bret Miles Jr.’s #32 Great Deals Coupon Magazine / McGunegill Engine Performance / Champion Windows Chevrolet. Turner is currently fifth in CRA Super Series points, and has competed in every series event this season. Miles Jr. is 15th in series points despite only competing in selected events during the 2007 season, preparing for a full-time run at the series Rookie Of The Year Award in 2008. The team had to do extensive work to Turner’s machine to get it ready for this weekend after the car was heavily damaged in the SuperPro Series event at Winchester Speedway on August 12th.
Great Deals Coupon Magazine is the Midwest’s Largest Direct Mail Coupon Magazine and printed nearly 15 million Coupon Magazines in 2006. Great Deals is presently published and direct mailed in 32 Midwestern Cities. More information on Great Deals is available at www.greatdealsmagazine.com.
The weekend will start with an open practice for all divisions on Saturday. Pit gates open at 10am with rotating practice sessions from 1 to 5pm. Pit gates open on Sunday morning at 9am, practice begins at 11:30am, qualifying will start at 3pm. Sunday nights racing action will begin at 6pm with heat races for the CRA Street Stocks, Howe CRA Sportsman, Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, Michigan Short Track Trucks and Thunder/Enduro Cars. The American Modifieds will have a Dash for their top qualifiers then there will be 20 lap features for both the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts and Thunder/Enduro Cars. After the racing action there will be a party in the Pavilion behind turn 1 of the racetrack with music and Karaoke by Bygones starting at 9pm.
Pit gates will open on Monday at 9am. There will be a short warm-up session for all divisions at 11am, Last Chance races will begin at 12noon. The first of seven feature events will take the green flag at 1pm starting with the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts in the Vore’s Welding & Steel 20, which will be followed by the Howe CRA Sportsman in the Maple-Tarr 40. The USPRO Cup Series will be next in the Winchester 50, and will be followed by the Short Track Trucks in the Winchester 20. The CRA Super Series will be then hit the High Banks in the McGunegill Engine Performance 100 Presented By Great Deals followed by the American Modifieds in the Fire Bottle 40. The CRA Street Stocks will end the day with the MAX Rocks 40.
Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets or for more information on this weekend’s events.
Winchester, IN (August 29, 2007) – There will be plenty of racing at Winchester Speedway this weekend with the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival Presented By Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep. Eight different racing classes will compete on the famous High Banks this weekend including the CRA Super Series late models, USPRO Cup Series crate engine late models, the American Modifieds, the CRA Street Stocks, the Howe CRA Sportsman, the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, the Short Track Trucks, and Thunder/Enduro Cars.
The CRA Super Series will compete in the McGunegill Engine Performance 100, it will be the second stop for the series at Winchester Speedway leading up to the 36th Annual Winchester 400 on Sunday, October 14th. Tommy St. John has developed a knack for being fast at High Banked racetracks, and he showed that again by winning the Manning Service 100 on Sunday, April 22 in his first series event of the season. St. John started the day by being the events Appleton Rack & Pinion Fast Qualifier, then powered by Scott Hantz from his fourth starting position to take the lead on Lap 5 to lead the rest of the way. Jeff Lane would make a late charge to the front almost catching St. John whose car slowed over the last five laps, but St. John held on to get the victory over Lane, his second with the CRA Super Series, the first came on Labor Day Weekend last season at Winchester Speedway. Brian Rievley finished in third, Chris Gabehart in fourth and Evan Jackson in fifth.
Chris Gabehart continues to lead the series points, having not finished out of the top 10 so far this season. Gabehart holds an 81-point lead over top rookie competitor John VanDoorn with only four series point’s events left on the 2007 schedule. VanDoorn is two points ahead of 2006 series Champion Scott Hantz in third with Jeff Lane in fourth and Rick Turner in fifth. Several different teams that are not regulars at Winchester events are expected to race in Monday’s feature event in order to prepare for the 36th Annual Winchester 400 including former Ohio resident Jeff Fultz who now resides in Troutman, North Carolina working for DEI and Dennis Schoenfeld from Concord, North Carolina. Bull Baker and Brian Ross are tied for the most series wins at Winchester Speedway with 3 a piece, Baker is entered for Monday’s event. To date there are already 26 cars pre-entered for the McGunegill Engine Performance 100.
The #21 Steve Davis owned CRA Street Stock team is on a roll with veteran Ft. Wayne racer Steve Christman getting the win in series last event at Baer Field Speedway. Christman became the first driver to win two races with the series this season and gave Steve Davis his third win of the 2007 season. Christman got his the first win of the season for Davis at the series May event at Baer Field Speedway. The Davis team was coming off another victory in the series prior event to Baer Field at Anderson Speedway with Calvin Parham getting the victory for Davis in that event.
The #21 Davis Team continues to lead in the car owner standings by 28 points over 2006 Champion Joe Beaver, who is leading the driver standings. Rookie Jacob Owen is third 15 points behind Beaver with fellow rookie Phil Evans in fourth eight points behind Owen. Rich Boyer is in fifth. The series has had seven winners in eight events to date including Joe Beaver, Frank Kimmel II, Bubba Trinkle and Jeff Perry all with victories in series events at Winchester Speedway. Bret Miles Jr. and Calvin Parham got wins at Anderson Speedway and Christman’s two victories at Bear Field Speedway. The series last scheduled event at Plymouth Speedway on August 18th was canceled because of weather.
With Zach Hulvey’s win in the Howe CRA Sportsman Series last event on August 18th at Baer Field Speedway, the series has now had eight different winners in its first eight events in the 2007 season.
The series other winners so far in 2007 include Rick Rinehart, Billy Hutson, Stuart Quakenbush and Charlie Hanna at the Winchester Speedway events. Chad Richardson got the win at the other Baer Field Speedway event in May, Steve Blair the win at Anderson Speedway, and Nathan Herron the win at Shady Bowl Speedway.
Billy Hutson continues to lead the series points after eight events, with only three events left in the season including this Monday’s Maple-Tarr 40. Rick Rinehart continues to apply the pressure in second, but will have to over come a 38-point deficit to challenge for the points Championship. Rookie Charlie Hanna has now moved into third place but is 51 points behind Rinehart with fellow rookie Tim Greene 25 points behind in fourth place. Rookie Gabe Cerny is in fifth place in points, 57 points behind Greene.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts will also be in action with feature events this weekend on Sunday and Monday. Greg De St. Jean won his second feature event of the season with the series on Sunday, August 12th at Winchester Speedway and is the current points leader and will have the option along with Sunday’s feature event pole sitter to go to the tail of the starting field to try and win the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge Bonus, which has grown to $500 after not being claimed in the first four events. Randy Owen is second in points, only 17 points behind De St. Jean. Derek Young is third in points only four behind Owen, Bobby Sanders is in fourth with Jack Leisure in fifth place.
This weekend will be the second appearance of the American Modifieds at Winchester Speedway this season in the Fire Bottle 40 on Monday afternoon. In the series first event on August 12th Mark Timmerman got his first ever American Modifieds win holding off hard-charging Bud Perry to get the win. Timmerman got the lead when leader Rodney Scott and second place Mike Stacy spun after contact. Stacy would race through the field to finish in third with Dave Stacy in fourth and Jason Dietsch in fifth. Bud Perry is the series point’s leader heading into this weekends event, he has a 23-point lead over Mike Carroll. Josh Smith is in third place, Chad Poole in fourth with Greg Stapleton in fifth. A full field of Modifieds is expected as they prepare for the 2nd Annual Run For The Gun Shootout on the Winchester 400 Weekend.
The Short Track Trucks will also be in action this weekend, the series was part of this event two years ago and had some of the best racing during that weekend. Monday’s event will be Round #13 of the ShortTrackTrucks.com Challenge Series. Expect the current front-runners from the ShortTrackTrucks.com Challenge Series including Justin Claucherty, Paul Schaffer, Darren Lane, and John Smalley to clash with Indiana's finest in the form of Tom Miller, Steve Blair, Stuart Quackenbush and Jared Waldhoff. Among the first timers to Winchester's world-famous high-banks will be Kyle 'Flipper' Trinklein and John Culp.
Sunday’s racing action will include a feature event for the Thunder/Enduro Cars in their only visit to Winchester Speedway this season. Rob Wyman looks to defend his win from 2006. Competitors are expected from several of the region’s racetracks, which are not racing on Sunday and Monday.
The weekend will start with an open practice for all divisions on Saturday. Pit gates open at 10am with rotating practice sessions from 1 to 5pm. Pit gates open on Sunday morning at 9am, practice begins at 11:30am, qualifying will start at 3pm. Sunday nights racing action will begin at 6pm with heat races for the CRA Street Stocks, Howe CRA Sportsman, Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, Michigan Short Track Trucks and Thunder/Enduro Cars. The American Modifieds will have a Dash for their top qualifiers then there will be 20 lap features for both the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts and Thunder/Enduro Cars. After the racing action there will be a party in the Pavilion behind turn 1 of the racetrack with music and Karaoke by Bygones starting at 9pm.
Pit gates will open on Monday at 9am. There will be a short warm-up session for all divisions at 11am, Last Chance races will begin at 12noon. The first of seven feature events will take the green flag at 1pm starting with the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts in the Vore’s Welding & Steel 20, which will be followed by the Howe CRA Sportsman in the Maple-Tarr 40. The USPRO Cup Series will be next in the Winchester 50, and will be followed by the Short Track Trucks in the Winchester 40. The CRA Super Series will be then hit the High Banks in the McGunegill Engine Performance 100 followed by the American Modifieds in the Fire Bottle 40. The CRA Street Stocks will end the day with the MAX Rocks 40.
Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets or for more information on this weekend’s events.
Moser Engineering Extends Support for Popular CRA Street Stocks
Moser’s Lifetime Warranty a Key Component of their Commitment to Circle Track Racing
(Salem, IN) – One of the most respected names in racing products, Moser Engineering, has extended their sponsorship of the CRA Street Stock Series. The Indiana company, who specializes in rear-end components, has taken another industry leading step by offering their “Buy Once, Race Forever” Lifetime Warranty Program.
The strongest circle track parts just got stronger, as Moser Engineering will replace any of its’ circle track components due to manufacturing defect, or failure due to normal wear and use. The warranty is extended to the original purchaser of the product for the lifetime of the product. The Buy Once, Race Forever Lifetime Warranty Program does not cover product failure due to improper installation, product failure due to impact or collision, excessive wear parts (i.e. bearings, seals, etc), and is not transferable.
It is the commitment of all the employees at Moser Engineering to supply the best product, at an affordable price, in a timeframe conducive to a racer’s needs. The product they manufacturer represents the experience, knowledge, and hard work of the entire staff at Moser Engineering.
Many CRA Street Stock currently use a variety of products from Moser Engineering in their race vehicles, from axles, bearings and ring and pinions, to complete replacement floater rear-ends.
To find out more about the Lifetime Warranty program for their circle track products, or to see the complete line of circle track products, visit www.moserengineering.com.
The next opportunity for the Moser products to prevail in CRA Street Stock competition is September 2nd & 3rd at the Worlds Fastest ½ Mile, Winchester Speedway.
For more information about the CRA Street Stocks, visit www.craracing.net. For more information on Winchester Speedway and the events of the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival, visit www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Winchester Speedway to Host USPRO Cup Series’ Return to Racing
Re-born Crate Series Replaces SuperPro Series on Remaining Winchester Schedule
(Winchester, IN) – The original return of the USPRO Cup Series was tarnished by a visit from Mother Nature on August 18, 2007 at the Owosso (MI) Speedway in what was to be the running of the Sneak Peek 35. At the time of the rain-out, it was thought that the return of the USPRO Cup Series would have to wait until the 2008 season.
That all changed however, when Winchester Speedway promoters R.J. Scott and Glenn Luckett, called on ASALMS Co-Founders/Presidents, Ron and Sandy Varney to run their USPRO Cup Series at Winchester Speedway to replace the previously scheduled SuperPro Series Crate Late Model races. A deal was reached and the USPRO Cup Series will indeed race after all in 2007 and on two separate occasions at one of the most famous high-banked tracks in the United States.
The USPRO Cup Series will make two trips to the famed high-banks of the Winchester (IN) Speedway in Winchester, Indiana with the first show set for Sunday and Monday September 2-3, 2007 as part of the World Stock Car Racing Festival! Then the USPRO Cup Series returns to the famous high-banks on Friday and Saturday October 12-13, 2007 as part of the Winchester 400 weekend!
As part of the World Stock Car Racing Festival on Sunday and Monday September 2-3, 2007 the USPRO Cup Series will run the Winchester/Sneak Peek 50 Part One with Practice and Qualifying on Sunday and the 50-lap Feature set to go on Monday afternoon.
As an added bonus, any ASALMS Northern Division driver who makes the trip from the Hawkeye Downs (IA) Speedway the night before after running in the Hawkeye 100 Presented by Coors Light and Cassill Motors and then wins the Winchester/Sneak Peek 50 Part One, will receive a $250.00 bonus from the Winchester Speedway for making the trip.
The second appearance will be during the prestigious Winchester 400 weekend for the CRA Super Series as the USPRO Cup Series will run the Winchester/Sneak Peek 50 Part Two on Saturday October 13, 2007. The36th Annual Winchester 400 presented by the Ed Martin AutoGroup and Renegade will headline the weekend on Sunday October 14, 2007.
There is no Entry Form for both shows in Winchester, Indiana for the USPRO Cup Series, however there will be a $50.00 entry fee the day of the race. Also the ASALMS asks that any team that plans on racing in these events to please call the ASALMS Home Offices in Lexington, Michigan to indicate if your team will be attending for Promotional purposes.
For both Winchester events, Bollhoff Rivnut Super Pro Series Rules will apply with ASALMS procedures in affect! Any and all ASALMS Type Cars such as the Bollhoff Rivnut Super Pro Series, MAARA Series, and any team within the entire United States and Canada with the Template Body/Crate Engine package, are all invited for both shows at the Winchester Speedway.
For both shows in Eastern Indiana, the USPRO Cup Series teams will be racing on the ASALMS Northern/Southern Division tires. USPRO Cup teams that come to Winchester will be allowed to practice on any tire that they bring with them, just like it was at Owosso, however for this event, it is a Two (2) tire event and teams must purchase a minimum of Two (2) tires to Qualify and Race on.
For more information about the World Stock Car Racing Festival at the Winchester Speedway on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday September 1-2-3, 2007, go to the CRA Super Series website at: www.craracing.net and for Winchester Speedway information, go to their website at: www.winchesterspeedway.com.
As for the 2008 season for the USPRO Cup Series, details are being worked out and will be released in conjunction with the 2008 ASALMS schedules, which will be available by Late-October 2007. The ASALMS is looking at reduced Features with a minimum of 50-lap Features and the series will reinstate the Two (2) Tire rule throughout the 2008 campaign. Payouts and purses will also be determined in conjunction with the release of the 2008 schedules. Beginning in 2008, there will be four divisions under the ASALMS banner with the return of the USPRO Cup Series.
For more information about the on going 2007 seasons within all three divisions of the ASALMS, as well as the fast approaching 2008 campaigns, you can call the ASALMS home offices during normal business hours Monday through Friday 9:00am-5:00pm (EST) at: 1 (800) 385-2503. You can also get more information through the website at www.asalatemodels.com
Winchester Speedway Key to Recent Successes for NASCAR Teams at Bristol
Hendrick Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing use the Indiana Highbanks to Prepare
(Winchester, IN) – The legendary high-banks of Indiana’s Winchester Speedway has a long history of helping build the careers of some of the top drivers of all time, including the likes of Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Jimmy Johnson, Ryan Newman, and many others. More recently, the ½ mile speed-plant has been a key part of helping some of today’s NASCAR teams prepare for the similarly configured Bristol Motor Speedway on the Nextel Cup Schedule.
For Michael Waltrip Racing, two recent test sessions at Winchester Speedway helped Michael and teammate Dale Jarrett qualify for the season’s second Bristol event. It was only the 3rd time in 24 races the two teammates made a race on time this season. For the 44 and 55 teams, the value of the information garnered in not one, but two test sessions at Winchester Speedway, became apparent when the two teams overcame the qualifying hurdle to make the starting field of NASCAR’s most popular race to the delight of fans and sponsors alike.
For Hendricks Motorsports, testing within the last year at Winchester Speedway helped establish them as an early leader in the Car of Tomorrow success. Hendricks drivers Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch swept the first ever Car of Tomorrow event at Bristol in the spring, with Gordon taking the pole and Busch the event winner.
The NASCAR connection continues in the 2007 season, as super sophomore David Stremme, driver of the #40 Coors Light Dodge, will return to his roots in Indians to race in the 36th Annual Winchester 400 in his own CRA Super Series Late Model on Sunday October 14th.
For more information about Winchester Speedway or to order tickets for the Winchester 400 presented by Ed Martin AutoGroup and Renegade, visit www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Winchester Speedway Announces Racer & Fan Incentives for Labor Day Weekend
Racers from Kilkare, ShadyBowl, Columbus, Mt. Lawn, Angola, Baer Field and Anderson Eligible for Bonuses
(Winchester, IN) – Officials from the Champion Racing Association (CRA) and Winchester Speedway have announced a bonus program for area short track winners over the Labor Day Weekend at the World Stock Car Festival Presented by Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep. Winchester Speedway will pay a $100 bonus to any driver who wins a feature event at their local track on Labor Day weekend and then wins their feature at Winchester Speedway. Between the tracks and their different divisions, drivers in the Sportsman/Late Models, Street Stocks, Thunder/Enduro Cars, and FWD Compacts will be eligible for this award. Speedway officials also posted a $50 bonus for heat race winners from those same tracks and same nights if they win their Winchester Speedway Feature.
For modified drivers the bonus is even larger. A $500 bonus has been posted if a modified driver can do the “Labor Day Weekend Double” by winning a feature at Kilkare, ShadyBowl, Baer Field, or Angola and the Fire Bottle 40 for AMS Modifieds at Winchester.
Fans have incentive to visit multiple tracks over the weekend as well, as a ticket stub from Labor Day Weekend racing from ShadyBowl, Kil-Kare and Anderson Speedway will be good for a $5 discount off an adult ticket at Winchester Speedway for racing on Labor Day Weekend (limit one discount per adult).
The Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival at Winchester Speedway has been one of the most anticipated racing weekends of the year, as fans and racers flock to this festival of racing, camping, parties and fun. Eight different divisions participate in the racing over the course of three days at the World’s Fastest ½ Mile. Saturday features an open practice, with Sunday’s activities boasting practice, qualifying and/or preliminary racing in all divisions with feature events for Thunder/Enduro Cars and FWD Compacts. Sunday night’s activities are concluded with the extremely popular “Party in the Pavilion” with Bygones Bar and Grill providing the musical entertainment.
On Monday at 1pm, fans are treated to a “Features Only” day of racing for 7 divisions, headlined by the CRA Super Series Late Models in a 100 lap battle presented by McGunegill Engine Performance. The AMS Modifieds will do battle in the Fire Bottle 40, while the CRA Street Stocks race in the MAX Rocks 40. Also racing features on Monday are USPRO Cup late models, Howe/CRA Sportsman, Short Track Trucks, and the Vore’s Welding and Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts.
Visit www.winchesterspeedway.com for more details on tickets, rules and other information about the weekend. For more information about the CRA Super Series visit www.craracing.net or call 812-883-0455.
Winchester, IN (August 13, 2007) – Jason Dietsch, Mark Timmerman, Charlie Hanna and Greg De St. Jean all picked up feature wins on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway this past Sunday. It was a hot afternoon of racing under the sun with some hot racing on the track as well.
The Bollhoff Rivnut SUPERPRO Series paid its first ever visit to historic Winchester Speedway and Edgeton, Ohio’s Jason Dietsch picked up the first SUPERPRO win of his career. Young Derek Bischak and Al Cook, Jr. led the field to the green of the “Aluminum Racing Products 50” with Cook Jr. jumping into the lead. Michael Gaier moved quickly from his sixth starting position to grab the point on lap four. Fast qualifier Rick Turner, Dietsch and Tommy Cook all began to put the heat on the leader. Gaier made contact with the turn four wall on lap 15 and made a miraculous save down the front stretch to maintain the lead. Dietsch moved to second on lap 16 and into the lead two laps later.
Turner, a regular performer with the CRA Super Series, made hard contact with the wall on lap 22, bringing out the first caution of the event. Cook made the save of the century as he lost it out of turn four trying to pass Dietsch and somehow missed the water barrels that protect the inside wall. At the halfway point, it was Dietsch followed by Rob Buckley, Gaier, Al Cook and Bischak. Tommy Cook moved from the tail to fourth by lap 34. It was all Dietsch to the checkers followed by Buckley, Gaier, Tommy Cook, and Bischak with his best SUPERPRO finish to date.
The summer heat was scorching and so was the racing action for the American Modified Series on Sunday. The action started with qualifications for the DeGraff OH based group. Kettering OH driver Mike Carroll was fastest qualifier with a 16.760 lap. The qualification heat races went to Dave Stacy and Rodney Scott. The 50 lap feature saw Stacy and Scott battle for the lead at the drop of the green. It was soon apparent that Mike Stacy was the fastest car on the track, as he made his way to the front from his third place starting position. Scott was out front, when Mike Stacy caught up with him after passing his brother Dave. Mike and Scott set up a two car battle for the lead until they made contact in turn one resulting in both spinning.
AMS officials put both to the rear of the field, putting third place running Mark Timmerman out front. Bud Perry the 2005 AMS champ, soon caught Timmerman setting up a two-car battle for the lead. The duo put on a thrilling display, as Perry tried every trick he knew to get by the much younger Timmerman. Perry just came up short, as Timmerman scored his first AMS win in his Quality Steel Fabrication modified.
“I have many memories of this place, watching my grandfather Marvin Smith win here in ARCA cars, and now I guess I have a favorite memory of my own” stated Timmerman in a post race interview.
Mike Stacy was the story of the day however as he raced his way back up to third after his trip to the rear of the field. Stacy was on a rail, as he did it without the aid of a yellow. Dave Stacy held on for fourth, with Jason Dietsch fifth.
Charlie Hanna got his first ever Howe CRA Sportsman feature victory on Sunday. Hanna worked his way through the pack to second behind Rick Rinehart who had taken the lead from Jeff Ellis on lap 24. Hanna patiently worked on Rinehart waiting for the right moment to make his challenge for the lead. Rinehart started to slip a little in the turns, this opened the door for Hanna who worked his way inside of Rinehart, the two raced side by side for a lap before Hanna was able to make the pass and take the lead on lap 34. Hanna would then cruise to a second and half victory over Rinehart.
"It feels better to run up front. I bounced off the wall on about the fifth or sixth lap and thought I did not have a chance. Then the others ahead of me starting bouncing around and I caught back up and got up there for the win," remarked a very happy Hanna in Victory Lane.
Hanna’s streak of good runs after blowing two motors early in the season started four races ago when he finished in third. He followed that up with two-second place finishes and finally got his first series win for car owner Tom Fisel. Rinehart got second and is still second in points to point’s leader Billy Hutson who finished in third on Sunday. Rick Tackman Jr. finished in fourth with early leader Jeff Ellis in fifth. Rinehart was the fast qualifier on Sunday while Hutson and Gregory picked up heat race victories.
Greg De St. Jean picked up his second straight victory in the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts 20 lap feature on Sunday. Brian Redmond finished first on the track but was disqualified after failing post race inspection giving De St. Jean the victory. Third place finisher Todd Kirk was also disqualified moving Bill Leisure to second with Randy Walton in third, Bobby Sanders in fourth and AJ Ridner in fifth. De St. Jean and Redman got heat race victories.
The next event at Winchester Speedway will be the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival Presented By Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep with eight different racing divisions seeing action in nine different feature events and heat races. Headlining the weekend will be the CRA Super Series along with the American Modified Series, Bollhoff Rivnut SUPERPRO Series, Howe CRA Sportsman, CRA Street Stocks, Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts, Michigan Short Track Trucks and ThunderCars. Open practice will be held on Saturday, September 1 from 1 to 5pm. Practice, qualifying, heat races and features for the Vore’s Welding & Steel FWD Compacts and ThunderCars will be held on Sunday along with the big blow out party Sunday night at the Old Timers Pavilion. Monday afternoon will be all feature racing. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets or for more information on that event
Winchester, IN (August 7, 2007) – This Sunday the High Banks of Historic Winchester Speedway will feature a Motorcycle Stunt Show and four different divisions of exciting racing action. Team Stuntmetal Extreme Motorcycle Stunt Crew will be performing extreme stunt riding and challenging maneuvers with their Freestyle Sportbikes on the front-stretch of Winchester Speedway. The group did a preview performance at the 2007 season opener at Winchester Speedway, bringing the crowd to their feet with their entertaining stunts and challenging maneuvers. Sunday’s performance will be a full 30-minute show featuring some new exciting stunts.
Sunday will also be the first ever race at Winchester Speedway for the Bollhoff Rivnut Super Pro Late Model Series in a 75-lap feature event. Veteran Ft. Wayne racer Tommy Cook currently leads the series points followed by Michael Gaier in second, Mark Kortz in third, and Al Cook Jr. in fourth. Al Cook Jr. got a win with the Howe CRA Sportsman last season at Winchester Speedway. Kevin Todd is in fifth place in points followed by Colin Toland in sixth, Rob Buckley, winner of the series last event on Friday, August 3 at Baer Field Speedway in seventh, Michael Totino in eighth, Jason Dietsch in ninth and Royce Mason II in tenth. All the top ten drivers in points are expected Sunday along with several teams wanting to get experience on the High Banks since this is the first of three shows for this series at Winchester Speedway this season.
The American Modified Series will make its first visit of the 2007 season to Winchester Speedway this Sunday. A full field of Modifieds is expected for heat races and a 50 lap feature lead by current points leader Bud Perry. Josh Smith is currently second in points, Mike Carroll is third, Chad Poole is fourth, Greg Stapleton is fifth, Dean Pitts is sixth, with legendary Dick Dunlevy Jr. in seventh. Rob Yelton is eighth, Ross Klingelhofer is ninth with Jim Lewis Jr. in tenth. Several of the USA Modified drivers are also expected to compete in Sunday’s event after their race on Saturday night at ORP. Jason Dietsch will be doing double duty in the Super Pro Late Models and the American Modifieds.
Sunday’s racing action will also include the Howe CRA Sportsman in their seventh event of the season. The series has had six different winners in its first six events including Rick Rinehart, Billy Hutson and Stuart Quakenbush at the Winchester Speedway events while Chad Richardson got the win at Baer Field Speedway, Steve Blair the win at Anderson Speedway, and Nathan Herron the win at the series last event on July 28th at Shady Bowl Speedway. Billy Hutson is the series point’s leader with a 45-point leader over Rick Rinehart. Rookie Tim Green is third, with fellow rookie competitors Gabe Cerny in fourth and Charlie Hanna in fifth. Hanna has been on a roll with second place finishes in the series last two events, he hopes to get his first series victory this Sunday.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts will also be in action. It will be their first event since the June 10th event at Winchester Speedway were Greg De St. Jean was victorious. Derick Young came in second with Randy Owen in third, Bill Leisure in fourth and Troy Timms in fifth. De St. Jean is the third different winner in three series events so far this season. Jordan Flynn won the season opener at Winchester Speedway while Randy Owen got the win at Baer Field Speedway. Owen is the current points leader and will have the option along with Sunday’s feature event pole sitter to go to the tail of the starting field to try and win the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge Bonus, which has grown to $400 after not being claimed in the first three events. Derick Young is second in points, only five behind Owen. De St. Jean is one more point back in third with Bobby Sanders is fourth and Bill Leisure is fifth.
Pit gates will open at 8am on Sunday, Spectator gates open at 10am, practice will begin at 10:30am with Qualifying at 12:30pm. The race program will begin at 2pm. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets or for more information on Sunday’s event.
Winchester, IN (July 23, 2007) – On a day with weather truly fit for a king, Shane Butler put on a show to win the third addition of the King Of The Wings, Winged Sprint Car Challenge Presented By Pier-Mac Plastics Sunday afternoon on the High-Banks of Winchester Speedway. On a day when it didn’t pay to be an early leader in all three feature events, fans were treated to some great racing and some spectacular finishes at the famous ½ mile oval located in Winchester, Indiana.
The day started with everyone knowing that someone new would wear the crown in victory lane for the third addition King Of The Wings, Winged Sprint Car Challenge Presented By Pier-Mac Plastics after Cameron Dodson, who had dominated the previous two events, was not able to find a ride for the third addition.
Troy Underwood would start out the day’s winged sprint car racing with a victory in the 10 lap last chance race, which finalized the contestants for the 26-car feature field. In all 30 cars showed up to try and make the race, including the #50 Dick Myers owned car piloted by Dodson in his two previous victories, which didn’t make the show because of mechanical problems.
The feature event did not make a complete lap before the field was stopped by a wreck that took out top competitors Kevin Feeney, Jason Blonde and Ryan Litt. After a lengthy clean up, and repairs to several cars, the event took the green flag with Jeff Bloom grapping the early lead with Jimmy McCune in second and Mike Ling in third. Shane Butler, who was put to the back of the field for work being done to his car on the track during the accident clean up, had started working his way to the front.
On lap 18, Bloom suddenly slowed and rolled to pit lane with a left rear flat, that ended his day, McCune grabbed the lead, but for only a lap when his car suddenly slowed and coasted to pit lane with mechanical problems handing the lead to Canadian Mike Ling. Ling pulled away from the field until the red number 55 of Shane Butler, who had made his way to second, suddenly began to catch Ling with the laps winding down. Ling’s car got very loose allowing Butler to close on his tail. Both cars almost wrecked going into turn one on lap 28, with Butler able to make the pass on a sideways Ling coming out of turn two coming to the white flag. Butler would cruise to victory with Ling maintaining control of his car to get second, veteran Hank Lower finished in third, Tim Cox in fourth and Brian Lay in fifth.
“This is awesome,” exclaimed a very happy Butler in victory lane. “I was shocked and upset at first when they put us to the tail, but I calmed down, I knew I had a good car and could get back to the front. I just set my sights on catching the #99. I knew I had a chance especially when Bloom and McCune fell out. Things worked out great for us today, this was a great win!”
The Howe CRA Sportsman Astral 40 was an exciting event that saw Steve Blair, winner of the series previous event at Anderson Speedway, jump out to the early lead with Rick Rinehart working his way quickly into second. Rinehart was closing on the leader when Blair’s car suddenly slowed and pulled into the pits with ignition problems, handing the lead to Rinehart on lap 12. Rinehart looked to have things in hand until fast qualifier Charlie Hanna finally worked his way around Billy Hutson and Quay Gregory to move into second place. With the laps winding down Hanna closed on Rinehart’s bumper putting the pressure on as Hanna tried to get his first series victory. Hanna would give it a great shot, making a move on lap 39 to go low and try to pass Rinehart. The cars made slight contact coming out of turn four, but Rinehart was able to hold on and get the victory, his second with the series and second at Winchester Speedway.
"I knew Charlie was back there and worked to keep him back, but he made a move and I just raced him to the line." Rinehart stated.
Hanna recorded his best finish ever with the series, having to overcome so bad luck this season with two blown motors.
“I want to thank my owner Tom Fisel, he puts his heart and soul into this car, we’ve had a lot of bad luck earlier this season, but we made it back today,” remarked Hanna. “Now we just need to get to victory lane, which we will soon!”
Gregory would hold off point’s leader Hutson for third with Hutson in fourth. Tim Greene finished in fifth. Rinehart and Greene were victorious in the 10 lap heat races.
The 40 lap MAX Rocks CRA Street Stock feature was another event that was not decided until the end. Jacob Owens jumped out to the early lead pacing the field for the first 21 laps, before contact while trying to pass to cars battling for position on the tail of the field resulted in a flat tire, the caution flew at the same time for a spinning Rich Boyer. Dean Baker took over the lead with Beau Mitchell running in second. The caution flew again on lap 36 for a spinning Bobby Murany in turn 4.
The leaders had just taken the caution when Chuck Cook’s car failed to slow down making contact with Joe Beaver and crashing into Baker in turn one. The crash took out Baker and Cook, and forced Beaver and Larry Matillo to the pits for repairs. Mitchell took the green flag in first place on the restart with Jeff Perry in second, after coming through the field after pitting for a flat tire and adjustments earlier in the event. Mitchell’s car got very loose on the restart, Mitchell was able to hold off Perry until the cars came out of turn four to complete lap 37 when Perry got by Mitchell who again almost spun out. Perry would go on to get his first ever CRA Street Stock win while Mitchell slowed and went to the pits.
"This is awesome, to win my first feature ever here at Winchester is the greatest," remarked Perry. "I want to dedicate this race to my wife who just had a baby girl a few weeks ago. I have to thank all these guys behind me, with out there help this wouldn’t have happened.”
Rich Boyer ended up second after his earlier spin. 16-year-old rookie competitor Winston Wood finished in third, his best ever finish with the series. Larry Matillo came in fourth with Bobby Murany in fifth. Calvin Parham, driving the #21 Steve Davis owned machine, was the days fast qualifier, but the series owner points leaders car fell out of the event on lap 23. Joe Beaver, Perry and Randy Hoppes won the 10 lap heat races.
The next Winchester Speedway event will be on Sunday, August 12th when the Bollhoff Rivnut Super Pro Late Models will make their first ever appearance at Winchester Speedway. Also racing that day will be the American Modifieds, Howe CRA Sportsman and the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts. That event will also feature a performance by the Stuntmetal Extreme Street Bikes. More information is available at www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Winchester, IN (July 19, 2007) – Winchester Speedway is ready to crown its third King in the third edition of the King Of The Wings, Winged Sprint Car Challenge Presented By Pier-Mac Plastics on the famous High Banks this Sunday, July 22nd. This year’s event will again feature the best winged sprint car drivers in the region in an event co-sanctioned by the Auto Value Bumper To Bumper Super Sprint Series and the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series. The event counts as a point’s event in the season championship for both winged sprint car series.
Greenfield, Indiana’s Cameron Dodson raced his way into history by claiming the first two King Of The Wing shows. In 2005 Dodson dominated the field, lapping everyone but second place finisher Dave Steele in a masterful display of driving a winged sprint car, using the entire race track to pass cars without hesitation in an event that went green to checkers. Dodson then thrilled the crowd even more by exiting his car and running straight into the grandstands celebrating his win with the crowd by running up and down the aisle’s slapping the fans hands as they cheered him on!
Dodson successfully defended his crown by winning the second edition of the King Of The Wings last season, even though it wasn’t as dominating a win as the first one. Many fans and competitors were surprised last year when Dodson could only muster a fourth place qualifying effort, over a half second slower than fast qualifier Jeff Bloom. But fans knew just after the drop of the green flag that Dodson was gunning for the win and wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way.
Tim Cox got the early jump from his outside front row starting position to get the early lead. After an early caution, Dodson was already on Cox’s tail in second for the restart on lap 7. Dodson dived to the inside out of turn two and made the pass to take the lead for good. Bloom would work his way to get second, but never had a shot at Dodson who again trilled the crowd with his brave moves to pass any competitor who was in his way. Dodson used both the high line and low line and even attempted one pass on the flat of turn four. Dodson got to wear the crown again in victory lane, and proved once again he is the King Of The Wings at Winchester Speedway.
At this time it looks like someone else will have the opportunity to wear the crown in 2007, as Dodson does not have a ride for Sunday’s event. Dodson has split with owner Dick Myers, whom he drove for the past two seasons in the King Of The Wing show. Dodson has been competing this season with the USAC Silver Crown Series were he is fourth in points and in selected USAC Sprint Car events.
“He would love to come back and defend his crown, but at this time he does not have a car to do it in,” remarked Kurt Smith, a rep for Cameron Dodson. “Were looking for a ride for Cameron, if someone has some good equipment and wants to put a driver in who has dominated the last two King Of the Wing Shows, we can be there!”
Jeff Bloom is the current points leader with the Auto Value Super Sprint Series, while Greg Wheeler leads the points in the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series, both are expected for Sunday’s event. Other top winged sprint car drivers expected are former track record holder Hank Lower, Tim Cox, Kevin Feeney, Jason Blonde, Ron Koehler, Bill Tyler, Jimmy McCune, Geoff Kaiser, Jason Fuller, Jerry Caryer, Mike Ling, Troy Underwood, Kris Leming, Keith Butler, Jim Payne, Sam Davis, Aaron Katz, Chad Delagrange, Ted McKibben, John Boy Hotchkiss and Bill Jacoby.
Muncie, Indiana’s Aaron Pierce is also expected to enter Sunday’s show. Pierce is currently fifth in USAC Silver Crown points, scoring a victory at the famed Darlington Raceway on May 10th. Pierce got a win with the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series on the High Banks of Salem Speedway in the Calvin Gilstrap Classic on June 9th. Pierce passed Tim Cox on lap 25 for the lead and went on to get the victory.
Sunday’s King Of The Wings, Winged Sprint Car Challenge Presented By Pier-Mac Plastics event will also feature racing action from the Howe CRA Sportsman Series as well as the CRA Street Stocks. Pit gates will open at 8am, Spectator gates open at 10am, Practice will begin at 10:30am with Qualifying at 12:30pm. The race program will begin at 2pm
Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com to purchase advanced tickets or for more information on Sunday’s event.
Salem, IN (July 18, 2007) – The Howe CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stocks will return to racing action at the High Banks of Winchester Speedway in support of the Third Annual King Of The Wings, Winged Sprint Car Challenge Presented By Pier-Mac Plastics this Sunday, July 22nd. Both series were last at Winchester Speedway on June 10th when both groups put on a great show in their heats and feature events.
The Howe CRA Sportsman return to Winchester Speedway with Billy Hutson as the series points leader and the winner of the series last event at Winchester Speedway on Sunday, June 10th. Veteran area racer Steve Blair got a hard fought victory in the series event this past Saturday night at Anderson Speedway. Blair got by Rick Rinehart with some contact on a restart with 20 laps to go in the 75-lap event. Rinehart held on to finish in second with Charlie Hanna in third. Sunday will be the fifth event of the season so far for the Howe CRA Sportsman, other winners so far this season besides Blair and Hutson were Stuart Quakenbush at the season opener on at Winchester Speedway while Chad Richardson got the win at Baer Field Speedway.
Hutson got an 8th place finish Saturday night at Anderson Speedway and retains a 39-point lead over Rookie competitor Gabe Cerny in second. Rookie competitor Tim Greene is now in third, seven points behind Cerny. Rick Rinehart and Rick Tackman Jr. are tied for fourth with 351 points, seven points behind Greene. Terry Fisher Jr. is in sixth, Fisher Jr.’s car suffered heavy damage in a lap 54 wreck Saturday night with Tackman Jr. Bubba Trinkle is in seventh place in points followed by Charlie Hanna in eighth, Eric Barkus in ninth and the number 20 car owned by Chad Gaskill in 10th. Gaskill drove the car this past Saturday night to a ninth place finish. Jeff Ellis and Steve Blair have also driven that car during the 2007 season.
The CRA Street Stock point’s battle saw some big changes after this past Saturday night’s wild event at Anderson Speedway. Shawn Bonar came into Saturday as the series points leader, but a fuel leak ended his night on lap 23 giving him a 29th place finish. Rich Boyer came into the event second in points, his car was involved in a huge 10 car pile-up in the first heat after the motor of Bubba Trinkle let go while leading the event. Boyer jumped into another competitor’s car for the feature and managed a 16th place finish. Joe Beaver was third in points coming into Saturday’s event, but his night ended on lap 15 after a flat left rear tire forced him to the pits resulting in a 32nd place finish.
The number 21 Steve Davis owned team went from fourth in points prior to Saturday to the points lead after Saturday nights event with 434 points. Calvin Parham has been the main driver of the 21 car except at the Baer Field Speedway event, were veteran Ft. Wayne racer Steve Christman took the 21 car to victory lane. Parham finished fifth in Saturday night’s event, that finish combined with everyone else’s bad luck gives the CRA Street Stock Series its first ever multi-driver team in the points lead.
Jacob Owens is now second in points with 413 points after a second place finish Saturday night. Owen was eighth in points going into Saturday night. Rich Boyer drops to third place with 411 points, Shawn Bonar drops to fourth with 408 points, with Joe Beaver dropping into a fifth place tie with John Weisenauer with 401 points. Rookie Phil Evans is now seventh with 399 points and is the leading rookie driver in points. Going into Sunday’s event there are only 14 points separating second place from seventh place. Rookie Larry Matillo is in eighth, Beau Mitchell is ninth and rookie Josh Burton is tenth.
To date there have been five different winners in the series first five events. 2006 series Champion Joe Beaver and Frank Kimmel II got victories in the series first two events at Winchester Speedway, while Christman won the event at Baer Field Speedway. Bubba Trinkle fought off Dean Baker to get his first series win at the June 10th event at Winchester Speedway. Bret Miles Jr. got the victory Saturday night in his first start of the season with the CRA Street Stocks. Miles Jr. passed Owens on lap 41 for the lead and went on to claim his first ever CRA Street Stock victory.
Pit gates open Sunday at 8am, spectator gates open at 10am with practice beginning at 10:30am and qualifying at 12:30pm. The race program begins at 2pm and will include heat races and 40 lap features for the Howe CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stocks. For more information on Winchester Speedway visit winchesterspeedway.com. For more information on Champion Racing Association go to craracing.net.
Winchester, IN (June 11, 2007) – A beautiful bright sunny spring day welcomed the fans attending Sunday’s Randolph County Fan Appreciation Day Presented By Anchor Glass Container with four exciting feature events. Rodney Scott got the victory in the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts USA Modifieds Ludco Gun Shop 50, Billy Hutson got his first ever feature victory with the Howe CRA Sportsman in the Anchor Glass Container 40, Bubba Trinkle got his first ever feature victory with the MAX 93.5/96.7 CRA Street Stocks in the MAX 40, and Greg De St. Jean claimed his first ever Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compact victory in winning the Vore’s Welding & Steel 20.
Rodney Scott powered his way to the front of the field passing Bobby Murany to take the lead then pulled away for a commanding victory in the Ludco Gun Shop 50 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts USA Modifieds. Scott, a former series champion and several time winner at Winchester Speedway, was the class of the field in the 27 car-starting field. Brad Springer would work his way through the field to get second, Murany held on to finish third, Jason Dietsch finished in fourth with Rodney Scott’s dad Harold in fifth. Tim Taylor won the Modified Dash, while Murany and Tony Dager won the heats.
Billy Hutson came out on top in a very tough battle in the Anchor Glass Container 40 for the Howe CRA Sportsman. Steve Blair got the early lead from his front row starting spot and managed to hold that lead until Bobby Dager got past on lap 9 coming from his sixth place starting position. Rick Rinehart then worked his way through the field from his ninth place starting position to take the lead on lap 22 only to have Hutson decide he wanted the lead on lap 27. Hutson would first hold off Rinehart for several laps, even surviving a brush with the outside retaining wall in turn one, then a hard charging T.J. Fisher who came from his 10 place starting position to challenge Hutson over the final laps, but Hutson would hold on to get the victory. Fisher was second with Dager third, Gabe Cerny in fourth and Blair in fifth. Quay Gregory and Rick Tackman Jr won the 10 lap heat races while T.J. Fisher was the Fast Qualifier. The Howe CRA Sportsman next event will be on Saturday, July 14th at Anderson Speedway.
Bubba Trinkle has been making the long haul from Jeffersonville, Indiana to compete with the CRA Street Stocks for two seasons, he had always been competitive, but could never get in position to get a victory, that all changed Sunday afternoon. Jeff Perry would used his front row starting position to get the early lead but was closely followed by Trinkle who was running second after the first lap followed by 2005 series Champion Dean Baker who was third. Perry would lead the first 10 laps, but his car got loose going into turn one on lap 11, he then spun on his own handing the lead to Trinkle. Trinkle would lead the rest of the way, but had Baker on his tail the entire way finishing in second despite no power steering. Chuck Cook came from 11th to finish in third, Shawn Bonar from 15th to finish in fourth and Josh Burton from 13th to finish in fifth. Trinkle, John Robinson and Larry Matillo won the 10 lap heat races while Calvin Parham was the Fast Qualifier. The CRA Street Stocks next event will be at Plymouth Speedway on Sunday, June 24th.
Chris Jennings appeared to get the victory in the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compact 20 lap feature, but Jennings failed to pass post-race tech inspection, which handed the victory to Greg De St. Jean. Derick Young finished in second, Randy Owen in third, Bill Leisure in fourth and Troy Timms in fifth. Pole starter Rick Siggers and point’s leader Young accepted the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge and fell to the tail in an attempt to win the event and claim the $300 bonus offered by R & R Liquors. Young got close with his second place finish while Siggers dropped out on lap 19, which means the R & R Liquor Safe Driving Challenge will be worth $400 at the series next points event on Sunday, August 12th at Winchester Speedway.
Racing action will return to historic Winchester Speedway on Sunday, July 22 for the Third Annual King Of The Wings Sprint Car Challenge Presented By Pier-Mac Plastics featuring the country’s top Winged Sprint Car drivers. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com for more information or to order advanced tickets.
Howe CRA Sportsman, CRA Street Stocks and Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA Fwd Compacts All Back In Action Sunday
Salem, IN (June 6, 2007) – The Howe CRA Sportsman, CRA Street Stocks and Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts all return to action this Sunday at Winchester Speedway in the Randolph County Fan Appreciation Day Presented By Anchor Glass Container. The O’Reilly Auto Parts USA Modifieds will join the CRA divisions and will have a Dash For Cash and a 50 lap feature, the Howe CRA Sportsman will compete in heats and a 40 lap feature, the CRA Street Stocks in heats and a 40 lap feature and the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts in a 20 lap feature.
Sunday will be the third event of the season for the Howe CRA Sportsman Series. The first event of the season was on Saturday, May 5th at Winchester Speedway and was won by Stuart Quakenbush while the second event of the season was at Baer Field Speedway on May 20th and was won by Chad Richardson. Billy Hutson is the current points leader for the Howe CRA Sportsman Series with 203 points. Rick Tackman Jr. has now moved into second place in points with 192 while rookie competitor Gabe Cerny drops to third with 187 points. Fellow rookie contender Tim Greene is in fourth with 168 points with rookie contender Randy Casey in fifth with 164 points.
The CRA Street Stocks will be competing for the fourth time in 2007 Sunday. 2006 series Champion Joe Beaver and Frank Kimmel II got victories in the series first two events at Winchester Speedway, while veteran Ft. Wayne racer Steve Christman won the event at Baer Field Speedway on May 20th. Beaver takes over the points lead after Beau Mitchell’s early exit at Baer Field Speedway with a blown motor. Beaver has a one-point lead over Mitchell. In third, only 3 points behind, is the Steve Davis owned entry that was victorious with Christman behind the wheel at Baer Field Speedway and was driven by Calvin Parham in the first two Winchester Speedway events. Shawn Bonar is tied for fourth with Brian Hopkins, they are only seven points out of first in a very tight points battle for the CRA Street Stocks 2007 Championship.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts are ready for their third event of the season. Randy Owen and Derek Young are tied as the series point’s leaders with 190 points each. Owen got the victory at Baer Field Speedway after the top two finishers Rex Zimmerman and Jordan Flynn did not pass post race tech. Bill Charles is third in points only 2 points behind the leaders with Greg St. Jean in fourth 4 points behind and Jordan Flynn in fifth only 8 points behind in another tight points battle. Owen and Young will have the option along with Sunday’s feature event pole sitter to go to the tail of the starting field to try and win the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge Bonus, which has grown to $300 after not being claimed in the two season opening events.
Pit gates open for Sunday’s event at 8am, spectator gates at 10am, practice will begin at 10:30am, with the race program beginning at 2pm. Randolph County Residents will be admitted for only $5 with proper ID. More information is available at www.winchesterspeedway.com or at www.craracing.net.
Winchester, IN (May 30, 2007) – Winchester Speedway officials have announced that Anchor Glass will be the Presenting Sponsor of the Randolph County Fan Appreciation Day event at Winchester Speedway on Sunday, June 10th at the historic half-mile oval, famous for it’s High Banked 33 degree turns. On Sunday, June 10th, Randolph County residents will be admitted for $5 with proper I.D. to enjoy a full day of racing action that will include the O’Reilly Auto Parts USA Modified Series, the Howe CRA Sportsman, the CRA Street Stocks and the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts.
Anchor Glass Container Corporation is a leading manufacturer of glass containers with eight manufacturing facilities and over 2900 employees including a plant in Winchester, Indiana. Anchor Glass produces a diverse line of flint, amber, green, and other colored glass containers of various types and designs for the beer, food, beverage and liquor markets.
Anchor serves customers in the beer, tea, soft drink, distilled spirit, food, specialty drink, and consumer product industries and produces bottles in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and label designs. Anchor's creative design specialists and engineers make bottles that fit the customers needs and desires, while maintaining the highest quality found in the industry today!
Pit gates will open for the Randolph County Fan Appreciation Day Presented By Anchor Glass at 8am, spectator gates at 9:30am. Practice will begin at 10am with qualifying at 12noon. The days race program will begin at 2pm and will include heats races and a 50 lap feature for the O’Reilly Auto Parts USA Modified Series, 40 lap features for both the Howe CRA Sportsman and the CRA Street Stocks and a 20 lap feature for the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts. More information is available at www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Winchester, IN (May 7, 2007) – Stuart Quakenbush, Frank Kimmel II, Chuck Cook and Jacob Owens all picked up their first ever CRA wins this past weekend at Winchester Speedway as part of the ARCA 200 Weekend. The Howe CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stocks had support events on Saturday and Sunday with the ARCA Lincoln Welder Trucks and the featured ARCA RE/MAX Series 200 lap event on Sunday.
The Howe CRA Sportsman Series started its 2007 season on Saturday with 22 cars in the pits. The two Howe CRA Sportsman 10 lap heats started the nights racing action for the CRA support events, the heats were set by a draw after qualifying was rained out. Rick Rinehart was victorious in the first heat race coming from his seventh place starting position to get the win. Billy Hutson got the victory in the second heat race.
Indianapolis, Indiana native Stuart Quakenbush took full advantage of his pole starting position to lead all 40 laps of the caution free Howe CRA Sportsman feature. Quakenbush was making his first ever start with the Howe CRA Sportsman in a car that he normally races in the ARA Limited Late Models were he was the series 2006 Champion. Gabe Cerny finished in second in his first ever Howe CRA Sportsman event racing the car that Al Cook Jr. took to victory lane last season at Winchester Speedway. Billy Hutson finished in third with Quay Gregory in fourth and Jeff Ellis in fifth.
Brian Stocker drove to a huge early lead in the 25 lap CRA Street Stocks Future Stars non-points event on Saturday night. Jacob Owens was starting to gain on Stocker when a car made contact with Stocker as he tried to make the pass. Stocker made a miraculous save to keep going, but Jacob Owen was able to get around Stocker before he could get back up to speed. Owen would hold off Stocker to get his first ever CRA Street Stock victory and get the pole starting position for the CRA Street Stock All Star Shoot Out. Stocker finished in second with John Robinson in third, Winston Wood in fourth and Junior Flynn in fifth.
The 15-lap CRA Street Stock All Star Shootout non-points event was the final event of Saturday’s racing schedule, and the event provided plenty of racing action on the track. Jacob Owen took off to the early lead from his pole starting position, but tagged the outside retaining wall slightly on lap 5 allowing Chuck Cook to get around and take the lead. Beau Mitchell worked his way from his 11th place starting position to get second, but looked like he would not have time to catch Cook until a late caution set up a 4-lap shootout. Mitchell, the CRA Street Stock favorite to win at Winchester Speedway each race after winning five events there in 2006, looked ready to take the lead and grab another win, but Cook was ready for Mitchell and held off his late charge to get the win, his first ever feature win with the CRA Street Stocks.
“Man this is really great,” remarked a very elated Cook in victory lane. “I’ve had several top five finishes in this series, but never a win. I was worried when the yellow came out, I knew Beau would give me a run on that last restart, but I just drove it hard and tried to be smooth and we got our first CRA win!”
The CRA Street Stocks shared the track with the ARCA RE/MAX Series on Sunday. Beau Mitchell was the Fast Qualifier beating out Brain Hopkins and Frank Kimmel II. Mitchell drew a 10 for the invert putting Calvin Parham on the pole for the MAX 50 CRA Street Stock event. Parham was scored as the leader of the first three laps before pulling in the pits with mechanical problems on lap four, handing the lead over to 2005 CRA Street Stock Champion Dean Baker. Baker kept the lead until a drive-train problem on lap 11 caused him to spin and crash into the turn one outside retaining wall, giving the lead to 16 year old Frank Kimmel II, the son of 8 time ARCA RE/MAX Series Champion Frank Kimmel, who had finished third earlier in the day in the ARCA 200 event.
Kimmel II would only keep the lead for a few laps as hard charging Beau Mitchell came from his 10th place starting position to pass Kimmel II for the lead on lap 15. Mitchell pulled out to a good-sized lead and seemed to be cruising to another Winchester victory, but the young third generation driver Kimmel II would not give up. He slowly reeled in Mitchell and was back on his bumper with only a hand full of laps to go. The two battled as Mitchell took the white flag just as they were approaching three cars battling for position on the tail of the lead lap. Mitchell stayed high hoping the cars would go low, this allowed Kimmel II to make the pass on the low side and grab the lead coming out of turn two. Mitchell battled back but could not make the pass coming out of turn four as Kimmel II claimed his first ever CRA Street Stock Series win with a similar move that his father used to win the 2006 ARCA 200 at Winchester Speedway.
“I was hoping he would go high on that last lap,” remarked an elated Kimmel II in victory lane. “If he had gone low, I would have just followed, I didn’t know if I could get by, but the spot opened and it worked.”
“He was in the catbird seat,” a dejected Mitchell stated. “ He could pick and choose and I couldn’t and then he made a good move to get by me. Last year we had all first place finishes, this year so far its all second place finishes.”
The event was only the fourth race for Kimmel II in a street stock, but it was the first ever race on pavement for third place finisher Larry Matillo, who just made the switch from dirt racing to asphalt racing this season. Chuck Cook finished in fourth place with Rich Boyer in fifth.
The next event for the Howe CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stocks will be the CRA Super Sunday Presented By Dietsch Sales & Service at Baer Field Speedway on Sunday, May 20th. The event will also feature racing for the CRA Super Series late models and the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts. More information on that event and each CRA series, is available at www.craracing.net.
WINCHESTER IN (5-6-07) – It was just like the ARCA RE/MAX Series old days – a Keselowski chasing a Leslie with a Kimmel in tow. Except this time it was the second-generation that shined brightest.
Nineteen-year-old Billy Leslie held off continual charges from Brian Keselowski and Frank Kimmel to win the wild Winchester ARCA 200 Sunday afternoon at Winchester Speedway.
The victory marked the career-first for the Algonac, Michigan racer and the sixth different winner in six events so far in 2007. It was also the first time a son followed in his father’s footsteps as an ARCA RE/MAX Series winner at Winchester. Leslie’s victory also made him the 22nd different driver to win in the last 30 events. In 2006, the ARCA RE/MAX Series broke a record for the most number of race winners in a single season, with 17 different drivers posting victories in 23 events.
“This just hasn’t sunk in yet,” Leslie said in victory lane. “It’s just going to take awhile. We got involved in an accident early in the race and battled back. I just can’t thank everyone enough. Titan Tire just came on as our sponsor; we have a ten-race deal with them. We probably wouldn’t have been here at all without Titan. What a way to start it off. My dad spotted for me; he talked me through this. This is the best day of my life.”
Leslie’s father Tracy Leslie was the ARCA RE/MAX Series national champion in 1988 and won two RE/MAX Series races at Winchester in 1988 and 1999.
Leslie, in the Titan Tire Dodge, took the lead on the 141st lap of the 200-lap race when he slipped past Frank Kimmel and Josh Wise, who were battling for the lead. Leslie spent the final 25 circuits fighting off both Keselowski and Kimmel to earn the momentous victory.
Keselowski, in the Holloway-Dusty’s Collision Ford, got underneath Leslie a time a two inside of 10 laps remaining, but was unable to wrestle the lead from Leslie, who had a two-length lead at the final stripe.
“The lapped cars weren’t as bad as I thought they would be,” said Keselowski. “Billy did a hell of a job. I wanted to race him clean. I didn’t want to race him dirty. We pitted with 60 to go and took a set of tires. They made the car a little bit too tight. Billy just did a great job.”
Keselowski is another second-generation ARCA driver whose father Bob Keselowski was the 1989 series champion and 1990 Winchester winner.
Kimmel, in the Green Oak Farms Ford, battled back from an early-race wreck to finish third.
“Well it was a good points day, but I’m disappointed just the same, Kimmel said smiling. “We got into that accident about thirty laps into the race. I don’t know who hit who there going into turn one, but we fixed it fast. We had a great handling racecar, but it wasn’t good enough to win today. We’ll get ‘em next week.”
Bobby Gerhart was solid all day in the Lucas Oil Chevrolet and finished fourth ahead of Justin Marks, who steered the Crocs Dodge to the finish in fifth. Marks was also involved in the early-race wreck and battled back from numerous unscheduled pitstops to stay on the lead lap. Terry Jones finished sixth in the Jones Group Dodge, a career-best for the Amherstburg, Ontario driver.
Michael McDowell earned the SIM Factory Pole Award with a brand new one-lap track record (110.301 mph) and led the first 65 laps before fading with rear end trouble. He eventually finished 22nd.
Josh Wise was also a factor early on leading 43 laps before falling a lap down near the end. The former USAC Sprint and Midget champion finished seventh in front of Dexter Bean, who finished eighth, also one lap down.
Bean was running third on lap 32 right behind Phillip McGilton when Bean’s machine caught the left-rear quarter of McGilton’s car sending both into the wall, all the while collecting Kimmel, Marks and Keselowski in the mishap. All but McGilton were able to continue.
Jason Hedlesky, in the Hardcore Motorsports Ford, charged from 25th to ninth in the final running order earning the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award. Justin South finished 10th in the HD Supply Chevrolet.
Justin Allgaier, the point leader heading into Winchester, overheated early on relegating the Springfield, Illinois driver to 29th in the final running. Allgaier now trails Kimmel by 40 points.
The next event for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 Saturday, May 12th at Kentucky Speedway. The ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series will also race just prior to the ARCA RE/MAX Series race.
Tickets are available by calling Kentucky Speedway at (888) 652-RACE.
Top-10 Points after the Winchester ARCA 200 (5-6-07); 1) Frank Kimmel 1330; 2) Justin Allgaier 1290; 3) Dexter Bean 1285; 4) Bobby Gerhart 1250; 5) Justin South 1225; 6) Michael McDowell 1185; 7) Phillip McGilton 1175; 8) Justin Marks 1170; 9) Patrick Sheltra 1035; 10) Bryan Silas 1025.
Salem, IN (May 3, 2007) – Officials with Champion Racing Association are pleased to announce that Howe Racing has agreed to become the Title Sponsor of the CRA Sportsman Series for the upcoming 2007 season that is set to begin this Saturday on the High Banks of Winchester Speedway. The series will now be titled the Howe CRA Sportsman Series.
“We are very excited to have Howe Racing as the title sponsor of the CRA Sportsman Series,” remarked Glenn Luckett, Managing Partner of Champion Racing Association. “This will be the second season for this series and we are expecting it to continue to grow stronger with each event, especially now, with the help of Howe Racing. We look forward to a great 2007 season!”
The 2007 Howe CRA Sportsman Champion will have the choice of receiving a bare Howe Chassis (a $2,500 value) or a $1000 cash bonus from Howe Racing. Howe Racing will award a $200 Product Certificate to second place in final 2007 series points, a $100 Product Certificate to third, a $75 Product Certificate to fourth and a $50 Product Certificate to fifth. In addition, Howe Racing will award each 2007 Howe CRA Sportsman Series event winner with a $25 Product Certificate.
Howe Racing Enterprises was founded in 1971 by legendary Mid-west racer Ed Howe. Located today in a 45,000 square foot building in Beaverton, Michigan, the company is in the capable hands of his son, Howe Racing President Chas Howe. Howe Racing sells serious race products including Chassis’s, Radiators, Steering Components, Suspension Components, Cock Pit Equipment, Braking and Exhaust Components that will help racers get to victory lane. By choosing Howe Racing products, racers are equipped with products that have been race-tested, that can be bought with confidence. Howe Racing is also a distributor for other leading racing products including Five Star Racecar Bodies, Aeroquip, ATL Fuel Cells, Penske Shocks, Pro Shocks, Hawk Brake Pads, and Appleton Rack & Pinion Steering Systems. Additional information on Howe Racing is available at www.howeracing.com or contact them toll free at 888-484-3946.
This Saturday’s Howe CRA Sportsman Series event at Winchester Speedway will be part of the big ARCA 200 Weekend. The Howe CRA Sportsman Series will be part of Saturday’s preliminary racing action that will also include the ARCA Lincoln Welder Trucks and a special non-points event for the CRA Street Stocks. In addition the ARCA RE/MAX Series stock cars will be practicing and qualifying for their 200-lap event on Sunday.
Pit gates will open at 9:30am on Saturday. Howe CRA Sportsman Series practice will begin at 12:45pm with qualifying at 3:30pm. Saturday’s race program will begin at 5:30pm with 10 lap Sportsman heats. The Howe CRA Sportsman Series 40 lap feature will be the final event of the evening. Advanced tickets can be purchased on the Winchester Speedway web site at www.winchesterspeedway.com. More information on the Howe CRA Sportsman Series is available at www.craracing.net.
Salem, IN (May 1, 2007) – Champion Racing Associations CRA Sportsman Series is set to begin its second season this Saturday at Winchester Speedway as part of the big ARCA 200 Weekend. The CRA Sportsman Series will be part of Saturday’s preliminary racing action that will also include the ARCA Lincoln Welder Trucks and a special non-points event for the CRA Street Stocks. In addition the ARCA RE/MAX Series stock cars will be practicing and qualifying for their 200-lap event on Sunday.
The CRA Sportsman Series had a very successful inaugural season in 2006, a season that saw 43 different drivers compete in the series six events. The series had five different winners in the six events led by Al Cook Jr. with two wins. Terry Fisher Jr., Scott Knepley, Rick Rinehart and Steve Blair all picked up single wins. Keith Sterkowitz didn’t win a race but used consist up front finishes to claim the first ever CRA Sportsman Series Season Championship.
The landscape has changed some for the CRA Sportsman 2007 season. Saturday’s race will be the first of 11 scheduled events so far for 2007, the series will also visit a couple of different tracks this season with scheduled events at Shady Bowl Speedway on July 28 and at ORP on September 21 and 22 as part of the inaugural Circle Track Nationals. 2007 Champion Keith Sterkowitz and runner-up Al Cook Jr. have not registered to run the 2007 season. Sterkowitz will be racing an Outlaw Late Model this season while Al Cook Jr. will be racing a crate template late model with the Super Pro Series.
The early favorite to claim the 2007 series championship is Terry Fisher Jr., who finished in third last season with one win, he was in the battle for the Championship through out the season until some bad luck in the season Championship event. Fisher Jr. will driver for car owner Gary Hancock again in 2007 and will have two CRA Sportsman Series cars at his disposal to run for the Championship. Fisher has experience on all the tracks the series will race at in 2007, mostly in events he has raced with the CRA Super Series the past 4 years. Fisher finished 8th in the CRA Super Series Manning Service 100 on April 22 at Winchester Speedway.
Fisher Jr. will have some strong competition this season including fifth place finisher in 2006 points Scott Runion, sixth place finisher Rick Tackman Jr., and seventh place finisher Billy Hutson. The winner of last seasons Labor Day Weekend event at Winchester Speedway Rick Rinehart is also registered along with former ASA Racing Series competitor Charlie Hanna, driving again for owner Tom Fisel. Several Michigan drivers have registered for the 2007 season including Nick Bonstell, Tim Greene, Zach Dunson, Adam Hudson and David Fretz along with Canadian Randy Casey. Several Northern Indiana drivers will also be competing in 2007 including Jim Spillers, George Banter, Rick Sullivan, David Campbell, Eric Barkus and Gabe Cerny who purchased Al Cook Jr.’s car. Phil Jenkins, John Heck, Bob Dumke, Brad Kendall and Daniel Hall will represent the Indianapolis area.
Pit gates will open at 9:30am on Saturday. CRA Sportsman practice will begin at 12:45pm with qualifying at 3:30pm. Saturday’s race program will begin at 5:30pm with 10 lap Sportsman heats. The CRA Sportsman 40 lap feature will be the final event of the evening. Advanced tickets can be purchased on the Winchester Speedway web site at www.winchesterspeedway.com. More information on the CRA Sportsman Series is available at www.craracing.net.
WINCHESTER IN (4-30-07)—With New flavor up front, the ARCA RE/MAX Series is steering for one of its old stomping grounds this weekend at Winchester Speedway for the 20th running of the Winchester ARCA 200 Sunday afternoon, May 6.
While the familiarity of eight-time series champion Frank Kimmel lingers among the top-five in points, there is clearly a new wave of names taking aim at the 2007 national championship chase.
Springfield, Illinois driver Justin Allgaier, 20, is continuing to turn heads with his impressive and very consistent season so far. Allgaier, after an eighth place finish at Kansas Speedway last Friday, has increased his lead to 95 points over Kimmel headed to Winchester.
“I know it’s probably too early to get excited over points, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it,” said Allgaier, who has one ARCA RE/MAX Series victory to his credit at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile-dirt in 2006. “Our team has really stepped up this year. I’m learning patience in the car, and I think that’s had a big effect on our overall effort. A bad day for us last year was a 35th finishing position. This year, we’re taking our bad days and turning them into top-10s.
“You know, Frank Kimmel’s such a legend in this sport, and it’s an honor to be racing and competing with him at this level. I have the world of respect for him, which makes the whole thing that much more special.”
Kimmel is arguably in the struggle-mode, at least for Kimmel standards. Nonetheless, he’s still second in points headed to Winchester, and still very much in the game. The 46-year-old (as of April 30, 2007) Clarksville, Indiana second-generation driver finished a disappointing 15th most recently at Kansas Speedway. And that was on the heels of an even more disappointing 22nd place finish at his hometown Salem Speedway the week before.
“We’re still very encouraged,” said Kimmel. “Yes, our luck has not been very good lately, but I’ve got to tell you, we’re actually more prepared now than we’ve ever been, so this thing isn’t over by a long shot. We want to win races, but more importantly, we’re in it for the long haul, the points.”
With 67 career victories (second all-time to Iggy Katona’s 79) and eight ARCA RE/MAX Series titles to his credit, Kimmel is the leading authority on points, not to mention most everywhere else in this league.
“We tested at Winchester a couple weeks back. The test went extremely well. We’re gunna be tough there; you can write that down.”
Tough at Winchester for Kimmel is certainly not out of the question. Kimmel has more RE/MAX Series victories on the Winchester bullring than any other – 5 in all since 1996, including three consecutive in his last three attempts there.
Westby, Wisconsin driver Dexter Bean has just moved to third in national championship points, only 20 markers away from Kimmel. Bean, who finished 10th at Kansas, finished a career-best second the week before at Salem.
Brewco Motorsports driver Phillip McGilton is currently holding down the fourth position in points. McGilton’s consistency in 2007 has the Marion, Illinois driver just 10 points away from Bean.
Further back, newcomers’ Justin South and Salem polesitter Michael McDowell are tied for fifth, 35 points away from fourth place McGilton.
Five-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart (former Winchester polesitter), Justin Marks, Bryan Silas and Darrell Basham fill out the remaining top-10 in points respectively.
That said, the 2007 season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in the series’ 55-year history. Reminiscent of the 2006 season, the most competitive in series history, Scott Lagasse’s victory at Kansas represented the fifth different winner in five events so far in 2007. In 2006, the series established a new record when 17 different winners went to victory lane in 23 events. In the last 31 events reaching back into 2005, there have been 25 different winners.
Double-header ARCA action will help fill the card this weekend at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana featuring the ARCA RE/MAX Series 200 lap race on Sunday and the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series 100 lap race on Saturday. In addition, track promoters will mix in the CRA Sportsman and Street Stock divisions for a full weekend of racing on the historic, half-mile, high-banked oval. There will also be a party in the pavilion Saturday night featuring the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race from Richmond Int’l Raceway on the big screen.
For tickets, call toll free at (800) 514-3849 or online at winchesterspeedway.com.
CRA and Winchester Speedway
Announce Special Saturday Night Street Stock Features
Special Non-Points Events lead up to Sundays Regular $1000 to Win
Street Stock Feature with the ARCA 200
(Winchester, IN) – Officials from Champion Racing Association (CRA) and Winchester Speedway have announced the details of their special non-points features for Saturday May 5th. These events precede the regular full-points event scheduled for Sunday May 6th, in conjunction with the ARCA 200 for the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Practice on Saturday is open to all Street Stock teams.
As previously announced, on Saturday nigh May 5th there will be a 25-lap feature event for all drivers/teams that have never recorded a top five feature finish in CRA competition. The guaranteed minimum purse is $300-200-150-125-100-90-80-70-60-50 on out. If at least 25 eligible cars take the green flag, officials will increase the purse so that the winner will take home a minimum $500 for the special feature.
Officials also announced that they will add an “All-Star Shoot-Out” for all Street Stock teams with top five finishes with the same payout outlined above if at least 12 eligible teams are present and willing to run.
The Street Stock special features are all part of an exciting ARCA 200 Weekend at Winchester Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, May 5th & 6th. Saturday’s activities will feature practice and Pole Qualifying for the ARCA RE/MAX Series, as well as full racing cards for the ACRA Lincoln Welders Trucks, CRA Sportsman and the CRA Street Stock Specials. Following Saturday evening racing, the Speedway will host a Big-Screen-TV Cup Race Party in the Pavilion. Then on Sunday, the ARCA RE/MAX Series Stars will take to the highbanks for their 200 lap tilt, with every intention of living up to last year’s 200 lap thriller. The final event of the weekend will be the $1000 to Win CRA Street Stock 50 lap feature.
For information concerning the full schedule, reserved seat information, ticket prices and times, fans should visit www.winchesterspeedway.com.
ARCA RE/MAX Series, ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series Rally at Winchester;
Weekend Short-Track Thriller Coming May 5 & 6
WINCHESTER IN (4-21-07)—The ARCA RE/MAX Series, well-known for following one of the most diverse short track schedules in all of racing, is gearing up for another short-track thriller Sunday afternoon, May 6 when the Winchester ARCA 200 rolls off at Winchester Speedway.
The event marks the 20th appearance of the RE/MAX Series at Winchester since its inaugural run on the historical high-banked oval in 1964.
The busy weekend also includes an appearance from the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series, which races the night before Saturday, May 5. Also on the race card for the weekend will be the CRA Street Stocks and CRA Sportsman cars.
Pre-entries for the Winchester ARCA 200 already include 8-time ARCA RE/MAX Series national champion and 5-time Winchester winner Frank Kimmel and 5-time Daytona ARCA 200 winner Bobby Gerhart.
Kimmel tested at Winchester On Thursday, April 19th in preparation for the race. “Test went very well,” said Kimmel. “About like we thought it would but we were very happy with the way the car handled. We’re probably as confident as we’ve ever been at Winchester.”
A healthy mix of Driver Development teams are also entered including a Brewco Motorsports entry with Marion, Illinois rookie Phillip McGilton in the driver’s seat. McGilton also tested at Winchester the same day as Kimmel along with the Hardcore Motorsports team with Jason Hedlesky driving. Brewco Motorsports fields fulltime NASCAR Busch Series teams.
Also entered is a Cunningham Motorsports Dodge Development entry with Bridgewater, New Jersey rookie Rob Bunker in the driver’s seat as well as two from the Eddie Sharp Racing Driver Development team with drivers’ Michael McDowell of Phoenix, Arizona and rookie Ken Butler III of Sherrills Ford, North Carolina.
Former ARCA RE/MAX Series winners at Winchester include series champions’ Kimmel, Tim Steele, Tracy Leslie, Marvin Smith, Jack Bowsher and Bob Keselowski. Other former winners include Gary Bradberry, Ralph Latham, Bob Strait and Bobby Watson.
Steele is the current RE/MAX Series one-lap track record holder with a time of 16.357 seconds, an average speed of 110.045 mph.
The two-day race format includes RE/MAX Series practice on Saturday from 1:30 to 3:30pm with Pole Award Qualifying at 4:15. Racing begins at 5:30 Saturday for the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series as well as local Street Stock and Sportsman divisions.
The Winchester ARCA 200 rolls off next-day Sunday, May 6 at 1pm. The CRA Street Stock 50 lap feature follows.
For advance tickets go to www.winchesterspeedway.com . For complete event coverage and up-to-date information, visit arcaracing.com.
Winchester, IN (April 24, 2006) – A beautiful bright sunny spring day welcomed the standing room only crowd to the 2007 Winchester Speedway season opener Sunday afternoon as fans got there money’s worth with four exciting feature events. Marc Jessup got the victory in the USAC Lucas Oil National Sprint Car Series Rich Vogler Classic, Tommy St. John got his second CRA Super Series victory at Winchester Speedway in the Manning Service 100, 2006 CRA Street Stock Champion Joe Beaver got the victory MAX 93.5/96.7 CRA Street Stocks MAX 40, and Jordan Flynn claimed the first ever Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compact victory in winning the Vore’s Welding & Steel 20.
Marc Jessup wasn’t exactly sure how his day was going to end up following what opened as a pretty successful day Sunday at Winchester Speedway. After setting fast time in his first stint in a Keith Kunz Motorsports machine, the Camby, Ind. native flipped on the first lap of his heat race. But, the result ended up the same as the 2006 “Rich Vogler Classic” for the Kunz team, as Jessup put together a nearly flawless effort following his team’s hard work in the 30-lap feature to score his first USAC Lucas Oil National Sprint Car Series victory.
“This is a dream come true for me,” Jessup said. “This was a great crew that I worked with today. Everyone worked hard, and I can’t be happier.”
Jessup took the lead on Lap 7, coming from third on that lap after passing Dave Steele early in the lap for second, and going inside of Daron Clayton as leader Dave Darland went high to take the point. He was unchallenged, except momentarily on the restart laps, en route to taking the checkered flags. His biggest pressure came on Laps 17 and 18, when Steele drove past Darland on a restart, and ever so slightly tapped Jessup in Turn 2. That would be the closest anyone would get to Jessup thereafter, however, as he opened up another half straightaway lead he had established in the opening half of the race. David Steel would take second followed by Darren Hagen in third, Tracy Hines in fourth and Eric Gordon in fifth.
Tommy St. John has developed a knack for being fast at High Banked race tracks, and he showed that again Sunday afternoon in winning the Manning Service 100 CRA Super Series event at the famed Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana. St. John started the day by being the events Appleton Rack & Pinion Fast Qualifier, then powered by Scott Hantz from his fourth starting position to take the lead on Lap 5 to lead the rest of the way. Jeff Lane would make a late charge to the front almost catching St. John whose car slowed over the last 5 laps, but St. John held on to get the victory, his second with the CRA Super Series, the first came on Labor Day Weekend last season at Winchester Speedway.
"My crew really did it all for me, we were not very good yesterday in practice, but everyone worked their tails off, and my Dad really got it together and we went out and set fast time, and got the win, remarked an elated St. John in victory lane. “The right front tire just went away there towards the end, the car was a handful to drive but I was determined to get the win. I want to dedicate this win to Wayne Moeckel the CRA Super Series Chaplin who passed away last weekend.”
1998 series champion Brian Rievley made a rare appearance in a racecar and finished third in the event, with Chris Gabehart fourth and Evan Jackson fifth after starting 18th. In all 11 cars finished on the lead lap, many coming from the tail after pitting to make adjustments on their cars including sixth place finisher Jason Shively and seventh place finisher JR Roahrig, who also went to the tail after spinning out and causing a yellow flag.
In winning the Max 40 CRA Street Stock event, Joe Beaver ended Beau Mitchell’s streak of five wins in the last five MAX 93.5/96.7 CRA Street Stock events he raced at Winchester Speedway, all of which were during the 2006 season. Beaver came from his seventh place starting position to take the lead from early leader Shawn Bonar with Mitchell in tow from his eighth place starting position. Mitchell would close on Beaver’s tail on restarts but could never get close enough to make a pass, Mitchell would hold on to get second. Rich Boyer came from his 11th place starting position to get third. Shawn Bonar and Calvin Parham waged a side-by-side battle through the second half of the event for the fourth position before Bonar finally pulled away towards the end of the event to get fourth followed by Parham in fifth.
St. Paris, Ohio native Jordan Flynn won the inaugural event for the newly formed Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compact passing Bill Charles to go on and get the victory. Charles would get second over teammate Rex Zimmerman who finished third, with Derrick Young in fourth and Todd Kirk in fifth. Pole starter Billy Beard accepted the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge and fell to the tail in an attempt to win the event and claim the $100 bonus offered by R & R Liquors. Beard fell out early in the event with mechanical problems, which means the R & R Liquor Safe Driving Challenge will be worth $200 at the series next event on Sunday, May 20th at Baer Field Speedway.
Racing action will return to historic Winchester Speedway on Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th as the ARCA RE/MAX Series stock cars will return to challenge the High Banks again. The CRA Sportsman, ARCA Lincoln Welder Trucks and a special non-points CRA Street Stock event for drivers who have never finished in the top 5 in a feature will take place on Saturday along with practice and qualifying for the ARCA RE/MAX Series stock cars. The ARCA 200 will take place on Sunday afternoon May 6th, the MAX 93.5/96.7 CRA Street Stocks will also be in action that Sunday. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com for more information or to order advanced tickets.
Results:
LUCAS OIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS:
April 22, 2007 – Winchester, Indiana – Winchester Speedway – “Rich Vogler Classic”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Marc Jessup, 67k, Kunz-14.281; 2. Darren Hagen, 67, Kunz-14.383; 3. Brian Tyler, 4, Contos-14.554; 4. Mike Murgoitio, 11, Walker/Guiducci-14.660; 5. Dave Steele, 69, Dynamics-14.678; 6. Dave Darland, 44, Pace-14.804; 7. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-14.808; 8. Eric Gordon, 51, Bowman-14.853; 9. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-14.902; 10. Chris Windom, 17, Windom-14.952; 11. Nick Green, 36, Short-14.964; 12. Tom Hessert III, 5H, Hessert-14.983; 13. Ron Gregory, 62, BWB-15.100; 14. Brady Short, 2B, 2B Racing-15.104; 15. Kevin Swindell, 79, Kahne-15.123; 16. Cameron Dodson, 50m, Ram-15.191; 17. Brian Gerster, 27, Davis/Gerster-15.246; 18. Brady Bacon, 99, Kahne-15.439; 19. Damion Gardner, 71, Leffler-15.592; 20. Donnie Adams Jr., 17a, Adams-15.606; 21. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-15.709; 22. Dustin Morgan, 11D, Walker/Guiducci-15.762; 23. Jason Blonde, 55, Brown-15.826; 24. Mat Neely, 17N, Neely-15.899; 25. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-15.970; 26. Cody Veenstra, 07x, Veenstra-16.060; 27. Daron Clayton, 92, Clayton-16.071; 28. Jesse Hockett, 75, VKCC-16.106.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Steele, 2. Gregory, 3. Gerster, 4. Jones, 5. Ballou, 6. Litt, 7. Jessup. 2:32.13
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Hagen, 3. Bacon, 4. Windom, 5. Morgan, 6. Short, 7. Veenstra. 2:35.18
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Tyler, 2. Hines, 3. Gardner, 4. Green, 5. Swindell, 6. Blonde, 7. Clayton. 2:30.04
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Dodson, 2. Hessert, 3. Gordon, 4. Murgoitio, 5. Adams, 6. Neely, 7. Hockett. 2:31.98
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Jessup, 2. Swindell, 3. Short, 4. Adams, 5. Morgan, 6. Blonde, 7. Clayton, 8. Neely, 9. Veenstra, 10. Hockett, 11. Litt, 12. Ballou. 3:03.14
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Marc Jessup, 2. Dave Steele, 3. Darren Hagen, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Eric Gordon, 6. Kevin Swindell, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Levi Jones, 9. Tom Hessert III, 10. Ron Gregory, 11. Dustin Morgan, 12. Nick Green, 13. Jason Blonde, 14. Brady Bacon, 15. Cameron Dodson, 16. Brian Gerster, 17. Daron Clayton, 18. Chris Windom, 19. Donnie Adams Jr., 20. Mike Murgoitio, 21. Brian Tyler, 22. Damion Gardner, 23. Brady Short. NT
CRA Super Series Manning Service 100:
1) Tommy St. John, 2) Jeff Lane, 3) Brian Rievley, 4) Chris Gabehart, 5) Evan Jackson, 6) Jason Shively, 7) JR Roahrig, 8) Terry Fisher, Jr., 9) Bull Baker, 10) Kenny Tweedy, 11) John Van Doorn, 12) Sean Matthuis, 13) Donald Karr, Jr., 14) Jeff Bozell, 15) Bret Miles, Jr., 16) Scott Hantz, 17) Jack Smith, 18) Eddie Van Meter, 19) Corey Seal, 20) A.J. Ganino, 21) Ray Mooi, 22) Chet Blanton, 23) Rick Turner
CRA Street Stock Max 40:
1) Joe Beaver, 2) Beau Mitchell, 3) Rich Boyer, 4) Calvin Parham, 5) Shawn Bonar, 6) Eric Evans, 7) Jacob Owens, 8) Phil Evans, 9) Jeff Perry, 10) Winston Wood, 11) Dennis Moser, 12) Jeff Jones, 13) Brian Stocker , 14) John Weisenaur, 15) Steve Rapier, 16) Pat O'Connor, 17) Jon Ballinger, 18) Bobby Murany, 19) Brian Hopkins, 20) Mike Overholser, 21) John Robinson
CRA Compact Vore's Welding & Steel 20
1) Jordan Flynn, 2) Bill Charles, 3) Rex Zimmerman, 4) Derick Young, 5) Todd Kirk, 6) Cory Neal, 7) Jack Leisure, Jr., 8) Jonathon Pitts, 9) Randy Owen, 10) Chris Jennings, 11) Greg De St. Jean, 12) Bobby Sanders, 13) Paul Holley, 14) Louis Ebright, 15) Billy Beard
2007 Off-Season News
Tony Stewart Racing Has Left the Building…Finally
After Extended Break in Racing Action, Tony Stewart Racing’s Jones and Hines Look Forward to USAC Sprint Doubleheader
INDIANAPOLIS (April 18, 2007) – The waterworks that Mother Nature has imposed upon the competitors of the USAC National Sprint Car Series have seemingly come to an end as the series gears up for a season-opening doubleheader at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday (April 21) and Winchester Speedway on Sunday (April 22).
For Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Levi Jones and Tracy Hines, this weekend’s events couldn’t come soon enough.
Entering Saturday’s USAC National Sprint Car Series opener at Lawrenceburg Speedway, Jones is hoping the luck of the nearby riverboat casinos will rub off – not that he’s needed much luck at the facility in the past. In 2006, he earned a respectable ninth-place finish on April 22 and later won the opening night of the Lawrenceburg Fall Classic Sprint Nationals on September 19.
Jones has also faired well just up the road at Winchester Speedway. In the past two seasons, he earned an impressive fourth-place finish on the high-banked asphalt half-mile in 2005. He followed that run with a solid fifth-place finish at the facility in 2006 and will seek his first podium finish on Sunday.
Hines will return to Lawrenceburg Speedway for the first time in more than three years on Saturday. In his last USAC National Sprint Car Series appearance at Lawrenceburg on July 24, 2003, Hines earned a sixth-place finish despite a wild frontstretch flip. That would be Hines’ last outing at Lawrenceburg as his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series commitment prevented him from competing at the facility over the next three years.
Winchester Speedway has been much kinder to Hines. He earned a sixth-place finish in 2005 and finished fourth last year in the early season event. This Sunday’s race will also mark Hines’ first race behind the wheel of the No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST entry.
This weekend’s USAC National Sprint Car Series doubleheader will kick off with a 30-lap feature event at the quarter-mile, high-banked clay oval of Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday. Pit gates will open to competitors at 2 p.m. EDT with grandstands opening to the public at 4 p.m. The 2005 series feature was won by Dickie Gaines. In 2006, Jon Stanborough won the series’ only appearance at the facility. Race fans can purchase tickets the day of the event or by calling 812-539-4700. The official Website of Lawrenceburg Speedway is www.lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
For Sunday’s Rich Vogler Classic at the half-mile Winchester Speedway, gates open to the public at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Racing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. A 30-lap USAC National Sprint Car Series feature will conclude the event. The last series’ contest at Winchester Speedway was won by Bryan Clauson on April 23, 2006. Race fans can purchase tickets at the gate on Sunday or by calling 765-584-9701. For more information regarding Winchester Speedway, log on to www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Quotes from Levi Jones, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Chevrolet/Maxim – USAC National Sprint Car Series Dirt Car
No. 20 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST – USAC National Sprint Car Series Pavement Car:
While you only raced at Lawrenceburg Speedway with the USAC National Sprint Car Series one time in 2006, you won a weekly show at the facility late last season. With the adjustments that have been made to the track’s configuration, what are you expecting to see this weekend?
“The track and the way you approach it has changed quite a bit in the past few years. The shortest and fastest way around the place is on the bottom. Last year when we raced there, the tires that line the inside of the track were pushed down pretty far. But it’s similar to a lot of other Indiana tracks in that toward the end of the race, you know the best place to be is going to be on the bottom. The part of racing at Lawrenceburg that I really enjoy is the fact that, in the early part of the season, it’s normally rough with a lot of ruts. To me, that’s a lot of fun. With all of the rain that we’ve had lately and the moisture the air (at Lawrenceburg) carries because of its location on the river, I hope that the place is rough. The fans love that kind of racing and so do I. Hopefully, it will be a good show.”
With so many recent delays in the racing schedule due to weather, does the USAC National Sprint Car Series doubleheader force you to think about coming away from the weekend with the series points lead?
“To be honest, this early in the season we’re not points racing. When I won the sprint car title in 2005, I finished dead last in the first event of the season. I proved to myself that having a bad start doesn’t have to make or break you. It’s the entire season as a whole that you have to worry about. Ideally, we’d like to win both races for Chevrolet and come away from the weekend ranked first and second in the points. Realistically, we’re going after the wins on both days and will worry about the points as the year sorts itself out. It’s a long season and this is just the beginning of it.”
Winchester Speedway is a very fast, very intimidating race track. Do you remember what went through your mind as you took your first laps at speed around the facility in a sprint car?
“I remember asking myself if I could really do this. It was that intimidating. I was running my Dad’s car and the place and the speed really made me think. After I settled in and got a few laps around the place, that feeling went away. I still think that it’s impossible to have too much seat time around Winchester. But I am much more confident about the track today as I know what to expect. It’s actually become a pretty fun place to race.”
The No. 20 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST team tested at Winchester Speedway on Monday (April 16). Were you able to learn anything that will work to your benefit this Sunday?
“The starts at Winchester can get pretty hairy. You’re running such a high gear that once you’re up to speed you’re really just hammer down. We worked on our starts on Monday and really ran through a lot of scenarios which I think will help should a situation that calls for evasive action arise. You hope at the start that everyone’s engine takes off as it should, but they’re all different and a stutter can really throw a wrench into the first lap. It can also get pretty narrow off of (turn) four when you come down to take the green flag, especially with all of the rookies that we’re going to have in the field this weekend. It will definitely be interesting to see how the first few laps and the feature event shake out.”
Quotes from Tracy Hines, driver of the No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/Maxim – USAC National Sprint Car Series Dirt Car
No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST – USAC National Sprint Car Series Pavement Car:
With more than two years since your last appearance at Lawrenceburg Speedway, are you looking forward to returning to the facility and getting an opportunity to compete on the track since changes have been implemented?
“Lawrenceburg has always been a good place for racing. It’s just rougher than I’d like on some nights. I’ve not had an opportunity to compete there since they made the changes. But from the preliminary reports I’ve gotten, they’ve done a great job with it in terms of smoothing the ruts out and that will be a great plus for us. In the past, the track has been a bit too rough and the one groove that usually surfaces would tend to go away in the late stages of the race. With everything other drivers have told me, I think it’s going to be a great night of racing and I’m looking forward to our first opportunity to put Chevrolet in victory lane.”
This early in the season, how much focus do you place on the point standings? Will these first two events be about points racing or more about trying to establish a rhythm?
“I don’t really think about the points until the middle part of the season. At the beginning of the year, the point positions are always stacked too close together. They don’t really give us enough points so ranking isn’t much of an issue. As you enter the halfway part of the season, that’s when your focus should turn to the point standings. The spread is starting to take shape by that point and you can really work on scenarios and strategies. This weekend, we plan to focus on running as well as possible and learning our chassis. If we figure out all of the variables early in the year, the rest of the season will fall into place.”
You’ve had a great deal of success at Winchester Speedway over the years, even in the early part of your career. What do you remember about your first event at the facility?
“The first time I ever competed at Winchester, I had landed a last minute ride and we showed up without any practice of any kind. I remember being pretty comfortable in my first qualifying run and ended up second or third quick. We went on to finish second in the feature event and I’ve really been pretty good at the track since that day. I think that the most important things any driver can do when they race at Winchester is to really work on the comfort level of the car and to remember that it’s not a short track. You have to have different setups and a different mentality in order to run well at Winchester. I definitely respect the speed of the place. It’s a great race track for both us and the fans.”
The No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST team tested at Winchester Speedway earlier this week. In terms of preparedness for this Sunday’s event, are you where you thought you’d be?
“The TSR team has been working very hard in recent weeks to prepare for our first sprint car races. We thought we’d be pretty good right off the truck in testing and that ended up being the case. We only used one set of tires in testing. We rolled off with a new set and were pretty quick. As the day went on, we got to the point where we had about 30 laps left on the tires and were really just as quick at that point. We know we’re going to be fast with new tires and I think that Levi and I both will be very good throughout the entire 30 laps.”
For complete results from this weekend’s USAC National Sprint Car Series doubleheader, log on to www.usacracing.com. For information regarding Stewart, TSR or Chevrolet, log on to www.tonystewart.com or www.chevrolet.com.
NEXTEL
Cup Star
David
Stremme
Commits
to CRA’s
2007
Winchester
400
One
of
NASCAR’s
Fastest
Rising
Stars
Returning
to his
Short
Track
Roots
with his
own Late
Model
Team
(Winchester, IN) –Champion Racing Association (CRA) and Winchester Speedway officials announced today that the NASCAR Nextel Cup star, David Stremme, will be racing in the 36th Annual Winchester 400 presented by Ed Martin AutoGroup and Renegade on Sunday, October 14th. Stremme, who has been in the top 12 in points all but one week of the season, positioning him for the Chase for the Championship, will bring his own team to Winchester in his return to his short track racing roots.
The popular Indiana native raced many times at Winchester Speedway during the development of his career when racing with CRA and the American Speed Association. Stremme is also a former track record holder at Winchester and has a CRA Super Series victory at the similarly high-banked Salem Speedway.
“I couldn’t be more excited about getting to go back to Winchester with our late model team,” Stremme noted from his home in North Carolina. “Through the years, either as a kid growing up, or as a young racer, the Winchester 400 has always been the pinnacle of short track racing in the Midwest. A victory in the 400 would make for a special trophy on my mantle. Plus, the Winchester 400 has always been a great year end celebration for the fans, so it will be fun to visit with them before the race.”
Stremme, driver of the Nextel Cup Series’ #40 Coors Light Dodge, is currently in the midst of his breakout year with NASCAR. He has also been ranked in nascar.com’s “Top 10 Power Rankings” most of the season and is currently in position to be part of the NEXTEL Cup Chase for the Championship. Where his new Super Late Model team is concerned, Stremme will run a Robert Hamke Chassis, powered by the economical McGunegill Sealed Engine; the same power utilized by last year’s Winchester 400 pole sitter/track record holder Danny Jackson, and eventual race winner Scott Hantz.
Winchester Speedway owner Charlie Shaw expects Stremme to use that equipment to be a legitimate contender for the 2007 Winchester 400 title, and is happy to have the young star back at his track. “It’s exciting for all of us, especially our fans, to have David back here racing again,” Shaw noted. “I’ve been a big Stremme fan since the early days of his career, when we became good acquaintances through mutual friends. He’s a great racer, made even more evident by his recent successes, and he’ll bring even more excitement to 400 Weekend.”
Through the years, the Winchester 400 has been one of the Crown Jewels of all of Short Track racing. The 400 laps on the fastest ½ mile in the world has helped prepare some of the best racers in the world. Drivers like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Dick Trickle and many, many more have all been part of the history of the 400 at Winchester. Last year’s event was won by 2-Time CRA Super Series Champion Scott Hantz, one of the most respected drivers in all of short track racing. Hantz thanked Speedway owner Charlie Shaw in his comments at the Series’ year-end awards banquet for “having the Daytona 500 of Short Track racing at his track.”
Adding to additional excitement and interest in this year’s Winchester 400 is its inclusion in CRA’s Super Late Model $50,000 Triple Crown. One driver could take home a $50,000 bonus if he wins all three legs of the Triple Crown: September 22nd in the Circle Track Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, October 14th in the Winchester 400 at Winchester, and November 4 in the All-American 400 at Music City Motorplex in Nashville. If no driver is able to win all three, there is a $10,000 bonus for any driver that wins two of the three. Complete details on the $50,000 Super Late Model Triple Crown are available at www.craracing.net .
The 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend features three days of racing, from October 12th to the 14th, culminating on Sunday, in the only true 400 lap Super Late Model event in short track racing throughout the country. Preliminary events held on Friday and Saturday include feature events for the Midwest’s top Compact F.W.D., Street Stock, Sportsman, Crate Late Model, and Open Wheel Modified racers. Camping, music and the Cup Race Big Screen TV Party, have all added to the allure of the Winchester 400 Weekend for race fans. Tickets for the Winchester 400 Weekend and all of the 2007 Winchester Speedway events are on sale now a. Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 3rd. The Winchester 400 is a “reserved seat” event and tickets must be purchased through the website.
The 2007 Winchester Speedway season gets underway on Sunday, April 22, with a Sprint and Late Model double-header. The USAC National Sprint Cars will be featured in the Rich Vogler Classic, while the CRA Super Series Late Models will be featured in the Manning Service 100. CRA Street Stocks and F.W.D Compacts will also be in action.
Next up for David Stremme is the Saturday night tilt at Phoenix International Raceway.
For information concerning the full schedule, ticket prices and times, fans should visit www.winchesterspeedway.com. For more information on David Stremme, go to www.davidstremme.com. For more information on the CRA Super Series, visit www.craracing.net .
Winchester, IN (April 16, 2007) – Winchester Speedway is set to kick off its 2007 racing schedule with the season opener this Sunday, April 22. High Bank racing fans will get a double treat as the USAC National Sprint Cars come to compete in the Rich Vogler Classic and the CRA Super Series late models in the Manning Service 100 along with action from the MAX 93.5/96.7 CRA Street Stocks and Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts.
With last weekends cold and rainy weather canceling the two opening USAC National Sprint Car events, Sunday’s Rich Vogler Classic will be the second event of the season after this Saturday night’s season opening event in Lawrenceburg and will be the first pavement event of the season. A young 16-year-old Bryon Clauson claimed the victory in last season’s Rich Vogler Classic in his first ever race at Winchester Speedway. Clauson showed no fear in grabbing the early lead from his pole position-starting place over outside started Levi Jones as Eleanor Vogler, mother of Rich Vogler, waved the green flag to start the race that honors her son. Clauson was in awe when he arrived at the track that is known for it’s High Banks and overall speed in a Sprint Car, but showed a steady hand in leading all 30 laps to get the victory over his best friend Darren Hagen, who finished in second holding off veteran open wheel racer Dave Steele who finished in third.
Byron Clauson has moved on to attempt a career in stock cars as a Development Driver for Chip Ganassi, but Sunday’s field will have no shortage of talent lead by Dave Steele a two-time winner of the Rich Vogler Classic in 1999 and 2002. 2005 winner Dave Darland is also entered as well as New Castle, Indiana native Tracy Hines who will drive the entire 2007 season for Tony Stewart Racing as a teammate to Levi Jones, who finished second in season points in 2006 to teammate Josh Wise, who has also moved on to race stock cars. Other notable entries to date include Darren Hagen, Eric Gordon, Brian Gerster, Daron Clayton, Brady Short, Mat Neely, Damon Gardner and two time King Of The Wings Champion Cameron Dodson.
Veteran open wheel driver Ron Gregory will do double duty driving a USAC Sprint Car and making his first ever start with the CRA Super Series. The only other driver to do double duty in a USAC Sprint Car and a CRA Super Series late model on the same day was Chet Fillip in June of 1998 at Winchester Speedway. Fillip broke in the Sprint car event but won the 100-lap CRA Super Series event, a feat that brought the open wheel and stock car fans to their feet cheering his victory. In all there are 26 cars entered to date for Sunday’s Rich Vogler Classic.
The CRA Super Series will return to action at Winchester Speedway with the Manning Service 100 on Sunday afternoon. Veteran racer Jeff Lane had been victorious at Winchester Speedway in a Modified, an Outlaw Late Model and a Street Stock, but had not found victory lane with the CRA Super Series at Winchester Speedway until last season’s Manning Service 100. Lane took full advantage of his pole starting position, bolting to the early lead over outside pole sitter JR Roahrig. Lane never looked back in leading all 100 laps of the Manning Service 100. Chris Gabehart would mount a charge in the middle of the race, but used up his tires early and had to fight off the hard-charging Brian Rievley to get second. Rievley would get third followed by Zach Taylor in fourth with Tommy St. John in fifth.
2006 CRA Super Series Champion Scott Hantz leads the list to date of entries for Sunday’s Manning Service 100. Hantz was the winner in last season’s return of the Winchester 400 in October, claiming the victory and the season championship in that event. Last years Manning Service 100 winner Jeff Lane is entered along with Bull Baker who is the current active leader in CRA Super Series victories at Winchester Speedway with three. Former CRA Super Series winners at Winchester Speedway Chris Gabehart and Evan Jackson are also entered along with former winner and 1998 series Champion Brian Rievley. Other notable entries for Sunday’s event include veteran High Bank series drivers Eddie Van Meter, Rick Turner, Kenny Tweedy, JR Roahrig, and Jason Shively. A strong Rookie class will test the High Banks on Sunday including John Van Doorn, Jeff Bozell, Nick Baran, Sean Matthuis, Ray Mooi, Donald Karr Jr., and Tom Knippenburg.
The MAX 93.5/96.7 CRA Street Stocks will have there season opener at Winchester Speedway on Sunday were Owensboro, Kentucky native Beau Mitchell is expected to try and continue his streak of five victories in the five events he ran at Winchester Speedway last season. 2006 series Champion Joe Beaver leads a strong group of competitors who look to end Mitchell’s streak. The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA FWD Compacts will have their inaugural event this Sunday on the High Banks after some successful test races in 2006 that had some of the best racing of the season.
There will be an open practice on Saturday at Winchester Speedway, pits open at 9am, practice will run from 12noon until 5pm. On Sunday pits open at 8am, spectator gates at 9:30am, practice will begin at 10am with qualifying starting at 12noon. The race program will begin at 2pm. Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com for more information or to order advanced tickets.
Salem, IN (April 12, 2007) – Champion Racing Association officials are pleased to announce that R & R Liquors, located in Historic Farmland, Indiana, will be the sponsor of the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge with the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts for the 2007 season. The feature line-ups for the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts will be determined by a draw at each event in 2007.
For the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts season opener on Sunday, April 22nd, the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge will be given to the driver who draws the pole starting position for the feature, that driver will be offered the opportunity to take the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge, if he accepts and starts at the tail of the field and can win that feature event, he will win the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge with its $100 bonus.
For each event after that the driver who draws the pole starting position and the driver leading in series points will be given the option to accept the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge and start at the tail of the feature line-up. Starting with the first event, if the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge is not won, the bonus money will roll over by $100 at each event until the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge is won. Once it is won, the R & R Liquors Safe Driving Challenge will start over at $100.
The Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts 2007 season will consist of 8 events beginning on Sunday, April 22 at Winchester Speedway, an event that will also feature racing action in the Rich Vogler Classic for the USAC National Sprint Car Series and the Manning Service 100 for the CRA Super Series late models.
R & R Liquors will have a ticket promotion for each event on the 2007 Winchester Speedway schedule. R & R Liquors will be taking registrations prior to each event for two tickets that will be given away by a draw from each events registrations the day before each event.
More information on the Vore’s Welding & Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts can be found at www.craracing.net. More information on Winchester Speedway and its 2007 season can be found at www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Chris Windom Racing Readies For Busy USAC Schedule
(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – April 10, 2007) – Chris Windom - a 16-year-old phenom, and one of the hottest race car drivers in short-track racing today – heads into one of his busiest single weekends of the season with four on-track events scheduled in four days. The Windom Racing Team has a heavy testing schedule in place in order to be as competitive as they can in the 75+ races on their schedule, and they head to Winchester (IN) Speedway on Thursday for some laps at speed before attacking the track later in the month for a USAC show. Friday sees Chris at the well-promoted Gas City (IN) / I-69 Speedway for his first (of many) appearance at their weekly track shows. The weekend then kicks into high gear with the season-opening race of the USAC National Sprint Car tour at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Ind., continuing on Sunday at the world’s fastest high-banked quarter-mile oval at Anderson (IN) Speedway, where the prestigious “Glen Niebel Classic” will bring 100 laps of pure, dizzying excitement to short-track fans in central Indiana.
The team just arrived home from a grueling weekend of travel to Kyle, Texas, for the first USAC National Midget Series event of the year at Thunder Hill Raceway, in what should have been Chris's first full midget start on pavement. Chris has had plenty of previous pavement experience, as he was the 2006 USAC Pavement Kenyon Midget Series Champion. However, this was a pivotal weekend for his whole team to prove that he can possibly be a “Rookie of the Year” contender in dual USAC National divisions in 2007, only the second driver to accomplish that feat in the same year (Darren Hagan was the first in 2005). They never got the chance, as the race was canceled after a Friday practice session due to unusually cold and rainy weather.
“It was disappointing that we couldn't race in Texas, but that's part of racing as much as we do – there will be delays and cancellations, so we just had to pack up and move on to the next show,” Chris said of the trip. “We practiced our Midget car there on pavement for the first time, and I felt pretty good about our progress. There really weren't a lot of surprises. The full Midget handles like the Kenyon car I raced last year, just with more power and more weight. But everything went well and I think, based on what we now know, that we'll have a pretty good year in the USAC Midget Car Series.”
Chris, who plans a full schedule of racing this year in both the USAC National Sprint and Midget Car Series’, as well as racing locally in Indiana when his schedule allows, has already had a busy year of racing early in the 2007 season. That continues with a Thursday test at Winchester Speedway, the eastern Indiana facility famous for its treacherous high banks.
“I’ve heard Winchester Speedway is amazingly fast, and a track that you have to respect, just like Eldora Speedway,” Chris explained of his upcoming test at one of the fastest quarter-mile tracks in the world. “There’s really no good way to prepare for a place that’s got such a big reputation – I’ll just try to take it easy and get used to it at first and, hopefully, that will allow my confidence to build so that we can start running competitive laps soon after we get there. I usually try to get on the Internet and research a track that I’ve never raced on first, and also try to talk to a lot of people who have experience at that track in order to prepare myself for what to expect. I’m also lucky in that Brian Cripe, my team manager and crew chief and one of the most experienced Sprint car mechanics in Indiana, has been able to give me a lot of information about what racing at these tracks will be like. That’s been invaluable to me in preparing for the huge schedule we’ll be running this year.”
After Thursday’s adventures on Winchester’s pavement, the team heads to the quarter-mile Gas City/I-69 Speedway, one of the best and well-respected dirt facilities in Indiana, for a Friday night regular track event.
“The more seat time a young driver can get, the better,” Chris stated. “It’s only going to help me progress and grow. That is why we are trying to run as many local track events in Indiana as we can. This week, we’re going to run Gas City on Friday, then the two USAC shows Saturday and Sunday. When time allows, we’ll be in Gas City each Friday, then run Kokomo (IN) Speedway on Sunday’s if there’s not another USAC race. We’re basically hoping to run at least three races a weekend. We’re even going to try to run some CRA Sprint car shows out west throughout the year. That’s a lot of laps, and that’s hopefully going to give me the experience I need to win races and championships. Starting our season at the Chili Bowl in January, and running a lot of early-season races leading into the regular Midwest season, is also helping me to start the USAC season strong instead of just trying to shake off the rust in April. Hopefully that will give me an advantage in the beginning over the rest of the guys.”
With engines producing upwards of 800 horsepower, the USAC National Sprint Car Series rocket ships combine the thrill of raw power with the heart-stopping action of non-wing Sprint car racing.
“Obviously, we haven’t even run our first USAC National Sprint Car race yet, so we can’t predict what will happen,” Chris said of his 2007 aspirations. “But our goals have never been to just get experience – we’ve run a lot of dirt Sprint cars in the past. Our realistic goals this year are to finish in the top five each race in both the USAC National Sprint and Midget divisions, win our share of races, and hopefully contend for a championship in each series. I lack experience on pavement in the Sprint cars, and that’s important for our ultimate goal of running stock card, but I feel with the testing we are doing, that I’ll be competitive on both surfaces. We added one of the top pavement Sprint car mechanics in the country, Jack French, to our program this year, so that will be a big help – I should be up to speed pretty quickly. I’m really looking forward to both of the races in North Vernon (Saturday) and Anderson (Sunday) because the dirt at Twin Cities will feel comfortable for me, and we also tested a few weeks ago on the pavement at Anderson, and that test went really well for us. So we should have a good weekend.”
Dave Darland, the defending “Niebel” champion, owns the one-lap track qualifying record at both Twin Cities and Anderson. Drivers will aim for his 13.817 seconds record at North Vernon Saturday, then gun for his 11.360 record at Anderson Sunday. For more information on this ambitious, young driver, go to www.chriswindomracing.com.
Salem, IN (April 3, 2007) – Champion Racing Association officials are pleased to announce that Vore’s Welding and Steel has agreed to be the title sponsor of the CRA F.W.D. Compacts for there inaugural 2007 season. The Vore’s Welding and Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts 2007 season will consist of 8 events beginning on Sunday, April 22 with the season opening event at Winchester Speedway, an event that will also feature racing action in the Rich Vogler Classic for the USAC National Sprint Car Series and the Manning Service 100 for the CRA Super Series late models.
The Vore’s Welding and Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts will be a part of the CRA Super Sunday event on Sunday, May 20th at Baer Field Speedway in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They will then see action for six more events at Winchester Speedway on Sunday, June 10th, Sunday, August 12th, Sunday, September 2, Monday September 3, Sunday, September 16 and on Friday, October 12. All the events, except the September 16th event, will be 20 lap features paying $150 to win. The September 16th Winchester 75 event will be a 75-lap event that will pay $1500 to win.
The inaugural Vore’s Welding and Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts Season Champion will be honored along with the rest of the top ten in points at the 2007 Champion Racing Association Awards Banquet. Vore’s Welding and Steel CRA F.W.D. Compacts, Rules, Registration and Winchester 75 entry forms are available on line at
www.craracing.net or by contacting the CRA office at 812-883-0455. Vore’s Welding and Steel is the sponsor of the Vore's Welding and Steel CRA F.W.D. Compact #58 Acura that will be driven by Brian Redmond.
Vore's Welding and Steel, is a full service welding and fabrication company located in Ft. Recovery, Ohio. They provide many services in order to give their clients outstanding field and in-house welding. They are tailored for all aspects of any company's fabrication and installation needs. Vore's Welding and Steel has manufacturing equipment that allows them to custom fabricate and custom weld or assemble most anything at their facility. Their in-house technical support is their primary and most important source of service for their customers. They incorporate MIG welding, TIG welding and Stick Welding in their production facility.
Their staff can also be strategically mobilized for on site construction or repairs. They have mobile welding vehicles fully equipped ready to tackle any job. Office hours are 7:30am to 4pm Monday through Friday. More information is available at
Winchester Speedway Releases Sale Dates for Reserved and Advance Sale Tickets
Last Year’s Reserved Tickets to be Held Until April 1st; New Ticket Requests Accepted Starting April 3rd
(Winchester, IN) – Officials from Champion Racing Association (CRA) and Winchester Speedway announced today the sale dates of their Reserved and Advanced Sale Tickets for the 2007 race season. Reserved ticket holders from last year have until April 1st to secure their same tickets from last year. Those wishing to do so must submit their request by email to gregwood@craracing.net. Starting on April 3rd, tickets sales will be open to the general public via winchesterspeedway.com or etix.com.
Last year, Winchester Speedway officials signed an agreement with e-ticket leader e-tix.com that makes the Speedway even more accessible to its fans. Winchester Speedway fans who want to purchase tickets in advance may do so on-line. More importantly, fans wanting to be sure they get a ticket for the reserved seat events that are the ARCA 200 and Winchester 400, may do so early in the year.
Fans are able to purchase tickets for all events from their computer and print their tickets at home. An independent and random barcode makes it possible for fans to print their tickets at home and be scanned at the point of entry at the race track. For an additional charge, fans that don’t want to order on-line can call etix.com directly at 800-514-3849 to place an order.
To make things even easier and cost effective for the fans, Winchester Speedway officials have discounted all adult advance sale tickets by $2, to offset the convenience charge of purchasing on-line and/or using the toll free phone ordering service.
In addition to having the ability to purchase individual event tickets, fans can also purchase ticket packages that include 2-day tickets for the ARCA 200 Weekend, 2-day tickets for the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival, a 3-day package for the Winchester 400 Weekend, and a very special season ticket package. Not only will season ticket holders save money, but it is the only way to get the same reserved seat for every event…even the general admission events. Season ticket holders will have the seats marked especially for them and have that seat all season long.
The 2007 season gets underway on Sunday April 22, with a Sprint and Late Model double-header. The USAC National Sprint Cars will be featured in the Rich Vogler Classic, while the CRA Super Series Late Models will be featured in the Manning Service 100. CRA Street Stocks and F.W.D Compacts will also be in action.
Starting April 3rd, advance sale tickets will only be available through winchesterspeedway.com and etix.com or by calling 800-514-3849. To get started with an on-line purchase, fans can go to the website for more details. For information concerning the full schedule, ticket prices and times, fans should visit www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Winchester, IN (March 12, 2007) – Winchester Speedway officials are pleased to announce that Pier-Mac Plastics will be the sponsor of this seasons King Of The Wings Winged Sprint Car Challenge at the historic High Banks of Winchester Speedway on Sunday, July 22nd. This season will be the third annual Pier Mac Plastics King Of The Wing Winged Sprint Car Challenge at Winchester Speedway, the event started during the Grand Re-opening 2005 season. That Sunday will also feature racing action from the CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stock Series.
The Pier Mac Plastics King Of The Wing Winged Sprint Car Challenge will once again feature the country’s top Winged Sprint Car drivers from the Auto Value Super Sprints and HOSS Wing Sprints plus many others. Greenfield, Indiana’s Cameron Dodson raced his way into history, by winning his second King Of The Wings Winged Sprint Car Challenge last season. Dodson had to work a little harder than his 2005 win, taking the lead on a restart on lap 7 from early leader Tim Cox. Fast Qualifier Jeff Bloom would work his way to get second, but never had a shot at Dodson who trilled the large crowd with his brave moves to pass any competitor who was in his way. Dodson used both the high line and low line and even attempted one pass on the flat of turn four. Dodson got to wear the crown again in victory lane, and proved once again he is the King Of The Wings at Winchester Speedway.
Pier-Mac Plastics is a custom injection molding shop established in 1975, headquartered in Portland, Indiana. Pier-Mac Plastics has twelve (12) injection presses, ranging from 75-750 Ton. Pier-Mac is able to utilize a variety of plastic materials, such as Polycarbonate, Styrene, Polypropylene, ABS, Nylon, and many others that will meet your specific molding needs. When applicable Pier-Mac utilizes the processes of W&M Manufacturing and Accelerated Curing (our sister companies).
W&M Manufacturing is a custom Vacuum Metalizing and Top coating facility established in 1961. W&M consist of (3) vacuum metalizing chambers, robotic painting systems and water fall type paint booths for custom painting. W&M uses a variety of basecoats and topcoats.
Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com for more information on Winchester Speedway including the entire 2007 racing schedule.
Winchester, IN (February 6, 2007) – Champion Racing Association and Charlie Shaw, owner of Winchester Speedway, are pleased to announce that the Ed Martin Auto Group and Renegade have agreed to continue their sponsorship of the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend and the CRA Super Series sanctioned Winchester 400, the 2007 Season Championship event for the CRA Super Series and the second leg in the CRA Super Series $50,000 to win Triple Crown.
“We are very proud to be a part of this great event at Winchester Speedway again in 2007,” stated Ed Martin Auto Group President Mark Harrison. “This event was one of the biggest stock car events in the country for many years, we want to see it return to that prominence again. This track has a lot of history and a lot of famous racers have raced many laps around its famous High Banks. We hope the racers and fans will continue help us support the track and this great weekend of racing!”
The prestigious Winchester 400 was revived for the 2006 season with the support of the Ed Martin Auto Group, it was last featured on the High Banks in October of 2003 prior to last seasons event. The 2006 event saw racers from all over the country come to challenge the Highbanks for a grueling 400-lap shootout. 2006 CRA Super Series Champion Scott Hantz was the beneficiary of a lap 380 crash that took out the only two cars on the lead lap racing for the lead. Chris Gabehart was trying to fight off the challenge of North Carolina’s Clay Jones when the cars made contact coming out of turn two, resulting in both cars making hard contact with the backstretch wall. Both cars were destroyed, but both drivers walked away with no injuries. Hantz would go on to get the victory with Alabama’s Augie Grill in second, CRA regular Tommy St. John in third, Jim Crabtree Jr. in fourth with John Heck in fifth.
The Ed Martin Auto Group includes the Ed Martin Acura, Ed Martin Buick, Ed Martin Pontiac-GMC, Ed Martin Honda, and Ed Martin Nissan all located in Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as the Ed Martin Cadillac, Ed Martin Toyota, Ed Martin Scion, Ed Martin Renegade and Ed Martin Trailer Sales in Anderson, Indiana. Individual Ed Martin dealer locations and contact information is available at www.edmartin.com. “Ed Martin since 1955, the only name you need to know.”
The 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By The Ed Martin Auto Group will start off on Friday, October 12th with open practice for all cars. The CRA Sportsman and CRA FWD Compacts will have their 2007 season championship events that night plus racing action in a non-points special event for the CRA Street Stocks. Saturday, October 13 will feature Winchester 400 practice and qualifying, in addition to practice, qualifying and features for the Super Pro Series, the CRA Street Stocks Season Championship event and the 2nd Annual Winchester Run For The Gun featuring the best of the American Modified Series and the O’Reilly USA Modifieds. There will be a party with music that evening in the Pavilion.
Sunday, October 14th will be the final day of the 36th Annual Winchester 400 Weekend Presented By The Ed Martin Auto Group and will start with warm-up sessions for the CRA Super Series late models, then the entire starting line-up will then be staged on the front stretch and all the fans will be invited to come on to the track for an autograph session featuring all the drivers racing on Sunday. Pre-race ceremonies will start at 12:30pm. The 36th Annual Winchester 400 Presented By The Ed Martin Auto Group is scheduled to go green at 1pm.
Go to www.winchesterspeedway.com for more information on Winchester Speedway including the complete 2007 schedule.
CRA and Baer Field Speedway Combining Efforts on Sportsman/Late Model Package
Goodyear Tires Tie Two Groups Together as Well as Rule and Scheduling Efforts
Salem, IN – Officials from the Champion Racing Association (CRA) and Baer Field Speedway recently detailed areas where the two groups will work together to bring the Sportsman/Late Model rules packages in line with each other. Baer Field announced last week their selection of the 8” Goodyear 62’s and 63’s as their track tire for the 2007 season for their late model division. This falls in line with CRA Sportsman rules that have multiple tires to choose from, but the Goodyear has been the primary choice for the CRA teams. Additionally, Ft. Wayne Oval Track Supply will service the tire needs of both groups. Teams needing the Goodyear tires can contact Ft. Wayne Oval Track Supply at 260-744-4982.
In the area of rules, most of the weights are within 50 lbs between the two groups. The only major difference is that Baer Field does not allow the 5 inch coil-over set up. As a result, CRA officials are discouraging the use of the 5” coil-over set up with their teams, as it may not be allowed in their rules in the future.
The officials for both the CRA Sportsman and Baer Field Late Models have worked together on scheduling so there is little conflict. The two groups will also be working together to promote each other and their teams. The rules package utilized is very similar to sportsman or late models at tracks like ShadyBowl, Kil-Kare, Berlin, and many other places.
In this second year of racing for the CRA Sportsman, a tentative 11 race schedule is in place that features great facilities like Baer Field Speedway, O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Anderson Speedway, Winchester Speedway and Shady Bowl Speedway. Standard purses for the sanctioned CRA Sportsman events are $1,000 to win and $100 to start, with the Circle Track Nationals in Indianapolis paying $1500 to win. The first event on the CRA Sportsman schedule is May 5th at Winchester Speedway as part of the ARCA 200 Weekend.
For more information on the CRA Sportsman visit www.craracing.net. For more information on the Baer Field Late Models and their weekly purse, visit www.baerfieldspeedway.com.
Winchester Speedway Releases Impressive 2007 Schedule
ARCA RE/MAX Series and Winchester 400 Return
Winchester, IN (January 22, 2007) – Officials from Winchester Speedway and track promoters Champion Racing Association (CRA) have released the 2007 schedule for the legendary high banked ½ mile track in Indiana. Speedway owner Charlie Shaw has secured CRA to promote and manage the Speedway again in 2007 after successful 2005 and 2006 seasons. CRA leaders R. J. Scott and Glenn Luckett have prepared a diverse and entertaining eight-race schedule based on the successful events in 2006 that will include an ARCA RE/MAX Series 200 lap event and the famed Winchester 400.
After an open practice on Saturday, April 21rd, the season will open on Sunday, April 22nd with a mix of the best in open wheel and stock car racing with the USAC National Sprint Car Series Rich Vogler Classic and the CRA Super Series Late Models. Last season’s Rich Vogler Classic event brought out a standing room only crowd to see 16-year-old Bryan Clauson got the victory in his first ever race at Winchester Speedway. Clauson showed no fear in grabbing the lead from his pole position starting spot, leading the entire 30 laps to claim the victory. Clauson’s best friend young Darren Hagen finished in second holding off veteran open wheel racer Dave Steele who finished in third. The Manning Service 100 for the CRA Super Series will also be featured that Sunday with veteran series racer Jeff Lane looking to repeat as that events winner after leading all 100 laps in last April’s event. The season opener will also feature racing action from the CRA Street Stocks and CRA FWD Compacts.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series will make a welcome return to Winchester Speedway for a two-day show on Saturday, May 5th and Sunday, May 6th. Last season’s 200 lap ARCA RE/MAX Series feature was one race fans will remember for a long time as 8 time series champion Frank Kimmel came back from almost losing a lap after running out of gas late in the event to make a daring pass coming out of turn four to claim the win. The ARCA RE/MAX Series cars will practice and qualify on Saturday with their 200-lap event taking the green flag at 1pm on Sunday afternoon. The Lincoln Welder ARCA Trucks will also be part of this huge racing weekend with a 50-lap feature on Saturday. The CRA Sportsman will also be in action on Saturday along with a special non-points CRA Street Stock event. There will be a party in the pavilion on Saturday night with the Richmond NASCAR Nextel Cup race on the big screen. The CRA Street Stocks will have a 50-lap points event on Sunday after the ARCA race.
Sunday, June 10th will be a special day for local race fans, as Winchester Speedway will present the 1st Annual Randolph County Appreciation Day, which will feature $5 tickets for all Randolph County residents. Race fans will have to present a valid ID with hometown listed in order to receive the special priced tickets. The USA Modifieds headline the racing action that day along with the CRA Sportsman, CRA Street Stocks and CRA FWD Compacts.
The “King Of The Wings” Sprint Car Challenge will return on Sunday, July 22nd featuring the country’s top Winged Sprint Car drivers from the Auto Value Super Sprints and HOSS Wing Sprints plus many others. Greenfield, Indiana’s Cameron Dodson raced his way into history, by winning his second King Of The Wings Show in a row. Dodson had to work a little harder than his 2005 win, taking the lead on a restart on lap 7 from early leader Tim Cox. Fast Qualifier Jeff Bloom would work his way to get second, but never had a shot at Dodson who trilled the large crowd with his brave moves to pass any competitor who was in his way. Dodson used both the high line and low line and even attempted one pass on the flat of turn four. Dodson got to wear the crown again in victory lane, and proved once again he is the King Of The Wings at Winchester Speedway. The CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stocks will also race on that day.
The fifth event of the year will take place on Sunday, August 12th. The Super Pro Series Crate Engine late models will make the first ever appearance on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway in a 75-lap feature event. Also, the American Modifieds will make their 2007 debut on the High Banks that afternoon. The CRA Sportsman and CRA FWD Compacts will also be in action that afternoon.
The historic World Stock Car Festival is scheduled on Labor Day Weekend after a very successful return in 2005 and 2006 and will once again feature a great combination of racing, camping, music and parties. Saturday, September 1st will be an open practice day for all cars and the grandstands will be free to the public. Sunday and Monday, September 2nd & 3rd will see eight different stock car divisions compete for their World Stock Car Festival crown. The CRA Super Series Late Models will headline the action, along with the Super Pro Series and American Modifieds. The weekend will also include racing for the CRA Sportsman, CRA Street Stocks, CRA FWD Compacts and ThunderCars on Sunday only. The other seven groups will practice, qualify and race in qualifying races (where applicable) on Sunday to set the fields for “Features Only” on Labor Day, Monday, September 3rd, except for the CRA FWD Compacts which will have a feature event on Sunday and Monday. There will be a party in the pavilion on Sunday night, it will be tough to top last season’s Labor Day party, but it will be fun trying!
CRA Street Stocks will take the main stage on Sunday, September 16th in a 200 lap, $5000 to win race that is expected to see 50 to 75 cars take the green flag for one of the most exciting races of the season. Last years 200 lapper featured some of the best racing of the year as the CRA Street Stock drivers showed their talent and ability once again to race a long distance race on the high banks. Owensboro, Kentucky native Beau Mitchell once again showed his dominance on the Winchester track taking the victory, one of five he would get in the five CRA Street Stock events he ran at Winchester Speedway in 2006. The victory did not come easy as Sellersburg, Indiana driver John Collins battled Mitchell through out the event, swapping the lead several times. Collins would finish in second followed closely by Chuck Cook, who also stayed in the lead pack through out the event. Sharing the Highbanks that day will be the CRA FWD Compacts in their biggest event of the season, a 75-lap feature that will pay $1500 to the winner.
On Sunday, October 14th Winchester Speedway will see the CRA Super Series return for the prestigious 36th Annual Winchester 400, an event that saw racers from all over the country come to challenge the Highbanks for a grueling 400 lap shootout last year. 2006 CRA Super Series Champion Scott Hantz was the beneficiary of a lap 380 crash that took out the only two cars on the lead lap racing for the lead. Chris Gabehart was trying to fight off the challenge of North Carolina’s Clay Jones when the cars made contact coming out of turn two, resulting in both cars making hard contact with the backstretch wall. Both cars were destroyed, but both drivers walked away with no injuries. Hantz would go on to get the victory with Alabama’s Augie Grill in second, CRA regular Tommy St. John in third, Jim Crabtree Jr. in fourth and John Heck in fifth, his best all time CRA Super Series finish.
The Winchester 400 Weekend will start off on Friday, October 12 with open practice for all cars. The CRA Sportsman and CRA FWD Compacts will have their 2007 season championship events that night plus racing action in a non-points special event for the CRA Street Stocks. Saturday, October 13 will feature Winchester 400 practice and qualifying plus practice, qualifying and features for the Super Pro Series, the CRA Street Stocks season Championship event and the 2nd Annual Winchester Run For The Gun between the American Modified Series and the USA Modifieds.
Details on season tickets and a detailed schedule of events with times will be posted on the Winchester Speedway web site at www.winchesterspeedway.com. To contact CRA about marketing or racing opportunities at Winchester Speedway, interested parties can call the CRA office at 812-883-0455.
CRA Officials Unveil $50,000 Triple Crown for Season Ending Super Late Model Events
Promoters from O’Reilly Raceway Park, Winchester Speedway and Music City Motorplex Partner for Program
(Salem, IN) – Officials from Champion Racing Association (CRA) unveiled the “$50,000 Triple Crown” program today, for three key season-ending events for Super Late Models. One driver will win a $50,000 bonus if they can win the inaugural Circle Track Nationals 100 at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis in September, the historic 36th Annual Winchester 400 in October, and the high profile All-American 400 in Nashville in November. With the bonus and expected purse winnings, one driver could take home almost $100,000 in three events.
The $50,000 Triple Crown program doesn’t stop there. If no one wins all three events, the first driver to win two of these events in 2007 will receive a $10,000 bonus. And if no one wins more than one event, the driver that accumulates the most points over the three events will earn a $5,000 bonus. To be eligible for the $50,000 Triple Crown Bonus Program, a driver must attempt to qualify for all three events.
“We’re very excited about this new program,” noted David Underwood of Music City MotorPlex, host of the All American 400 on November 4-5. “These are three great races that can bring a lot of recognition to the drivers involved. Plus, the excitement will be even greater for our event with so much on the line for the final event of the $50,000 Triple Crown.”
The first race in the $50,000 Triple Crown is a new event with a lot of energy already building. The Super Late Model team of Jim Winters and Chris Gabehart are the promoters of the inaugural Circle Track Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on September 21-22. Winters, the former promoter of the very popular “Junkyard 100” for late models in the 1980’s, along with his protégé’ Gabehart, have put together a racers dream of $10,000 to win for a 100 lap event on only 4 tires. “This is something we think Super Late Model racing really needs,” Gabehart stated. “I’m speaking of both our style of race and the $50,000 Triple Crown. I can’t think of a better place to kick off the Triple Crown than Indianapolis, with such a great facility and all the history this city has.”
The middle event of $50,000 Triple Crown will be the 36th Annual Winchester 400 on October 14-15. Following a stellar event in 2006, which featured quality efforts by the southern teams of Mike Fritts, Clay Jones and Augie Grill, Winchester officials felt the time was right for this exciting move. Speedway owner Charlie Shaw was inspired by comments from Scott Hantz, the 2006 race winner, at the season ending CRA Awards Banquet. “When Scott got up at the banquet and thanked me for having the race, what he called their ‘Daytona 500’, well, I felt pretty proud,” Shaw recalled. “This $50,000 Triple Crown program just makes it even bigger!”
While scheduling conflicts of preliminary events prevented involvement of the Snowball Derby in this first year, Five Flags Speedway promoter Tim Bryant is excited about the program and foresees being involved in 2008. “We like what we see with these tracks getting together,” Bryant noted, “and even though we can’t be directly involved this year, we think we can be a part of it in 2008 and make it even bigger.” Bryant went on to offer the first Triple Crown Champion a paid entry and a set of tires for this year’s Snowball Derby.
Officials from CRA and the Triple Crown events have also agreed that winners from the first two events will be guaranteed starts in the remaining Triple Crown events, ensuring that that $10,000 or $50,000 bonus will still be available at the final event.
More details will be available in the coming weeks, including a possible sponsor announcement, a deeper point fund payout, point system structure and other news. Those details will be available at www.craracing.net, www.musiccitymotorplex.com, www.winchesterspeedway.com or www.circletracknationals.com .
Winchester, IN (January 10, 2007) – Winchester Speedway officials are pleased to announce that Manning Service will once again sponsor the 100 lap CRA Super Series event, which is part of the 2007 Opening Weekend at Winchester Speedway on Sunday, April 22, 2007. That event will also feature the Rich Vogler Classic for the USAC National Sprint Car Series that honors the memory of former USAC National Champion Rich Vogler.
“We are happy to be a sponsor with Winchester Speedway again in 2007,” remarked Jeff Manning, owner and operator of Manning Service. “It was great to see the speedway re-opened in 2005 and have a good seasons in 2005 and 2006. Having this historic racetrack open is good for Motorsports and good for the economy’s of Winchester and all the surrounding towns in this area!”
Merritt Manning, selling gas and performing mechanical repairs on cars, trucks and farm equipment, founded Manning Service, Inc., located in Saratoga, Indiana, in 1948. Today, Manning Service is renowned as a world leader in portable kerosene heaters, wicks and parts. Specializing in hard to find items and accessories, Manning Service has shipped products all over the world and is still continuing to grow. The Manning Service local retail store in Saratoga, offers patrons a variety of things from fresh Hunts Brothers Pizza to Mini-Storage Units. The business also features automotive, residential and commercial window tinting.
Manning Service started its involvement in Motorsports by owning there own racecar at the famed Eldora Speedway back in the 1950’s. They have also been involved in Go-Kart Racing and sponsored 2004 CRA Super Series Champion Chuck Barnes Jr. in the two CRA Super Series events at Winchester Speedway in 2005, including his victory in the Labor Day World Stock Car Festival 100 lap CRA Super Series event. More information on Manning Service is available at www.manningservice.com.
“It’s great to have the support of Manning Service again in 2007,” remarked Winchester Speedway’s Glenn Luckett. “It ‘s people like Jeff Manning that helped make the last two seasons successful ones for Winchester Speedway and owner Charlie Shaw. Winchester Speedway needs both the local sponsor support and fan support to continue to be successful each season.”
The rest of the 2007 Winchester Speedway schedule will be released shortly. More information on Winchester Speedway is available on line at www.winchesterspeedway.com.
Salem, IN (January 7, 2007) – Champion Racing Association Officials released their tentative CRA Super Series schedule for the upcoming 2007 season during their annual awards banquet held this past weekend in Anderson, Indiana. The 2007 season will be the eleventh season for the Indiana based touring asphalt template late model series sanctioned by Champion Racing Association. The current tentative schedule consists of sixteen total events, fourteen CRA Super Series point’s events, as well as the Speedfest 2007 event at USA International Speedway and All American 400 non-points events sanctioned by the CRA Super Series.
The CRA Super Series will open its 2007 season in just a few weeks with the 3rd addition of SpeedFest at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida on January 25th through January 27th. The event is a non-points event co-sanctioned by the CRA Super Series and the Sunbelt Super Late Model Series. The format and schedule are identical to last year’s, with open practice and technical inspection on Thursday, January 25th. On Friday the 26th, teams will practice, qualify by region, and race in one of the North or South 100-lap qualifying features, with the top 10 from each transferring to Saturday’s SpeedFest 200 Presented By Goodyear. The SpeedFest 200 Presented By Goodyear winner’s check will once again be a minimum of $10,000.
The CRA Super Series will open its 2007 points season at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tennessee on March 31st and April 1st in a 150-lap special points event. The event will be a one set of tires event, and will be ran in conjunction with an ASA Late Model Challenge Series event on March 31st and a NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified event on Sunday, April 1st. Since the event will bring in several outside teams, the event will have some special point provisions. The lowest amount of points any team will receive for participating in the event will be 80. Teams will receive additional points for qualifying in the top five or finishing in the top ten in the event.
On April 14th the CRA Super Series will race at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Indiana, that historic quarter mile Speedplant was the birthplace of the series in 1997. The CRA Street Stocks will accompany the CRA Super Series at that event. From there the series will travel to the legendary high banks of Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana on Sunday, April 22nd, were the series will be part of that tracks first event of it’s 2007 season with the USAC National Sprint Car Series.
The series will then travel to Baer Field Speedway in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on Sunday, May 20th were race fans can get their fill as Champion Racing Association presents the Second Annual CRA Super Sunday which will include racing action from the three Champion Racing Association divisions including the CRA Super Series, CRA Street Stocks and CRA Sportsman.
Next up will be a big holiday weekend double-header and a true late model fans ultimate weekend as the CRA Super Series visits Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan on Saturday, May 26th of Memorial Day weekend for a 125-lap event, also racing that night for the first time ever with the CRA Super Series will be the Berlin Raceway Outlaw Late Model cars. The series will travel a short distance to Toledo Speedway on Sunday, May 27th for twin 100 lap feature events in conjunction with the ARCA Glass City Gold Cup Series Outlaw Late Models.
The series stays in Ohio next for the 4th Annual Buckeye Bash at Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, June 2nd. The series will then visit Schererville, Indiana for the Elmer Musgrave Memorial at Illiana Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 23rd. From there the series travels to Angola Motor Speedway in Angola, Indiana on Saturday June 30th for a 125-lap event.
The series will then return to Anderson Speedway for a 250-lap event as part of the Anderson 400 on Saturday, August 4th. The CRA Super Series will be joined that night by the CRA Street Stocks, which will round out the 400 with a 150-lap event. Both events will be run straight through in 2007 with no breaks.
On Monday, September 3rd the series will return to Winchester Speedway, for the annual Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival, an event that was a huge success in 2005 and 2006. That weekend event will also feature racing action from the CRA Street Stocks and CRA Sportsman with the famous Labor Day Weekend party on Sunday night, September 2nd.
The series will then come to O’Reilly Raceway Park on September 21st and 22nd for the Inaugural Circle Track US Nationals, a huge racing event that will be promoted by Hendricks County Motorsports owner Jim Winters, a former promoter of several late model events in Central Indiana and his CRA Super Series driver Chris Gabehart, who will spearhead the promotion of this historic event on the famed Indy oval located in Clermont, Indiana, right outside Indianapolis.
"Jim Winters and I are both very excited to be offering another event of this caliber to the Super Late Model community,” remarked Gabehart. “As racers, we are aware of the desire for more races of this stature at a facility as top notch as O’Reilly Raceway Park. As promoters, we look forward to the challenge of getting this inaugural event off the ground in a successful manner and building it into a staple event for the super late model community as well as one that the Indianapolis racing community can be proud of."
The CRA Super Series event with the Inaugural Circle Track US Nationals will be a 100 lap, four tire event, that will pay the winner $10,000 and will pay $1000 to start. More information on this event will be released at a later date.
“We are elated to be a part of this huge event that Jim and Chris are going to have at O’Reilly Raceway Park,” stated Glenn Luckett, Director of the CRA Super Series. “Jim has been a huge supporter of our series since it’s beginning and has been a very successful businessman. Chris brings a great passion for late model racing and a desire to be successful, the combination of them working together will bring another successful landmark racing event to the most historic racing city in America.”
On Sunday, October 14th the CRA Super Series will return to Winchester Speedway for the 36th Annual Winchester 400. The event was brought back last season, and attracted a top-notch group of racers from all over to compete against the CRA Super Series best in this prestigious event at the historic Winchester Speedway. The event will be the season point’s championship event for the series and will be the only series point’s event with live tire changing and fuel pit stops.
The season ending event will be the famed All American 400 Weekend on November 3rd and 4th at the Music City MotorPlex in Nashville, Tennessee. Last year 72 teams showed up to try and win this prestigious all star event, one of the best groups of late models ever assembled for a late model event. The race was hailed by many as one of the best short-track races they had seen in a long time. The 2007 addition will be even bigger and better!
The series does have a To Be Announced date of July 21st for an event that is still in the planning stages. The schedule is tentative until that date can be announced and any other event changes. For more information about the 2006 schedule or the CRA Super Series, interested parties can call 812-883-0455 or visit www.craracing.net.
2007 CRA Super Series Tentative Schedule:
January 27 – USA International Speedway 200 Laps / Lakeland, FL
April 1 – Music City Motorplex 150 Laps / Nashville, TN
April 14 – Anderson Speedway 125 Laps / Anderson, IN
April 22 – Winchester Speedway 100 Laps / Winchester, IN
May 20 – Baer Field Speedway 100 Laps / Ft. Wayne, IN
May 26 – Berlin Raceway 125 Laps / Marne, MI
May 27 - Toledo Speedway 100 Laps/ Toledo, OH
June 2 – Columbus Motor Speedway 125 Laps / Columbus, OH
June 23 – Illiana Motor Speedway 100 Laps / Schererville, IN
June 30 – Angola Motor Speedway 125 Laps / Angola, IN
July 21 – TBA
August 4 – Anderson Speedway 250 Laps / Anderson, IN
September 3 – Winchester Speedway 100 Laps / Winchester, IN
September 22 – Indianapolis Raceway Park 100 Laps / Indianapolis, IN
October 14 – Winchester Speedway 400 Laps / Winchester, IN
November 4 – Music City Motorplex 300 Laps / Nashville, TN
Anderson, IN (January 7, 2007) – The 2006 Champion Racing Association Awards Banquet was held Saturday night at the Holiday Inn in Anderson, Indiana. The top 15 in 2006 CRA Super Series points, and the top 10 in both 2006 CRA Sportsman points and 2006 CRA Street Stocks points were all honored at that banquet along with special awards for all three divisions.
Angola, Indiana’s Scott Hantz was officially crowned as the 2006 CRA Super Series Champion, it was the second CRA Super Series Championship for Hantz and the Richard Poe Motorsports team. Hantz was the 2000 CRA Super Series Champion and Rookie Of The Year, he joins Brian Ross as the only two-time champions of the CRA Super Series in its ten year history.
“We overcame a lot of adversity to win the championship,” remarked Hantz. “I really wanted to win this Championship for my car owner Dick Poe who has had a rough year with some health problems. We had to overcome some DNF’s, torn up racecars and the loss of my Crew Chief for part of the season, but it all worked out in the end. I want to thank my car owner Dick Poe and all my great crew members that helped me win this championship!”
Danny Jackson was honored as the 2006 CD-2 CRA Super Series Rookie Of The Year. 2005 CRA Super Series Drivers Champion Jeff Lane was the 2006 TDR Screen Graphics Sportsman Of The Year Award winner. The Muller Motorsports Team with members Ken Muller, Billy Skiles, Crew Chief Bill Rievley and driver Eddie Van Meter were honored as the winners of the 2006 Darrell Teal Outstanding Dedication Award. Scott Hantz and Brian Rievley were awarded the Harris Products Group Lap Leader Awards. Kenny Tweedy was awarded the Cometic Gasket Hard Luck Award while Tommy St. John was awarded the Cometic Gasket Hard Charger Award.
Cedar Lake, Indiana’s Keith Sterkowitz was honored as the inaugural 2006 CRA Sportsman Champion. Scott Runion was the Sportsman Of The Year Award winner for the CRA Sportsman while Rick Tackman Jr. was awarded the Dedication Award for the CRA Sportsman.
Noblesville, Indiana veteran race Joe Beaver was honored as the 2006 CRA Street Stock Champion driving for owner Terry Burton of Anderson, Indiana. 2006 Point’s runner-up Chuck Cook was awarded the Rookie Of The Year Award for the CRA Street Stocks. Rod Phipps was awarded the Sportsman Of The Year Award and Bubba Trinkle the Dedication Award for the CRA Street Stocks.
Drawings were held for all three divisions. The big winners with the CRA Super Series included Tommy St. John who won a complete body from Five Star Racecar Bodies, Jack Landis who won 50% off a body from Five Star Racecar Bodies, JR Roahrig who won 50% off a body from ARP Stock Car Bodies, Jeff Lane who won a drivers uniform from Leaf Racewear, Danny Jackson, Chet Blanton and Eddie Van Meter each won a set of rotors from AP Racing, Jack Landis who won a welder from Lincoln Welders, Eddie Van Meter who won a racing seat from The Joie Of Seating, Chris Gabehart who won a set of springs from Draco Spring, and Scott Hantz who won a $200 Product Certificate from Cometic Gasket.
In the CRA Sportsman 2006 Champion Keith Sterkowitz was the big winner getting a complete body from Five Star Racecar Bodies. Other winners included Kevin Cook who won 50% off a body from ARP Stock Car Bodies, Terry Fisher Jr. who won a drivers uniform from Leaf Racewear and Al Cook Jr. who won product from Ringers Gloves.
The drawing winners in the CRA Street Stocks include Chuck Cook who won a $250 Product Certificate from Five Star Racecar Bodies, Rod Phipps who won a $250 Product Certificate from ARP Stock Car Bodies, Joe Beaver, Bubba Trinkle and Craig Cookingham who each won product from Ringers Gloves.
The evening was capped off with a 2006 season Highlight Video prepared by Brian Duncan, including the work of photographer James MacDonald and Videographer Adam Mackey.
CRA Super Series To Race Three Times On The Legendary High Banks Of Winchester Speedway In 2007
Salem, IN (December 7, 2006) – CRA Super Series officials have announced that the CRA Super Series will have three events on the legendary High Banks of Winchester Speedway again in 2007. The series will have an event with the tracks season opener on Sunday, April 22, an event that will team the series with the USAC National Sprint Car Series again in what has become a huge Central Indiana race fan favorite. The CRA Super Series will again be a part of the Winchester Speedway Labor Day Weekend Stock Car Festival, on Sunday and Monday, September 2nd and 3rd, an event that has grown into one of the best attended racing events in the region. The series will also return as previously announced for the 36th Annual Winchester 400 on Saturday and Sunday, October 13th and October 14th.
Jeff Lane started on the pole of last April’s Manning Service 100 at Winchester Speedway, and he used that starting position to propel himself to his first CRA Super Series victory of 2006 in front of a standing room only crowd. Chris Gabehart started in third position behind Lane and followed Lane closely for the entire race trying to make a pass for the lead. Gabehart never trailed by more than three car lengths, but despite running very strong in the middle part of the race he could not find a way around Lane. The victory was the first at Winchester Speedway for Lane with the CRA Super Series. 1998 series champion Brian Rievley put on a show charging from his 13th place starting position to finish in third. Zach Taylor finished in fourth in his first ever race at Winchester Speedway followed by Tommy St. John in fifth.
Indianapolis, Indiana native Tommy St. John had led several CRA Super Series races, and finished second once, but had never led the lap that counted until Monday afternoon of Labor Day Weekend this past September at Winchester Speedway when he got his first series win in the McGunegill Engine Performance 100 which was part of the Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival Presented By Maple-Tarr Chrysler Dodge Jeep. The 2005 CRA Super Series Rookie of the Year got the win by leading all 100 laps from his pole starting position and holding off the strong challenge of April winner Jeff Lane. Eddie Van Meter finished in third, JR Roahrig in fourth and Scott Hantz in fifth.
The CRA Super Series will sanction the 36th Annual Winchester 400 again in 2007. It will be the fourth time that the series has sanctioned this prestigious event. Scott Hantz, the 2006 CRA Super Series Champion, got to add his name to the list of Winchester 400 Champions by winning the 35th Annual Ed Martin Auto Group Winchester 400 on Sunday, October 15th, 2006. Hantz inherited the lead while running third when current leaders Chris Gabehart and Clay Jones crashed hard after making contact coming out of turn two. Gabehart and Jones had raced side by side for several laps, Jones was racing on 7 cylinders after losing a cylinder early in the event. Both cars were destroyed in the wreck giving the lead to Hantz who was one lap down at the time. Alabama racer Augie Grill would finish in second, Tommy St. John in third, Jim Crabtree in fourth and John Heck in fifth.
Additional information on the CRA Super Series can be found at
www.craracing.net Additional information on Winchester Speedway is available at www.winchesterspeedway.com.
2007 CRA Super Series tentative scheduled events released to date:
April 22 - Winchester Speedway 100 Laps / Winchester, IN
May 26 - Berlin Raceway 125 Laps / Marne, MI
September 3 - Winchester Speedway 100 Laps / Winchester, IN
October 14 - Winchester Speedway 400 Laps / Winchester, IN
TOLEDO OH (11-22-06) – With a full head of steam, and a title sponsor signed through 2009, the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series, headed toward its ninth consecutive season of competition, has released its 2007 schedule with 12 championship events across five states and Canada.
The ALWTS season opens at Anderson Speedway (IN) on April 21 with the series’ milestone 100th event and stretches through to its season finale at Toledo Speedway (OH) on October 13.
“We’ve worked hard to define what the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series is and where we see it going,” said ARCA Vice President of Competition Joe Wells. “Working with our teams, sponsors, track operators, chassis and engine builders and tour officials to develop our plan, we feel good about the 2007 season and beyond.”
Season highlights include five companion events with the nationally touring ARCA RE/MAX Series at Salem Speedway (IN), Toledo (twice), Kentucky Speedway and Winchester Speedway (IN) on Sunday, May 5.
Holding true to its diverse nature, the traveling truck tour also mixes in some dirt track flavor with another appearance at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile-dirt in Springfield during the 152nd annual Illinois State Fair. The race will precede the next-day annual ARCA RE/MAX Series Allen Crowe 100.
The ALWTS also heads north of the border for a pair of events in Canada at Delaware Speedway in Delaware, Ontario and Sauble Speedway in Sauble Beach, Ontario.
In addition, events at Kil-Kare Raceway (OH) and Flat Rock Speedway (MI) will add yet more quality to the 2007 ALWTS schedule.
Salem, IN (November 20, 2006) – Champion Racing Association officials have announced that Racing Electronics will continue their support of the CRA Super Series for the 2007 racing season. Racing Electronics has been involved with the CRA Super Series since it’s beginning in 1997. Racing Electronics will continue to be the Official Radio Supplier of the Champion Racing Association and the CRA Super Series in 2007 and will continue its sponsorship of two awards.
Racing Electronics will award a $50 Product Certificate at each CRA Super Series event to the second place finisher for the Racing Electronics Second To None Award and to the driver advancing the most positions for the Racing Electronics Hardcharger Award. In addition Racing Electronics will award a $100 Product Certificate to the driver finishing second in the final 2007 series points for the Racing Electronics Second To None Season Award and a $100 Product Certificate to the driver advancing the most positions during the 2007 race season for the Racing Electronics Season Hardcharger Award.
Racing Electronics will expand its sponsorship with Champion Racing Association in 2007 to include the CRA Sportsman Series and will sponsor two awards in that series. Racing electronics will award a $25 Product Certificate at each CRA Sportsman Series event to the second place finisher for the Racing Electronics Second To None Award and to the driver advancing the most positions for the Racing Electronics Hardcharger Award. In addition Racing Electronics will award a $50 Product Certificate to the driver finishing second in the final 2007 series points for the Racing Electronics Second To None Season Award and a $50 Product Certificate to the driver advancing the most positions during the 2007 race season for the Racing Electronics Season Hardcharger Award.
Racing Electronics manufactures and supplies a complete line of Race Communication products and accessories, and has been serving the professional driver and pit crew as well as the race fan for over 18 years. In addition to our two stores in Concord, NC and Pleasantville, NJ, you can find our trailers at all NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch, Craftsman Truck Series, and NHRA races. We also attend many ARCA, IRL, and CRA Super Series races throughout the season. More information is available on Racing Electronics at
www.racingelectronics.com.
Champion Racing Association Releases 2007 Rules and License Information For All Three Divisions
Street Stock Rules Sportsman Rules
Salem, IN (November 16, 2006) – Champion Racing Association officials have released 2007 rules and license information for all three of its divisions. CRA Super Series, CRA Sportsman and CRA Street Stock teams will be mailed their respective rules and license information early next week. The information will also be on line for all three divisions at www.craracing.net.
Numbers from the 2006 season will be held for series members to purchase with their 2007 license until January 8, 2007. After that numbers will be sold with the series license form on a first come first serve basis. Any number that was not used in 2006 will be sold now on a first come first serve basis. After sending in their license form, teams can contact the CRA Super Series office at 812-883-0455 to check on the status of a number.
Champion Racing Association officials are currently working on all three divisions 2007 schedules and hope to have them complete to announce by early next month. Some dates could be released prior to each division’s complete schedule, those updates will be available on the series web site. One CRA Super Series date for 2007 has already been announced, the series will sanction the Winchester 400 again in 2007 on Sunday, October 14th.
Salem, IN (November 13, 2006) – Champion Racing Association has announced that the 2006 Champion Racing Association Awards Banquet will be held at the Holiday Inn in Anderson, Indiana at 5920 Satterfield Rd, just off exit 26 of I-69. The 2006 Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday evening, January 6, 2007. The 2006 CRA Super Series Presented By Spray Power Champions will be honored along with all the top fifteen teams in 2006 CRA Super Series Owners Points. In addition the top ten in CRA Street Stock points and the top ten in CRA Sportsman points will also be honored.
The 2006 CD-2 Rookie Of The Year Award winner with the CRA Super Series will be honored and will lead a group of selected CRA Super Series drivers and teams that will be awarded individual special awards at the Awards Banquet including the TDR Screen Graphics Sportsman Of The Year Award, the Darrell Teal Dedication Award and the Cometic