Post by Dirt Master on Mar 27, 2007 8:50:10 GMT -5
The $350,000 FASTRAK Dirt Late Model NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP begins
THIS WEEKEND at EAST ALABAMA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
By Mike Leone
March 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Carnesville, GA).This weekend the FASTRAK $350,000 National Points
chase begins at East Alabama Motor Speedway. Located in Phenix City,
Alabama, the dirt late model division begins its fourth season of
competition and what a year it should be at the 3/8-mile high-banked
oval. Drivers are expected from all over the South East United
States including Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.
Nowhere in the country can the "weekly racer" compete for such a huge
point fund. FASTRAK has grown in leaps and bounds over the last
several years and the fourth season gets underway with an open
practice session on Friday night, March 30 with qualifying, heat
races, last chance races, and the main event on Saturday night. For
more information, check out East Alabama Motor Speedway's website at
www.eamsdirt.com
"I am really glad to see the growth of the FASTRAK series," stated
East Alabama Motor Speedway owner Billy Thomas. "Those guys have
worked hard over the last several years. We've been with them from
the beginning and I'm glad we did. My son William competed with
FASTRAK in 2006 and he ended the season tied for seventh place in the
points paying him $5,500 at the end of the year. FASTRAK has done
everything they've ever said they would and we look forward to
supporting them for many years to come. On a weekly basis, we didn't
see the participation for membership like we really expected in 2006,
but I really think everyone thought the point fund was too good to be
true. Now they've seen that $250,000 was really paid in `06 with
even more coming in `07. I can't see why every team in the country
wouldn't join a deal like this. Take a $5,000 engine, tires that only
cost $125, you can race at your track every week or either the tour
every other weekend and go to a three-day race worth over $250,000.
It doesn't get much better than that!"
Not only does FASTRAK provide some of the most competitive Late Model
action in the country, but offers so much more to the fans.
Opportunities to win $25,000 in cash, a new Harley, new Chevrolet
pick up are just some of the things FASTRAK provides for the fans.
Touring events includes driver autograph sessions, the famed cash
tennis ball throw, kids inverts on the front straight, four-
wide "salute to the fans", and fireworks as the cars start the main
event.
Several of the top teams in the country are attempting to become
eligible for the $350,000 National Championship this season. Ray
Cook, Dennis "Rambo" Franklin, Ed Dixon, Shane Tankersly,
Mike "Flintstone Flyer" Duvall, 2005 FASTRAK Champions David
Browning, Joe Morris, Shanon Buckingham, 2004 FASTRAK Champion Todd
Higdon, 2004 rookie-of-the-year AJ "Sideways Watson, 2006 rookie-of -
the-year Chris Ferguson, 2006 Wythe Raceway Champion Chase McCormick,
2006 Pacific Coast Champion Greg Walters, Volunteer Speedway
Champions Warren McMahon and Allen Champ, 2006 Southern Region
Champion Lee Cooper, 2006 Mid East and Mid West Champion Chris
Carlson, 2007 Winter Nationals winner David McCoy, 2006 runner-up
Timbo Mangum, 2005 runner-up Roger Arowood, and local Hartwell,
Georgia's finest Frankie Beard.
Teams from across the country can compete for a minimal $95
membership fee. Track Champions at tracks utilizing the Goodyear
tires will be paid $1,000 directly from FASTRAK and Regional
Champions will be paid $5000 through 10 positions along with the
famed Grand Nationals paying a whopping $50,000 to win and through 30
positions.
Although still a three-day shoot out, each region this season will
hold "day one" in their respective regions then join up with all the
other FASTRAK Regions across the country to compete for the final two
days of the "Grand Nationals". Locations will be announced pending a
television deal that is currently in negotiations.
Last years Grand National Champion was Steve "Hot Rod" LaMance from
Six Mile, SC. LaMance won the $50,000 prize with a 1999 model race
car and competed at his home track each week only coming to the Grand
Nationals as a Touring event. "Most of the time we went to our local
track with an open trailer every week," stated LaMance. "We're not a
big budget team and winning the FASTRAK National Championship was the
best thing that has ever happened to me in racing. I ran Super Late
Models for years and finally got burned out on the pressure. Racing
with FASTRAK has put the fun back into the sport and the money at the
end of the year is incredible. I still can't believe I won it."
LaMance earned two loyalty points by competing in100% of the races at
his local track. And guess how many points "Hot Rod" won the
National Championship by? Two. That was the difference in the
championship over runner-up Timbo Mangum. "I understand now if we
had run 100% of the races we would have won the $50,000," deadpanned
Magnum. "I just never believed those two points would have been that
important. The FASTRAK officials kept telling everyone over and over
again how important those two points would be at the National
Championship. I can assure you we will have those two points this
year. Those two little points cost me $30,000 and that won't happen
twice."
LaMance did not win either night of the National Championship, but
finished well in each event. "Without my two loyalty points I would
have never won the $50,000," revealed LaMance. "To be perfectly
honest with you, my wife Teresa deserves the credit for that. She
insisted I go to race one night even when she was in the hospital and
couldn't go with me. Boy am I ever glad she did. I would have ended
up third and that was $10,000 instead of the $50,000 I actually won".
FASTRAK will be holding some major events in 2007 including
the "Goodyear Challenge" on May 25 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor
Speedway, $5,000 to-win at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee
the weekend prior to July 4 followed by another $5,000 to-win event a
few days later on Wednesday, July 4 at Pennsylvania's Mercer Raceway
Park, and then the richest FASTRAK event ever for the fourth
annual "PRO Dirt Late Model Nationals" at Wythe Raceway in Virginia,
which will pay the winner a cool $10,000!
FASTRAK has expanded quickly over the last three years. Now with 11
regions across the country, some 40-50 weekly sanctioned tracks and
more possibly coming even yet in 2007, let's just say FASTRAK is
definitely on the FAST TRACK.
Partners of the FASTRAK Racing Series Include: Goodyear Racing, GM
Performance Parts, Maypole Chevrolet, Duralite Wheels, PPM Racing
Products, Heintz Performance, MK-Direct, Braswell Carburetion,
Mastersbilt Racing Chassis, TNT Racing Chassis, Rocket Racing Chassis
and Modern Chevrolet.
For more information, check out the FASTRAK website at
www.fastrakracing.com or call 678-935-7304. To join our mailing
list, simply send an e-mail to fastrakpr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Partners of the FASTRAK Racing Series Include: Goodyear Racing, GM
Performance Parts, Maypole Chevrolet, Duralite Wheels, PPM Racing
Products, Heintz Performance, MK-Direct, Braswell Carburetion,
Mastersbilt Racing Chassis, TNT Racing Chassis, Rocket Racing
Chassis.
THIS WEEKEND at EAST ALABAMA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
By Mike Leone
March 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Carnesville, GA).This weekend the FASTRAK $350,000 National Points
chase begins at East Alabama Motor Speedway. Located in Phenix City,
Alabama, the dirt late model division begins its fourth season of
competition and what a year it should be at the 3/8-mile high-banked
oval. Drivers are expected from all over the South East United
States including Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.
Nowhere in the country can the "weekly racer" compete for such a huge
point fund. FASTRAK has grown in leaps and bounds over the last
several years and the fourth season gets underway with an open
practice session on Friday night, March 30 with qualifying, heat
races, last chance races, and the main event on Saturday night. For
more information, check out East Alabama Motor Speedway's website at
www.eamsdirt.com
"I am really glad to see the growth of the FASTRAK series," stated
East Alabama Motor Speedway owner Billy Thomas. "Those guys have
worked hard over the last several years. We've been with them from
the beginning and I'm glad we did. My son William competed with
FASTRAK in 2006 and he ended the season tied for seventh place in the
points paying him $5,500 at the end of the year. FASTRAK has done
everything they've ever said they would and we look forward to
supporting them for many years to come. On a weekly basis, we didn't
see the participation for membership like we really expected in 2006,
but I really think everyone thought the point fund was too good to be
true. Now they've seen that $250,000 was really paid in `06 with
even more coming in `07. I can't see why every team in the country
wouldn't join a deal like this. Take a $5,000 engine, tires that only
cost $125, you can race at your track every week or either the tour
every other weekend and go to a three-day race worth over $250,000.
It doesn't get much better than that!"
Not only does FASTRAK provide some of the most competitive Late Model
action in the country, but offers so much more to the fans.
Opportunities to win $25,000 in cash, a new Harley, new Chevrolet
pick up are just some of the things FASTRAK provides for the fans.
Touring events includes driver autograph sessions, the famed cash
tennis ball throw, kids inverts on the front straight, four-
wide "salute to the fans", and fireworks as the cars start the main
event.
Several of the top teams in the country are attempting to become
eligible for the $350,000 National Championship this season. Ray
Cook, Dennis "Rambo" Franklin, Ed Dixon, Shane Tankersly,
Mike "Flintstone Flyer" Duvall, 2005 FASTRAK Champions David
Browning, Joe Morris, Shanon Buckingham, 2004 FASTRAK Champion Todd
Higdon, 2004 rookie-of-the-year AJ "Sideways Watson, 2006 rookie-of -
the-year Chris Ferguson, 2006 Wythe Raceway Champion Chase McCormick,
2006 Pacific Coast Champion Greg Walters, Volunteer Speedway
Champions Warren McMahon and Allen Champ, 2006 Southern Region
Champion Lee Cooper, 2006 Mid East and Mid West Champion Chris
Carlson, 2007 Winter Nationals winner David McCoy, 2006 runner-up
Timbo Mangum, 2005 runner-up Roger Arowood, and local Hartwell,
Georgia's finest Frankie Beard.
Teams from across the country can compete for a minimal $95
membership fee. Track Champions at tracks utilizing the Goodyear
tires will be paid $1,000 directly from FASTRAK and Regional
Champions will be paid $5000 through 10 positions along with the
famed Grand Nationals paying a whopping $50,000 to win and through 30
positions.
Although still a three-day shoot out, each region this season will
hold "day one" in their respective regions then join up with all the
other FASTRAK Regions across the country to compete for the final two
days of the "Grand Nationals". Locations will be announced pending a
television deal that is currently in negotiations.
Last years Grand National Champion was Steve "Hot Rod" LaMance from
Six Mile, SC. LaMance won the $50,000 prize with a 1999 model race
car and competed at his home track each week only coming to the Grand
Nationals as a Touring event. "Most of the time we went to our local
track with an open trailer every week," stated LaMance. "We're not a
big budget team and winning the FASTRAK National Championship was the
best thing that has ever happened to me in racing. I ran Super Late
Models for years and finally got burned out on the pressure. Racing
with FASTRAK has put the fun back into the sport and the money at the
end of the year is incredible. I still can't believe I won it."
LaMance earned two loyalty points by competing in100% of the races at
his local track. And guess how many points "Hot Rod" won the
National Championship by? Two. That was the difference in the
championship over runner-up Timbo Mangum. "I understand now if we
had run 100% of the races we would have won the $50,000," deadpanned
Magnum. "I just never believed those two points would have been that
important. The FASTRAK officials kept telling everyone over and over
again how important those two points would be at the National
Championship. I can assure you we will have those two points this
year. Those two little points cost me $30,000 and that won't happen
twice."
LaMance did not win either night of the National Championship, but
finished well in each event. "Without my two loyalty points I would
have never won the $50,000," revealed LaMance. "To be perfectly
honest with you, my wife Teresa deserves the credit for that. She
insisted I go to race one night even when she was in the hospital and
couldn't go with me. Boy am I ever glad she did. I would have ended
up third and that was $10,000 instead of the $50,000 I actually won".
FASTRAK will be holding some major events in 2007 including
the "Goodyear Challenge" on May 25 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor
Speedway, $5,000 to-win at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee
the weekend prior to July 4 followed by another $5,000 to-win event a
few days later on Wednesday, July 4 at Pennsylvania's Mercer Raceway
Park, and then the richest FASTRAK event ever for the fourth
annual "PRO Dirt Late Model Nationals" at Wythe Raceway in Virginia,
which will pay the winner a cool $10,000!
FASTRAK has expanded quickly over the last three years. Now with 11
regions across the country, some 40-50 weekly sanctioned tracks and
more possibly coming even yet in 2007, let's just say FASTRAK is
definitely on the FAST TRACK.
Partners of the FASTRAK Racing Series Include: Goodyear Racing, GM
Performance Parts, Maypole Chevrolet, Duralite Wheels, PPM Racing
Products, Heintz Performance, MK-Direct, Braswell Carburetion,
Mastersbilt Racing Chassis, TNT Racing Chassis, Rocket Racing Chassis
and Modern Chevrolet.
For more information, check out the FASTRAK website at
www.fastrakracing.com or call 678-935-7304. To join our mailing
list, simply send an e-mail to fastrakpr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Partners of the FASTRAK Racing Series Include: Goodyear Racing, GM
Performance Parts, Maypole Chevrolet, Duralite Wheels, PPM Racing
Products, Heintz Performance, MK-Direct, Braswell Carburetion,
Mastersbilt Racing Chassis, TNT Racing Chassis, Rocket Racing
Chassis.