Bluegrass Speedway 2008 Season

Fans of the Bluegrass Speedway are looking forward to an exciting 2008 racing season. This year’s season is set to open on April 19 and the opening events will feature an action kickoff on the David and Anita Ferrell ½ mile clay oval, with all the four weekly divisions participating in the event.

As the Bluegrass Speedway enters its 14th season of dirt track racing; fans get ready to descend on the nearby historic Bardstown in Kentucky, in preparation for this annual racing event. Every event to be held on the track this year will be a track points event and drivers are getting their vehicles ready to make the most of it. The racing will start with a 25 lap 44 Auto Mart Super Late Model division race, which will be the main event for this facet of racing. The Kentucky Cooperage Modified division will have a 20 lap main event, while the WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman racing will have just 15 laps in their main event. The main event of the Street Stock division will have 12 laps.

April 19 will be a busy day, with the pit area opening up at 15:00 and the grandstands opening up at 16:00. The Super Late Models and Modifies time trials will get started at 18:00 and racing should get underway at around 19:00. The Bluegrass Speedway will once again be part of the Contingency Connection program, giving drivers who have signed up plenty of product discounts and prizes.

The Bluegrass Speedway is located at 2221 New Haven Road at the point where the Kentucky Highway 31-E intersects with Exit 21, which leads to the Martha Layne Collins Parkway. General admission will be $10, while children under 12 years will get in for $5 and children under 6 get in free. A pit pass will cost fans just $25. With defending champions returning to try and maintain their titles and possibly more than $100 000 ready to be handed over in prizes, this year’s Bluegrass Speedway looks set to enjoy a busy and exciting season. Book your ticket now to make sure that you don’t miss out!

Mackena Bell Looks Set for Success

As one of NASCAR‘s newest rookies, seventeen-year-old Mackena Bell is also one of the few female drivers on the tracks. This young woman is already incredibly accomplished for her age and seems set to enjoy a successful future in the racing industry.

Mackena Bell has already carved quite a name for herself, so it was no surprise when she started her rookie season with a top 10 finish in the NASCAR Whelen Series this year at the All American Speedway in Roseville, California. Bell is the youngest competitor in this year’s California series and, while she is driving well, she says her focus isn’t to aim for the top. Instead she wants to spend her time this year learning all she can from the racing greats around her. Of course, she also wants to finish her races and improve her driving skills, but only time will tell if this already noteworthy young driver is going to be leaving other NASCAR drivers choking on her exhaust fumes.

Bell has been driving and racing since just 12 years of age and has progressed through the dirt and asphalt ranks with Championship Titles in both divisions. Her Championship Title as an asphalt driver came at the tender age of 14 and made her youngest driver to claim this honor in the entire 42-year history of her hometown track. In 2005 she graduated from the Lyn St. James Driving School and she has since claimed 4 Rookie of the Year awards and she has also won the title for ‘Most Inspirational Driver’. As if that wasn’t enough for the youth, she went on to establish her own company earlier this year. Called “Mackena Bell Motorsports” the youth is running a pretty impressive family-owned car. The car is a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix that has been fitted with a 2002 Lahorgue Chassis. It is powered by a Chevrolet 350 SPEC motor that was built by Harold Long and which is capable of producing over 400 horsepower. The vehicle has a stock front clip and 8-inch Goodyear tires. The car has been specially kitted out to ensure that the 5’3″ driver enjoys as much comfort during races as possible.

Bell’s team is still relatively small and is headed by her father, Kelly, while Dave Sciarroni of the Sciarroni Bros. race team acts as the Crew Chief. Mackena Bell will most likely run more than 20 races at the All American Speedway between now and October. She is definitely a favorite amongst this year’s NASCAR rookies, and only time will tell what sort of success her dedication and talent will bring her.

Exciting Berlin Raceway Season

Berlin Raceway‘s 58th season is set to begin on Saturday night at the .438-mile oval race track, which is located in Marne, Michigan. Raceway officials are expecting this years racing season to be bigger and better than ever before, with drivers arriving from both local divisions and visiting traveling series, a corresponding car count increase and subsequently more fans making their way to see all the great racing action from the stands. Already all five of Berlin’s local racing divisions are jam-packed with competitors and the resulting action should be great.

The Berlin Raceway has already received a record turn-out of 91 cars for the first test-n-tune of the season, which took place last Saturday. The practise run enabled drivers to run their cars on the track for the four-hour open practise session to enable them to make any necessary adjustments before the season gets underway. A second and final test-n-tune took place on Thursday and the track will officially open for the season on Saturday, April 12.

There will be plenty of action this season with the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock, the top-level Coors Light Late Model, the Engine Pro Super Stock and the Instant Cash Advance Sportsman divisions of the racing series. And that is just for the first week! The second week, starting April 19, will feature the all-new Burnips Equipment 4-Cylinder division – a much cheaper division that will allow even more promising rookies to take to the speedway. However, the main events that everyone is looking forward to are the ASA Series, the ARCA Series, “The Chet”, the Boyne at Berlin and the Open-Wheel Extravaganza. The Open-Wheel Extravaganza will include Auto Value Super Sprints, ISMA Supermodiefies and a triple sanctioned midget event. Other races include the Short Track Trucks, the Wolverine Outlaw Midget Series, the Vintage Racing Organization of America and the open-wheel Auto Value Super Sprints.

There will also be plenty of family-friendly fun in the form of fireworks, free kids nights, school bus races, food and drink specials, trash can bowling, the faster pastor race and number of amateur races. Fans from fourteen years of age and up will be allowed to enter the pits on race days this year, so youths will be able to enjoy a special treat. Why not book your ticket now to make sure that you don’t miss out on this spectacular four-week racing extravaganza? Tickets are on sale now and can be bought online or at the raceway, as well as at the Fifth Third Ballpark box office.

The 16th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Show Me 100

Anyone who has attended one of the last 15 Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Show Me 100s will likely be eagerly anticipating the 16th one. This great race not only features fantastic cars, but the big prizes draw some of the best drivers from around the country to this little corner of Missouri.

The next Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Show Me 100 is set to take place at Don and Billie Gibson’s West Plains Motor Speedway in Missouri’s West Plains near the end of May. With little over a month to go before the twenty-four engines are brought to life on the track, every effort is being made to ensure that this year’s Show Me 100 will be as good, or even better than in previous years. For starters each of the twenty-four cars that will be starting the race will receive an easy $4 200. This is to ensure that every single available racing slot is taken and that the racing action is as good as it gets. The winner, on the other hand, will enjoy $42 000 for finishing the 100 laps of the race before all the other drivers. Of course 2nd and 3rd place are also handsomely rewarded, bringing the total purse for the 16th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Show Me 100 to just over $200 000.

The race will take place on a 3/8 mile clay oval where it has been held regularly for the past fifteen years with much success. The West Plains Motor Speedway has one of the smoothest and raciest surfaces in the nation and the facility is one of the top in the country amongst both fans and drivers. So far the leading champion of the race is Wendell Wallace from Arkansas. Wallace has won the race three times – the last two wins were in 2006 and 2007 – and he will be back in 2008 to try and defend his ‘Race Champion’ title.

The racing will start on May 22nd between 19:00 and 21:30 with a practice night that includes a test and tune time. This will be followed by a BBQ dinner with the drivers and crews, and spectators are welcome to join for a small fee. The following night will see the cars heat up the track with their Super Late Models as they take part in time trials. The quickest qualifier will receive a $1,900 check and the top three finishers in each of the six heat races will go on to participate in the main event at night on Saturday May 24th. The remaining participants in the race will be able to take place in consolation events that will also take place on Saturday night. There will also be a small Open Wheel Modifieds support class which will be competing for a small $500 purse. Saturday will feature more than one race and the event certainly promises to be action packed. Tickets are $10 for children 6 and under, and $20 for adults. You can also get pit passes for all three days of the event. So book your tickets now and make sure that you don’t miss out on all the action!

Graham Rahal Makes History

He has been out of high school for less than a year, and already Graham Rahal has started making a name for himself – in fact, he’s put himself into the racing history books. At just over 19 years of age, Graham Rahal has become the youngest driver to win an Indy-car race.

Graham Rahal has managed to beat former record holder Marco Andretti by just 74 days. Andretti was 19 years, 167 days old when he first broke the record for youngest Indy-car race winner as a rookie on the Infineon road course in Sonoma, California, in 2006. Now, just days ago, at 19 years and 93 days old, Rahal has replaced Andretti as the youngest winner in Indy car history. The new record was set at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix circuit in Florida, during the second race of the season. Yet this achievement definitely didn’t come easy.

The trouble started eight days earlier when his team couldn’t get his car repaired in time for him to race in the season opener. That meant that he had to sit the season opener out. When the race finally started, it was raining and Rahal started ninth. This relatively good position soon meant nothing when he got hit from behind by Will Power and spun out. When he eventually managed to recover he was almost at the back of the pack. In a start that would discourage most drivers, it would seem that Graham Rahal just hunkered down and worked harder at climbing his way to first place.

His first major boost came when he became one of the first drivers in the race to switch from grooved rain tires to slicks as soon as the track started to dry. This pit stop put him second in line for the restart. Ryan Hunter-Reay was in first place but needed to conserve fuel and so Graham Rahal was able to make a good start and get a good lead at the restart. With less that four minutes left to the race, another caution caused yet another restart. Graham Rahal was in the lead but he was constantly dogged by Helio Castroneves, the winner of the previous two St. Petersburg races, and he had to work hard to make sure that Castroneves didn’t overtake him. His hard work paid off and Rahal was able to pull away from Castroneves in the last four laps of the 1.9 mile street course. The race lasted just two hours and in that short time Rahal made history.

Rahal’s father Bobby, himself a three-time season champion, greeted Rahal in the victory lane. They hugged and his father said simply: “Nice job.” When asked about his success in a later interview, Rahal said that the win felt “great” and praised his team for doing an “awesome job”. Way-to-go Graham Rahal!

Formula BMW Americas – Promoting Young Drivers

It’s young and exciting – it’s the Formula BMW Americas. A combination of youth, speed and talent, the Formula BMW Americas provides the ultimate starting point for aspiring auto racing enthusiasts. Youths from fifteen years of age and up can enroll and start climbing their way up the ladder to racing greatness.

It all started in the 1970s when BMW made the decision to support a junior team for the Procar series over a number of years. In doing so, they saw the need to provide a platform program that could provide the sort of education and training that young drivers needed. Between 1991 and 2001, the motor car company was also involved in the Formula ADAC Championship, where they not only provided engines but provided much needed assistance to young drivers who were progressing from go-karting to Formula racing. Many of the drivers assisted in this way later went on to compete in the international racing circuit of their choice. In fact, the past twelve years has seen more than forty different beneficiaries of their BMW ADAC Scholarships make their way into Formula 3. Ralf Schumacher is undoubtedly the most famous graduate of the scholarship program, and his success just goes to show how far young talent can go with the type of support provided through the Formula BMW Americas program.

While the Formula BMW program is only in its seventh year worldwide, it has gone from strength to strength and is now one of the top choices of karters looking to make the change from karts to race cars. The program provides aspiring young drivers off the kart tracks and provides them with three championship series in various parts of the world. The one in the Americas is certainly very popular and is currently seeing many young promising drivers receive the education and coaching that they need to become the best that they can.

BMW doesn’t just provide these young drives with financial support. They recognize that talent needs support to grow and so they are educated, coached and promoted to the greatest degree possible. In addition to this, the Formula BMW Americas races are exciting – with new young talents emerging every year to sweep the rug out from under the feet of previous favorites. So support this excellent concept; attend the races and make the most out of this excellent racing series. The Formula BMW America Series kicks-off on 16 May at Laguna Seca Raceway.

International Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction One to Remember

This year’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony promises to be one to remember. Set to take place on the 24th of April 2008, the list of impressive achievements starts with those introducing the inductees.

The A-list of racing celebrities starts with Johnny Rutherford, the legendary three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 who also enjoyed 27 career victories. He will be joined by David Pearson who won the Cup Series championship on three occasions in only four years. By the end of his career he had 105 official Cup victories under his belt as well as a whopping 301 top-five finishes. Ned Jarrett will also be introducing an inductee. Besides winning the NASCAR Cup Series title in both 1961 and 1965, Jarrett is tied with Junior Johnson at 10th place on the all-time list with 50 Cup victories under his belt. What makes Jarrett’s accomplishments even more remarkable, was that he retired at just 34 years of age at the pinnacle of his success – the only NASCAR driver to ever do so. He was inducted into the Hall himself in 1991.

While he may not be a racing great, he is a great name in the racing world – H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s President and General Manager, will also enjoy the privilege of introducing an inductee. Wheeler is known for being one of the top promoters in the field and was the man responsible for enabling LMS to hold night races as well as being one of the first tracks to offer all the thrills and frills that most of us now consider to come standard with any good racing track. Other announcers include Jim Hunter – who served as the Public Relations Director and the Vice President of Corporate Communications for NASCAR at different times in his 40-year career in the industry – and Buddy Martin, who became a racing legend whose backing of Ronnie Sox enabled the pair to make it to the top of the Drag racing profession.

As if that wasn’t enough, the inductees for this year are: Art Arfons (land-speed record breaker), Robert ‘Red’ Byron (NASCAR champion), Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins (a drag-racing genius), Frank Kurtis (leading car fabricator), Everett “Cotton” Owens (NASCAR owner and driver) and Ralph Seagraves (Winston promoter).

Certainly any fan of the racing industry would consider it a rare privilege to be under the same roof as all these racing greats. Any fans of the industry simply have to do their utmost to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. So book your tickets now and start making your plans to attend this years Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. You won’t regret it!

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

If you live in Florida, get ready to enjoy all the excitement and action at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Held annually in St. Petersburg, Florida, this fantastic Indy Racing League IndyCar Series is broadcast on ESPN or ABC – but nothing compares to being right where the action is!

The city of St. Petersburg is certainly no stranger to fast cars and a festive atmosphere. The first race in the city took place in 1985. After that it took place regularly at the downtown waterfront circuit until 1990. The city took a short break from racing and started up again in 1996 when the cars ran on a short course around the Tropicana Field for two years. The main race of the day was the SCCA Trans-Am Series. Other races, such as the U.S. FF2000, the World Challenge, the Barber Dodge and the Pro SRF, were also held here. Unfortunately the new course was not considered to be satisfactory and so St Petersburg was again left without the sound of powerful engines roaring around a track at top speeds. In 2003 the city saw a racing revival with Champ Cars that lasted for only one year. It was only in 2005 that IndyCar racing really started to pick up momentum in this great city.

When IndyCar racing returned to St Peterburg in 2005, the race took place on a non-oval track and it was the first non-oval race course to form part of the IndyCar series. The course is currently a street circuit that connects the two landing strips of the Albert Whitted Airport. The course runs up 1st Street and makes its way back down near the beachfront before returning to the airport. The entire circuit encompasses Pioneer Park, the Bayfront Center and the IRL Paddock. At this point in time a Ballpark has been proposed for the area inside the course. As this ballpark is built, it may give cause to disrupt, change or even cancel the race in the future. Fans, however, hope that the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will suffer no further setbacks.

The 2008 race is scheduled to take place from the 4th to the 6th of April. Tickets range from $10 (for juniors) to $110 for the best seats in the house. So get your ticket now and make sure that you don’t miss out on this great IndyCar series action!

The ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series

Any one who loves their vehicles big and fast will love the ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series. Set to take place this Saturday night on 5 April 2008, the racing series will highlight an impressive five divisions of truck racing. This is the ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series’ 12th season of racing and it certainly looks as if it will be one of the best racing seasons ever.

The ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series is a regional racing series that caters for mid-sized racing trucks. The series caters to a wide range of driving talent, and drivers may range between 14 and 60 years of age. The next races will be held at the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale. So far this year the ASA-STC has already seen some crazy action. Not only have two first-time winners emerged, but 15 year old Chris Buescher from Texas has set the fastest qualifying lap time, won the trophy dash and taken the 100 lap feature during the last fifty feet of the last lap. This was Chris Buescher’s first time inside a speed truck, which makes this remarkable feat even more astounding. If the rest of the ASA-STC Series continues at the same pace, this weekend’s racing is bound to be phenomenal. What’s more, the Toyota Speedway is a team favorite with a fast track and multi grooves which give drivers plenty of elbow room.

Added to all this excitement is the West Coast Pro Truck Series, which will also be taking place this Saturday night at the Toyota Speedway. Previously this leg of the series featured a 30 lap race that was won by Ricky James. On the one third mile paved oval inside the half mile track the Legend Cars will be running a 25-lap race. After this feature, the same track will host the speedway’s Bandolero division. These cars may be small, but they are quick and five youngsters have the opportunity to fine-tune their talent from a very young age.

If you want to make sure that you’re part of the action, get ready to book your ticket now! Added to the madness is a Recession Buster Night special that enables fans to purchase two tickets for the price of one. The gates will be open from 16:00 and the racing action will start at around 19:00. So get there early and make sure that you don’t miss out!

Penn Can Speedway Season Starting Soon

All stock car enthusiasts will be happy to know that the Penn Can Speedway‘s racing season is due to start soon – real soon. In fact cars will start screaming around the racetrack from Friday, April 25th. This years racing is going to be sponsored mainly by Boughton’s Auto Salvage and will include a wide variety of vehicles.

In actual fact the action will be starting on April 13 when the first scheduled practice day will take place. Further practice runs will be held on the 18th and 20th of April before the gates open for the season. All practice races will take place weather permitting. Any car owners who are interested in testing and tuning their vehicles in preparation for the season are invited to come and participate in this pre-race preparation. The Penn Can Speedway will be holding races for stock cars, super stock cars, sportsman, late models and modified and four cylinder vehicles will also featured on the racing calendar this year.

Each year the Penn Can Speedway plays host to some of the most exciting action in the region. It sees the likes of Mike Gular, Brian Weaver, Jeff Rudalavage, Billy Thornton, Joey Grammes, Mike Colsten and Mike Nagel take to the raceway and compete for the titles. Modified drivers who are planning to make a comeback include Chris Weaver and Dave Jenkins. Other divisions will see the likes of Dave Zona, Tracy Gregory, Bud Phillips, Jeff Crambo and Mike Loney returning the Penn Can Speedway yet again.

If you want to be a part of all the auto racing action, get yourself to the Penn Can Speedway from April 25th. You’ll find it on Route 171 in Susquehanna, which is in Pennsylvania. Other sponsors for the 2008 season include Don’s Automotive Mall, Pump-N-Pantry Stores, Bernheisel Race Components, Gary’s U-Pull-It, Trackside Products, Pine Line Auto, Sunoco Race Fuels and American Race Tires. For more information about the races you can visit the racetrack’s official website or contact the speedway office on 570 858 9928. So don’t waste another minute. Book your ticket for the Penn Can Speedway and enjoy one of the most exciting auto racing events in the region!

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