Concord, NC — March 14, 2008 — By Chris Dolack, VP Public Relations
This is it, the final weekend for the Alltel All-Star contest is here. Voting at AlltelAllStar.com concludes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night and it’s a virtual photo finish in the making between UMP DIRTcar Open-Wheel Modified driver Dave Hess Jr. and Sprint Car racer Wayne Johnson.
Weedsport, NY — March 13, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
The 2008 Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series opener, 7th Annual North-South Shootout at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway on Saturday, March 22 is just nine days away.
Weedsport, NY — March 12, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
Weedsport, NY — March 11, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director
Motorsports Safety Systems (MSS) and G-FORCE Racing Gear are back together for a second straight year partnering with DIRTcar Racing NorthEast, in 2008 recognized as the official sponsor of the DIRTcar Rookie of the Year program.
Weedsport, NY — March 7, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
Qualifying procedures for the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series continue to follow a double standard in 2008 with heat race inversions after time trials once again shaping the Big-Block Modified starting grid for nearly every tour event.
Weedsport, NY — March 6, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
Integra Shocks has partnered with DIRTcar Racing and for the third straight year will continue to play an active role in point fund sponsorship of the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series during the 2008 race season.
Weedsport, NY — March 5, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
For the ninth consecutive year Hagerstown Speedway is scheduled to kick off the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series in Maryland. Launching the 10th straight year of active involvement by Roanoke, Virginia-based Advance Auto Parts, the 2008 edition falls on Easter Weekend with the 'North-South Shootout' 100-lap feature winner collecting a $6,000 top prize on Saturday, March 22.
"We always anticipate one of the best Big-Block fields of the year for the Series opener,” said legendary promoter Frank Plessinger, who helped christen Hagerstown's 61st season on March 2 with reigning Mr. DIRTcar points king Brett Hearn winning the 30-lap Modified opening day main event. Hearn, a 23-time feature winner at Hagerstown, also captured the 2006 Advance Auto Parts Series century grind. “We always have a great show under the lights and with the biggest stars in the business here, the fans are in for a real treat.”
Fresh off his Alltel DIRTcar Nationals title shared with Billy Pauch at Volusia Speedway Park in February, Hearn will be looking for his second victory of the young season at Hagerstown. “We’re always confident coming here with all the success we’ve had,” said Hearn, 49, who owns the all-time Advance Auto Parts Series mark of 98 tour victories. “We’ve finished in the top-five three of the past four years so we’re hoping to get off to another fast start. Doing well in Florida was a big boost for everybody on the team and picking up a tour win at Hagerstown would be a great way to begin the season up north.”
Last season the battle for supremacy in Hagerstown’s tour-lid-lifter came down to past Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block champions Tim Fuller, Gary Tomkins, Billy Decker and Hearn, with eventual ’07 overall points runner-up Fuller dominating the action to score his first Series triumph in the Old Line State. Runner-up Hearn edged Tomkins on the last circuit in a race that was extended to 105 laps while Decker settled for fourth ahead of hard charger Rick Laubach, who started 26th in the 30-car feature race field.
The 2008 Advance Auto Parts Series points race opener is expected to attract all the top teams in Modified racing today as they contend for the prestigious Hoosier-Sunoco Mr. DIRTcar Championship and the biggest share of the season-ending point fund in excess of $200,000. Hagerstown's century grind leads off the 23-race Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRTcar Series with the Northeast's premier Big-Block tour running from March through October and featuring extra-distance races at 17 dirt tracks in four states and two Canadian Provinces.
As the defending Hoosier-Sunoco Mr. DIRTcar points champion, Hearn will have his hands full holding off all-time DIRTcar Big-Block Modified feature winner Alan Johnson, two-time Hagerstown tour titlist Gary Tomkins (2002, '04) and inaugural Hagerstown race winner Steve Paine (2001). Upstarts looking to dethrone the cagey veterans are Empire State wheelmen Jimmy Phelps, Dale Planck, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson, Billy Dunn and first-year tour regular Ryan Phelps.
The competition has been fierce in the initial six events staged at Hagerstown as 19 drivers have finished among the front-five with only five wheelmen ---Decker, Tomkins, Alan Johnson, Hearn and Fuller--- able to repeat. Still in search of his first Series checkered flag at Hagerstown, Decker (19.016 sec./94.657 mph) set the one-lap tour speed record around the ultra-smooth Hagerstown half-miler in 2005, the same season the race won by Alan Johnson when the event was rain-delayed until June. Advance Series events in 2000 and ’03 were lost altogether due to early spring precipitation.
Joining the mighty Advance Auto Parts Modifieds in the doubleheader program will be the Late Models. Pits gates are scheduled to unlock at 3:00 p.m., grandstands open at 4:00 p.m. with warm-ups starting at 5:30 p.m. followed by Integra Shocks Big-Block Time Trials. Hagerstown Speedway is located on U.S. Route 40, four miles west of I-81. For additional information, log into www.superdirtcarseries.com, contact the speedway office at 301/582-0640 or visit the track website at www.hagerstownspeedway.com.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is the second-largest retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, based on store count and sales. As of October 6, 2007, the company operated 3,228 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The company serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets.
2008 Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series ScheduleWeedsport, NY — March 4, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director
The title of overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Champion remains recognized as one of the most prestigious designations a driver can hold in short-track auto racing today.
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