Lucas Oil Chili Bowl on SPEED Moved to February 14

TULSA, Okla. (February 13, 2010) – Reset that DVR, as the 24th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals broadcast scheduled for Saturday night, February 13, on SPEED has been reset to Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. EST due to the rain-induced shuffling of this week’s Daytona Speedweeks events.

So, cuddle up with that special Valentine or just get the whole gang together to catch the highlights of the 24th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals and Saturday’s stellar 50-lap Rockstar championship feature event, an event already being touted as ranking among the most spectacular in event history.

A total of 256 competitors from throughout the nation and beyond converged upon the QuikTrip Center’s Tulsa Expo Raceway for the January 12-16 event that culminated with Saturday night’s 50-lap Rockstar Energy Drink championship feature event.
That championship finale, along with other highlights throughout the week, will be included in the February 14 airing on SPEED.

Steve Francis Ready To Go Racing With His Own Team Again In 2010

ASHLAND, KY – Jan. 27, 2010 – Steve Francis is ready to go racing like he used to in 2010.

After spending the last two years as a hired-gun driver, the veteran dirt Late Model star from Ashland, Ky., is back this season in his familiar position as an owner-operator. The return of the well-known Steve Francis Racing No. 15 comes during the ‘Super Bowl of Racing VI’ scheduled Jan. 28-30 at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga.

“I’ve been my own boss for most of my career so I’m excited to be back on my own,” said Francis, whose primary focus in 2010 will be chasing the World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship that he won in 2007 when he last fielded his own team. “I’m sure there’s gonna be a little bit of an adjustment period, but I’m confident we’ll make this work because I have great equipment and a great group of sponsors and supporters.”

Buoyed by the continuation of his primary sponsorship deal with Valvoline for the 11th consecutive season, Francis, 42, has reassembled a formidable operation in the short time since his successful two-year association with Maryland car owner Dale Beitler ended in November. A flurry of activity in the Francis shop has him headed south to kick off ’10 with two Rocket Chassis cars powered by Custom Racing Engines – the same combination that carried Francis to his only WoO LMS title.

Francis has enlisted some close friends to help him in 2010, led by longtime speed shop and team owner Tim Logan and Logan’s son, Lee. The elder Logan plans to travel the circuit as Francis’s crew chief this season as well as provide his own pair of Russell Baker-powered Rocket cars for Francis’s use in selected non-WoO LMS events, while Lee Logan, who served as Francis’s crew chief in 2007, returns to the SFR fold on a part-time basis to handle work in the shop while Francis is on the road. Francis has also hired Derik Reese as a fulltime mechanic to further bolster his effort.

With Francis’s new S&S hauler and trailer not ready for pick up in Nebraska until after his season-opening southern excursion, he will make the trip using a rig borrowed from sponsor Harbaugh Amusement. The car he plans to pull out of the Harbaugh trailer for duty at Golden Isles will be a machine that Francis prepared for NASCAR star Ryan Newman to drive in a handful of 2009 events and has since reconstituted with his own trademark No. 15. Francis will also bring along a new Rocket – a mount sporting his new-for-2010 lettering and color scheme by JFR Graphics – but he’s uncertain when he will debut the car in competition.

The meet at Golden Isles is just the start of a busy month-long stretch for Francis. After departing Georgia he’ll enjoy a few days off in Florida before visiting Ocala (Fla.) Speedway for a test session on Feb. 3. Then he’ll head to East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., to run the final three nights (Feb. 4-6) of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Winternationals behind the wheel of a Blount Motorsports Rocket car alongside the team’s lead driver, Tommy Kerr of Maryville, Tenn., before spending a week (Feb. 8-13) at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH.

Francis will drive his own equipment in Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals, which includes DIRTcar UMP Late Model events on Feb. 8, 9, 10 and 12 and the season-opening World of Outlaws Late Model Series programs on Feb. 11 and 13. He won the second WoO LMS A-Main during last year’s DIRTcar Nationals.

Francis’s schedule won’t slow down once he leaves the Sunshine State. He’ll have to ready his new hauler and then, on Feb. 27, he will marry Amanda Ferrell in Bardstown, Ky. After a honeymoon trip he’ll return to the shop to prepare for the remainder of the 2010 WoO LMS, a grueling national tour on which he’s one of just two drivers to start all 237 A-Mains contested since 2004.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all the latest Steve Francis news and information by visiting his completely redesigned Web site at www.stevefrancisracing.com.

From Steve Francis Press Release

Stewart heads Down Under

Tony Stewart will join World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz and Midwest sprint car ace Tim Shaffer Down Under at Parramatta City Raceway later this month according to the track's Web site.

Our View For many sprint car drivers, this is an annual pilgrimage and they have come back to the States with some outstanding racers such as Brooke Tatnell in tow.

More Cup newsbreakers

Stewart 7th, Newman 22nd at Knoxville Nationals

After winning the Price Chopper 400 by Kraft Foods Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman hoped on a plane for Iowa to compete in the Knoxville Nationals. Tony Stewart finished seventh and Ryan Newman was 22nd in a battle won by Scott Bloomquist.

Our View Maybe that was why Stewart was so cranky in the media center following the race; he wanted to make sue to get to Knoxville.

Stewart, Newman and all of the other drivers in the garage that support grassroots racing have to be applauded.

Complete Results

Yeley injured in sprint car race

J.J. Yeley suffered three broken vertebrae in an American Sprint Car Series Bandits race at Lakeside Speedway Saturday night after flipping his car in turn one, according to AutoRacingDaily.com.

Our View The flip did not appear to be severe, but with several incidents in the race, it blurred into the background. Running short track races keep the drivers sharp, but they also run the risk of injuries such as this.

Complete Results

NASCAR veteran Schrader to take on USMTS Modifieds at Humboldt, Caney

CANEY, Kan. (Aug. 8) – NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader will strap on his helmet and compete in his own high-powered dirt Modified when the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour invades the Humboldt Speedway on Friday, Aug. 14, and the Caney Valley Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 15.

With the top dirt Modified drivers in the nation on hand at the two events, the competitors will have some added incentive to find victory lane while fans will have a chance to see one of the biggest names in auto racing history show his skills on the quarter-mile clay oval.

While Schrader, formerly of Fenton, Mo., is best known for circling America's superspeedways with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he is a highly-regarded prolific dirt track racer with a pedigree. He won't be looking for show up points ... he'll be looking to win.

Schrader will be making his 28th and 29th career starts with the United States Modified Touring Series at Humboldt and Caney. He has six top-5 finishes and eleven top-10s with a career-best finish of third (twice in 2008).

The events will be the fourth and fifth events of the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship — an 18-race, season-ending campaign that will culminate with the crowning of the 2009 USMTS National Champion.

The pair of $3,000-to-win shows will be the final two of a five-day swing to kick off the ’Hunt.’

On Friday, gates open at 6:00, hot laps begin at 7:30 and the green flag waves to start the first heat race at 8:00. Race fans can pick up $2-off discount coupons on Friday at the Casey's General Store locations in Chanute and Iola.

The Humboldt Speedway is a 1/4-mile semi-banked clay oval located near Humboldt, Kan., on US 169 at the Humboldt Exit, then 0.1 mile west, then 0.5 mile south, then 0.9 mile east. For more information call 620-431-2470 (office) or 620-473-3694 (track) or visit http://www.humboldtspeedway.com/. B-Mods and Factory Stocks will also be running.

On Saturday, grandstand gates open at 5:00, hot laps are at 7:30 and racing starts at 8:00. Also on the evening's schedule of events will be Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Turf Cars. Race fans can pick up $2-off discount coupons on Saturday at the Casey's General Store locations in Caney, Coffeyville and Independence. Check out http://www.caseys.com/ to learn more or to find the location nearest you.

The Caney Valley Speedway is a 1/4-mile semi-banked clay oval located near Caney, Kan., 0.8 mile west of the junction of US 75 and US 166 on CR 1600. For more information call 620-330-0485 or visit http://www.caneyvalleyspeedway.net/ on the World Wide Web.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit http://www.usmts.com/ online for the latest news and information from the USMTS.

From a USMTS Press Release

Jeff Purvis to visit Mountain Raceway Park

CARTERSVILLE, GA – National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee and former NASCAR star Jeff Purvis of Clarksville, TN will be the special guest of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series when they visit Mountain Raceway Park in Maryville, TN on Saturday night, August 15 for Round 15 of the National Tour with a 50-lap $3,000-to-win race.

Purvis will meet and greet the Mountain Raceway Park race fans with a special autograph and photo session from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night, August 15. There will also be Jeff Purvis collectables available during the session. Purvis raced at the track several times during the 1980s when the track was known as Smoky Mountain Speedway.

During the 1980s, Purvis was one of dirt late model racing’s brightest stars winning the prestigious World 100 race at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH three times, along with two NDRA National Championships and the 1986 Southern All-Star Dirt Late Model National Championship.

Purvis turned to the asphalt racing surfaces in the 1990s, winning the All-American 400 at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway a record three times and a pair of ARCA Daytona International Speedway wins. Purvis also began a NASCAR career that yielded four wins on the Nationwide Tour.

In 1999, Purvis had a desire to return to dirt track racing and that began a working relationship and a long-lasting friendship with the Founder and Director of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, Mike Vaughn. It was Vaughn who provided Purvis a car to race at the 1999 Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Late Model Series season opener in Brunswick, GA, his first dirt track race in ten years.

Purvis still had his NASCAR career going, but dirt track racing still brought Purvis national notoriety. In 2001 on the first ballot, Purvis was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.

A life-threatening crash in 2002 during a NASCAR race at Nazareth, PA all but ended Purvis’ NASCAR career. After a three-year recovery from a broken neck, Purvis and Vaughn ended up together again with a new and innovative motorsports project.

GM Performance Parts had developed a new and affordable “Crate” engine for dirt late models that was built and sealed at the factory to prohibit any expensive modifications. Purvis and Vaughn liked the idea and Purvis encouraged Vaughn to start a new series in 2005 that has become the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.

Purvis returned to dirt late model racing full-time in 2005 with the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series and finished sixth in the National point standings. Purvis was once a title contender in 2006, but another crash landed him in the hospital for a second time with a life-threatening neck fracture.

The difference between this crash and the 2002 crash were the difference between day and night, and brought an eye opening outlook on life for Purvis. He was by himself strapped in a race car in the 2002 crash. In 2006, he was traveling to a race at Talladega Short Track in the race team’s hauler with his family when it blew a front tire, crashed and burned to the ground.

While his family and crew members did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Purvis was injured while he was trying to pull his son Clay out of the bunk over the top of the cab during the crash. During his fight for life at Vanderbilt Hospital for the second time in his life, Purvis decided he needed to concentrate more on providing for his family.

After he was released from the hospital, Purvis returned home to Clarksville, TN to recover from his injuries and tend to his successful business, Queen City Metals. He has not raced since the 2006 highway accident.

“Jeff Purvis has always been my hero in racing, and it has been an honor to have him drive my race car and to compete in my series,” Vaughn said. “I know Jeff is looking forward to coming to Mountain Raceway Park on August 15 because he still has a lot of fans and friends in East Tennessee. A lot of the drivers in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series today miss competing with Jeff because they were able to learn so much just being on the same track with him.”

The NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Tour will be making its second appearance of the 2009 season at Mountain Raceway Park. Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA won the first race at MRP on July 18, an event that many in attendance said it was one the best races they had ever seen at the historic 4/10-mile clay oval with abundant two and three-wide racing.
For more information about Mountain Raceway Park call 865-856-8989, or visit the track web site at www.mountainraceway.net. For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com.

From an NESmith Press Release