RACING HEADLINES
Attached photo of the RTD Motorsports, Inc. Chevrolet
by Terry Thompson / Gone Racin'
Accident ends West debut for RTD Motorsports
early
Steven Blakesley / RTD Motorsports, Inc.
North Highlands, Calif. � Mike Gallegos of Wheat
Ridge, CO and Rob Dixon�s RTD Motorsports, Inc. made
their debut in the NASCAR Camping World Series West on
Saturday at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA.
The RTD Motorsports, Inc. Chevrolet was unfortunately
caught up in an accident and finished 22nd.
Friday practice was almost completely washed out by
rain. The team also suffered some small teething
problems on their car that left them unable to
complete any full speed laps.
On Saturday, the team fared much better, but a
persistent tightness with the race car allowed
Gallegos to qualify only 24th.
The 25 year-old Gallegos showed great promise early in
the 150 lap race, passing four cars in the first seven
laps.
Gallegos made more progress before falling back in
traffic on the tight one-third mile asphalt oval.
�We got shuffled back after getting caught up behind
some slower cars,� Gallegos said.
Back in heavy traffic, Gallegos was in an almost
inevitable situation. Several accidents occurred in
Gallegos� territory.
On lap 99, two cars spun into turn one, and Gallegos
took evasive action. After making a hard left,
Gallegos was hit hard by fellow Drive for Diversity
driver Lloyd Mack, resulting in heavy damage to both
cars and eliminating Gallegos from contention.
The RTD Motorsports, Inc. Chevrolet was officially
scored 22nd.
�We definitely had a top-ten car,� Gallegos said.
�We�re starting out as a new car and a new team. We
just need to keep digging.�
Gallegos had high praise for his team and optimism for
the race at Phoenix.
�The team has all the faith in me and this is such a
change from last year, I almost feel like a rookie
again,� Gallegos said. �In this deal everyone on the
team takes responsibilities.�
RTD Motorsports, Inc. will now move forward to Phoenix
International Raceway, on Thursday April 12. The race
will be the first of two companion events with the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Race fans can learn more about RTD Motorsports, Inc.
by visiting www.rtdmotorsportsinc.com
RTD Motorsports, Inc. is brought to you by: TriCo
Welding Supplies, Inventory Sales Company, Gone
Racin�, TCS Adwear, PCB Solutions, PVC Specialties,
JDA, Longacre, Steve�s Transmissions, Carmichael
Towing, DC Racing Engines, and Blakesley Sports Media.
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA � March 27, 2008?Local sprint car driver Craig Stidham of Fresno will be on hand this weekend at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway looking to put his KRC Safety Inc, Brad Johnson Trucking sponsored No. 3 sprinter towards the front.
The event on Saturday is sanctioned by the traveling Golden State Challenge 410 Series and will be the first winged sprint car race of the season in the Central Valley. Stidham made 11 starts with GSC last year and scored five top 10 finishes, including one top five which came at the Thunderbowl Raceway�s Pombo/Sargent Classic.
Stidham is a former winner of the Trophy Cup as well as a past champion of the now defunct California Rebel Cup Series. The Fresno competitor was also the �02 Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year and finished a career high sixth in points with the series during the �03 year. This weekend he is expected to debut a new orange and white design on his No. 3 machine as he competes for the first time in �08.
Stidham will be just one of the many expected entrants on Saturday that will include current GSC point leader Tim Kaeding, World of Outlaw regulars Jason Meyers and Shane Stewart, USAC regular Brad Sweet, as well as top California drivers Jonathan Allard, Brent Kaeding, Tyler Walker and many more.
Tickets for Saturday night�s program at the Tulare Thunderbowl will be $18 for reserved grandstand seats and $15 for general admission bleachers. Visit http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com for a seating chart, list of hotels, directions and more.
USAC regular Sweet to pilot Roth 83jr. at Thunderbowl Raceway GSC event
Brad Sweet driving the Rodney Tiner 83 at the Mini Gold Cup. Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA � March 25, 2008?Thunderbowl Raceway officials have learned that current USAC National Sprint Car & Midget driver Brad Sweet will be aboard the locally based Roth Motorsports, HR Cattle No. 83jr during this Saturday�s Golden State Challenge Series event.
Sweet is a 22 year-old racer who is competing full-time this season for the Kasey Kahne Racing National USAC team. In addition to that ride the Grass Valley native has also spent some time in this early season driving for well known California crew chief and car owner Rod Tiner.
During the GSC season opening Mini Gold Cup Sweet brought home a pair of top five finishes, including a runner-up result on opening night. He also claimed a second place finish during the Silver Cup Race of Champions held last weekend at Silver Dollar Speedway. The youngster is also featured as the cover story of the current edition of Flatout Magazine.
Sweet will be just one of the many competitors looking break into victory lane this Saturday when the Golden State Challenge Series invades the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway. Tickets are on sale and can be acquired by calling (559) 688-0909. Reserved seats cost $18 and general admission tickets will be $15.
More info can be found at http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com
Madera Speedway Media Release – March 25, 2008
Dale Bosowski – Media Relations
Madera Speedway Revs Up for New Season this Saturday Night
The 2008 season at Madera Speedway will blast off this Saturday, March 29, with the 19th Annual Smokey Hanoian Classic. This special NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series program will feature six divisions of action packed racing plus a spectacular FIREWORKS extravaganza to celebrate the new season.
The Western Late Models (WLM) will head Saturday’s card with a 100-lap main in Round #1 of the HotWood 750 Series. Fans are guaranteed 100 laps of WLM pavement pounding racing, as only green flag laps will count in all HotWood 750 races! Also racing will be the American Limited Stock Cars, 360 Super Modifieds, Modified Super Toyotas, Toyota Sedans and the always-exciting Hornets.
The 2008 Madera Speedway schedule will include 24 racing dates with the Western Late Models featured in 24 races on 17 dates. Six of those WLM dates, with a total of 10 races, will count towards the separate HotWood 750 Series prize fund. To spur on even greater car counts, a WLM B Main prize fund has also been established in 2008.
In 2007, Mark Holeman, a 22-year-old engineering student from Los Altos, nipped Ross Strmiska, age 21 of Stockton and Trevor Schlundt, age 17 of Clovis, in an exciting down to the wire battle for both the WLM Madera track crown and NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series championship for California. Holeman will be back to defend his titles against the other “Young Guns” as well as a host of seasoned veterans such as Tracy’s David Philpott and Harry Belletto, age 65 of Modesto.
Madera’s strong tradition of open-wheel racing continues this year with six special SUPER Saturday Events featuring the 410 and 360 Modifieds, BCRA Midgets and Legends of the Pacific. Many other special events including three Enduros and three Demolition Derbies are also on the 2008 schedule.
After a very successful 2007, Madera track president Kenny Shepherd and his staff stayed busy all winter preparing for the upcoming season. In addition to putting together a diverse and exciting race schedule, fans and race teams will be pleased to see many improvements at the historic track including newly paved parking and pit areas.
“Our goal is to provide fans with a great experience, both on and off the track, when they attend an event at Madera,” explains Shepherd. “After the evening’s activities are over, we want them to leave our track feeling that they got more than their monies worth.”
If you just can’t wait until this Saturday, come on out on Friday, March 28 when the “Fastest 1/3 Mile in the West” will hold an open practice from 3:30 to 7:30 PM. The grandstands will be open on Friday without an admission charge to all fans eager to get a 2008 sneak preview.
Ticket prices for the Saturday, March 29 season opener are only $20.00 for adults, $18.00 for seniors 65 years of age or older, $15.00 for students, active duty military and juniors age 13-17, $5.00 for kids age 6-12 while kids 5 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult. A family pack ticket (two adults and up to two kids 12 years old and under) is also available for the bargain price of $45.00. Adult fans with a sales receipt from any Save Mart Supermarket store receive a $5 discount at the gate on race days. VISA and MasterCard are welcome at window #3.
On Saturday, March 29, the Madera Speedway pit gates will open at 10:00 AM, the grandstands open at 3:00 PM, heats and dashes begin at 5:00 PM and the evening’s opening ceremonies will kick off main event racing at approximately 6:00 PM.
The Madera Speedway is conveniently
located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west side of
Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit. The track’s Info/Race Line
phone number is (559) 673-RACE.
PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY...
18700 Lake Perris Drive...
Perris, CA 92571
(951) 940-0134
Contact Scott Daloisio (909) 226-7768 or Kim Donner (951) 940-0134
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAJOR LEAGUE SPRINT CAR RACING AT PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!
MAJOR LEAGUE SPRINT CAR RACING AT PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!
(MARCH 25, 2008, PERRIS, CA) While the first pitch of the Baseball regular season will not be thrown in Southern California until next Monday, fans can till catch some STEROID FREE Major League action – that is Major League Sprint Car Action – this Saturday night, March 29th, when Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply presents the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars at Don Kazarian’s famous Perris Auto Speedway. Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM with racing at 7:00.
The highly competitive series has produced six different winners in the first seven races of 2008 heading into Saturday’s showdown at The PAS. Ventura’s Cory Kruseman, the 2006 USAC/CRA champion, is the only driver with two main event wins thus far in 2008. He scored both of his victories at The PAS season opening weekend on February 8th and 9th. When the cars take to the brightly lit half-mile clay oval on Saturday, the 37 year old father of one will bring a slim 5-point lead over Temecula’s Mike Spencer in the championship standings. Spencer, a 26-year-old engineering graduate from Cal Poly Pomona, took advantage of a break in the USAC/CRA schedule last week to win the VRA main event at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway.
Hard driving “Showtime” Danny Sheridan won the last race at The PAS three weeks ago. The Santa Maria veteran scored his third ever PAS 410 win by besting teenage sensation Nick Faas, of Huntington Beach, and Spencer. One of the pre season favorites for the championship, Sheridan, who has had some mechanical gremlins early in the campaign, currently sits sixth in the standings.
Kruseman, Spencer, Sheridan and Faas are all expected to be in action this Saturday night along with defending series Champion Tony Jones and Tyler Brown, both of Norco, Manzanita fast qualifier “The Bullet” Blake Miller or Yorba Linda, Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Camarillo’s Josh Ford, “Dynamite David” Cardey of Riverside and a full field of USAC/CRA regulars.
Local fans are starving for the action, as it will be the first appearance of the popular cars at The PAS in three weeks. And, it will only be the fifth USAC/CRA Series race on their home track since last November. However, local fans can begin to breath a sigh of relief, as the series will revert to its almost every other week at The PAS format starting with Saturday’s event. In fact, beginning Saturday, the next five USAC/CRA races will all be at The PAS.
Saturday’s non-fendered 410 free for all will be fun for the whole family. The racing action will include qualifying, four ten lap heat races, a sudden death style 12 lap B main and a slide job filled 30 lap A main event. And, for the kids, there will be a Big Wheel heat race during one of the breaks in the action and, of course, the popular PAS Dance Contest at intermission.
Advance tickets for Saturday’s USAC/CRA race and night of family fun are available now by calling (800) 595-4849 or (951) 940-0134. You can also order tickets on the Internet at tix.com or perrisautospeedway.com.
Anyone wishing more information could contact Perris Auto Speedway at (951) 940-0134.
Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, home of the Southern California Fair. The track is approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go two miles east to the fairgrounds.
Video and DVD productions for all USAC/CRA at races Perris Auto Speedway are available from North Hollywood, California’s Raceway Video. For more information on these shows call Jeff Kristensen at (818) 618-9764 or visit the website at www.racewayvideo.com
AMA / NASCAR PACKAGE
This amazing package includes:
- 2-day ticket
to the AMA Suzuki Superbike Challenge,
April 26-27 - Pit pass for the AMA Suzuki Superbike Challenge
- Lower reserved seat to the Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, August 31
- Pit pass for the Pepsi 500
ONLY $105 - that’s a savings of $75!!!
For a limited time only.
Offer expires April 23rd—so don't wait!
Get them while they last!
For tickets or more
information,
call 800-944-RACE
Attached photographs of the RTD Motorsports Chevrolet,
Mike Gallegos, and Rob Dixon. All photographs are
courtesy Terry Thompson / Gone Racin' and are approved
for print use with credit given.
Further contact for media should be sent to Steven
Blakesley, Blakesley Sports Media. (916) 316-4854.
RTD Motorsports, Inc. and Mike Gallegos kick off
season on Saturday
Debut appearance for the team
Steven Blakesley / RTD Motorsports, Inc.
North Highlands, Calif. � After months of preparation
and testing, Rob Dixon�s RTD Motorsports, Inc., with
driver Mike Gallegos, is ready to tackle the 2008
NASCAR Camping World Series West opener Saturday
night.
The 25-year old Gallegos will compete in the #34 RTD
Motorsports Chevrolet in the Toyota Napa Auto Care 150
at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA. A sellout
crowd is expected for the event.
Gallegos, of Wheat Ridge, CO, has a long-standing
friendship and association with Dixon. 2008 will mark
Dixon�s debut as a car owner and Gallegos was his
obvious choice for his first driver.
Dixon�s roots trace back to Colorado and his work with
driver Rick Carelli. Dixon has also worked with Bill
McAnally Racing, Thompson Motorsports, and Justin
Lofton, earning a reputation as one of the top
fabricators and crew chiefs in the business.
RTD Motorsports is partnered with NASCAR�s Drive for
Diversity initiative, which places minority and female
drivers into top NASCAR development rides. This will
be Gallegos� fourth season in the program.
A Drive for Diversity driver has never won a NASCAR
Camping World Series race, but Gallegos seems poised
to be the first.
His career began in 1998 in karting. Gallegos then
advanced through the Legends ranks quickly and in 2001
became the youngest Late Model driver in Colorado
history.
Gallegos� best season was in 2006, when he finished
seventh in the NASCAR Midwest Series. He concluded the
season with a 12th place finish in the prestigious
Toyota All-Star Showdown.
A part-time schedule of West Series races in 2007
prepared him for the full 2008 slate.
Racing action will kick off Friday night with practice
and testing, with qualifying and the 150 lap feature
to take place on Saturday.
RTD Motorsports has launched its new website at
www.rtdmotorsportsinc.com
RTD Motorsports is presented by these fine sponsors:
TriCo Welding Supplies, Inventory Sales Company, Gone
Racin�, TCS Adwear, PCB Solutions, PVC Specialties,
JDA, Longacre, Steve�s Transmissions, Carmichael
Towing, DC Racing Engines, and Blakesley Sports Media.
Blake Robertson returns to Thunderbowl Raceway
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA � March 26, 2008?If there wasn�t already enough star power for this weekend�s Golden State Challenge Series event at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway, you can add in the expected return of Visalia�s Blake Robertson.
The veteran driver has long been one of California�s top talents, but has run an abbreviated schedule over the last handful of seasons while maintaining the highly successful BR Motorsports racing shop.
Robertson won the Silver Dollar Speedway title in 2003, but hasn�t been a full-time sprint car driver since �04. "Super Blake" scored a fourth place finish during a World of Outlaw event at the Thunderbowl in '03 and also picked up a fifth place finish at the Gold Cup Race of Champions in '04 at Silver Dollar.
Robertson will be racing the potent Doyle�s Harley Davidson No. 1hd this Saturday, which is tuned by talented crew chief Paul Silva who is regarded as one of the best young wrenches in all of sprint car racing. Last season saw Robertson attempt to compete at the Thunderbowl during a GSC event in Silva�s own No. 57, but motor issues put an early end to that night.
In his career he has won mulitple times at the Thunderbowl and has been widely regared as one of the top qualifies on the west coast. His last victory in GSC competition came in '01 however, and he will most certainly like to change that this weekend. Robertson did compete at the track in '06 during the Pombo/Sargent Classic where he finished runner-up on opening night.
�Super Blake� will be joined by a number of other top drivers on Saturday at 1/3 mile clay oval including Jason Meyers, Shane Stewart, Tim Kaeding, Jonathan Allard, Brent Kaeding, Tyler Walker, Brad Sweet, Roger Crockett, Mike Henry, Bud Kaeding, Jason Statler, Kyle Hirst, Evan Suggs and many more.
Log onto http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com to view a seating chart and then call (559) 688-0909 to get the tickets you want. Also featured on the bill are the Western States Modifieds.