Weedsport, NY — April 16, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
The north country comes alive this weekend as Can-Am Motorsports Park presents its annual grand opening featuring round two of the 2009 Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship on Friday, April 17.
The big DIRTcar Racing doubleheader includes the lead-off Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series event on Saturday, closing out with the 75-lap finale boasting a $4,000 winner’s share.
Fresh off his popular tour victory at Black Rock Speedway on April 5, Sammy Reakes IV will head the Sportsman Modified contingent back to the LaFargeville, New York layout, with $1,000 saved for Can-Am’s 30-lap feature winner. Hauling in his no. 17K Whittaker’s Trophy Auto Sales/Bicknell entry from Palermo, N.Y., Reakes is certainly regarded as the pre-race favorite as he competed at Can-Am three times last season and headed home with two wins and a runner-up tally.
Reakes will be chased by an all-star cast with reigning Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman points king Chris Raabe from Napanee, Ontario the first in line to regain his seat on the throne. Logging his first win at Can-Am last July, Rabbe settled for 9th-place at Black Rock and owner Garry McColman has tightened up all the bolts on the no. 01 Scott Industrial Services-Kingston RV Centre-Tyroute Communications/TEO entry in preparation for Friday’s foray back in the states.
Reakes and Raabe will have to fend off top tour contenders Greg Panunte (’08 Mr. DIRTcar runner-up), Central New York standout Jeremy Pitcher and Canadian upstart Tyler McPherson on the spacious half-miler to keep up their early season title hopes. Solid runs were turned in at Black Rock by Adam Turner (4th), Dan Wiesner (5th), Jipp Ortiz (6th), Justin Wright (8th) and Matt Billings (10th), while Sportsman Series stars John Pietrowicz and Eric Giguere are sure to be in the hunt before the final checkered flag falls Friday.
Headlining the list of home track entries is defending Can-Am champion Brandon Sweet, who took three checkered flags last season en route to high point honors ahead of Mike Mandigo, Tom Conklin, Mark Webb and Ally Amell. Sweet placed 15th in the Black Rock lid-lifter while Conklin failed to qualify in the 49-car field.
On Friday the pit gates and general admission grandstands will both open at 5 o’clock. The drivers meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. with hot laps scheduled immediately after, followed by Xtreme Lubricants Time Trials and qualifying heat races. Admission for the event will be $12 adults, students ages 10 to 14 will be $5 and children 9 and under are free. Military can gain entrance for half price when they show a vaild ID and as always, Canadian money is taken at PAR.
Track information can be found at www.canammotorsports.com or by contacting Race Director Chip Burdick at 315/778-3407. Can-Am Motorsports Park is located off of NYS Route 411 and can be reached from the east or west by traveling the NYS Thruway to I-81 (Exit 36). Take I-81 North or South to Rt. 411 (Exit 49), then head west four miles.
For additional information, please contact DIRTcar NE Competition Director Cory Reed (cell 315/224-9009) at the Weedsport office (315/834-6606) during normal business hours or log into the homepage at www.dirtcar.com to find out more about the entire circuit.
2009 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK LOCATION/WINNER
Sun-Apr 5 Black Rock Speedway Sammy Reakes IV
Fri-Apr 17 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Thr-Jul 2 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Fri-Jul 3 Brewerton Speedway Brewerton,NY
Sat-Jul 4 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT
Sun-Jul 5 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT
Sat-Jul 18 Cayuga County Fair Speedway Weedsport,NY
Tue-Jul 21 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Mon-Sep 7 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Fri-Sep 11 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY
Sat-Sep 12 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT
Sun-Sep 13 Humberstone Speedway Pt.Colborne,ONT
Fri-Sep 18 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Sat-Sep 19 Genesee Speedway Batavia,NY
Sat-Sep 26 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Fri-Oct 2 Fulton Speedway Fulton,NY
Wed-Oct 7 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Fri-Oct 9 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Sat-Oct 10 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY
Sat-Oct 17 -TBA-
Sat-Oct 24 Black Rock Speedway Dundee,NY
NOTE:
–Two worst finishes through the end of September will be dropped by each driver; all October events count.
-A driver must make six DIRTcar weekly event starts at a single track to earn maximum home track bonus points of 360.
DIRTcar Racing Northeast main office is located in Weedsport, New York on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds www.cayugacountyfairspeedway.com, home of the 2009 DIRTcar All-Star Weekend, July 17-19, featuring Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series events for Sportsman and Big-Block Modifieds in the richest short-track show of its kind in the nation — the $20,000-to-win Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series “DIRTcar All-Star 100” on Sunday, July 19.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket retailer of parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets As of April 19, 2008, the Company operated 3,291 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, customer services, and on-line shopping for parts and accessories can be found on the Company’s web site at www.advanceautoparts.com.
The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire www.hoosiertire.com and VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com. Promotional partners include Rite Aid Corporation www.riteaid.com, Dig Safely New York www.digsafelynewyork.com and the University of Northwestern Ohio www.unoh.com and the contingency sponsors are Bars Leaks www.barsproducts.com, Bert Transmission www.berttransmission.com, Bicknell Racing Products www.bicknellracingproducts.com, Bilstein Shocks www.bilstein.com, Brodix Cylinder Heads www.brodix.com, Ferris Industries www.ferrisindustries.com, Integra Shocks www.integrashocksandsprings.com, Intercomp www.intercomp-racing.com, KSE Racing Products www.kse-racing.com, Motorsports Safety Systems www.motorsportssafetysystems.com, Penske Shocks, www.penskeshocks.com, Racing Electronics www.racingelectronics.com, Rislone Oil Stabilizer www.barsproducts.com and Wrisco Industries www.wrisco.com.
