Weedsport, NY — January 17, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Showcased by a handful of high-paying happenings on both sides of the border, the 2009 DIRTcar 358-Modified Series is now in place with 14 eclectic events culminating with the crowning of the Hoosier Tire Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Champion for a 27th straight season.
“I am very proud of the way the mechanical aspects of this tour have brought it full circle during the past few years,” remarked 358-Modified Series Competition Director Gaston Salvas. “Everyone is on the same page today with the rules enforcing an engine program that provides twice the life and greater reliability. It is a great pleasure to supervise this series, one that seemed like a nightmare to manage with the amount of disparity once present among the tracks and their competitors. I feel we’ve got a perfect schedule in place this year with everyone working together and I’m looking forward to starting out strong again and having another successful year for the Small-Blocks.”
Autodrome Drummond introduced its biggest event in track history last season and sister speedway Autodrome Granby has matched the mega-dollar show on the ’09 agenda. Drummond is once again posting a lucrative single-day purse in excess of $40,000 for the September 19 showdown, while Granby has lined up its own 150-lap main event rewarding the winner $10,000 in the September 13 shootout.
It all begins when Can-Am Motorsports Park kicks off the ’09 Series on April 18 with a follow-up from last October’s Super DIRT Week special that was ultimately scrapped twice due to rain. Merrittville Speedway closes out the first month of DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast on April 25 before 358-Modified teams have three months to prepare for the annual Alex Friesen Summer Nationals, Ransomville Speedway’s premier Small-Block event on July 31.
Teams remain idle from tour activity in August before Cornwall Motor Speedway presents the lone event during Labor Day Weekend on September 6 to set the stage for a terrific tripleheader. The move for Mohawk Int’l Raceway from August to the second week in September now creates a stellar three-day mini-series as Brockville Ontario Speedway hosts its tour stop Saturday on the eve of Granby’s season-finale that is expected to attract the best Small-Blockers from both the U.S. and Canada.
As autumn rolls on so does the Small-Block Series as Rolling Wheels Raceway Park hosts the final event of the month on September 25. The green flag falls next in October with successive ‘Super DIRT Week’ specials scheduled at Can-Am (October 7), Brewerton Speedway (Oct. 8) and Rolling Wheels (Oct. 9) before the New State Fairgrounds attracts the top Small-Block stars in the Northeast for a fourth straight show featuring a $20,000-to-win 150-mile main on Oct. 10.
The curtain drops down Oct. 17 when Orange County Fair Speedway hosts the 2009 Mr. DIRTcar 358 finale as part of the prestigious 48th Annual Eastern States Weekend with $7,500 on the line for the 100-lap feature winner.
For additional information, please contact 358-Modified Series Director Gaston Salvas (450/655-5022 or 514/817-2270; e-mail gastonsalvas@hotmail.com) or DIRTcar NE Director Cory Reed at the Weedsport office (315/834-6606) during normal business hours. In the meantime, log into the DIRTcar homepage at www.dirtcar.com to find out more about the entire circuit.
2009 Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK LOCATION
Sat-Apr 18 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Sat-Apr 25 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT
Fri-Jul 31 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY
Sun-Sep 6 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT
Fri-Sep 11 Mohawk International Raceway Akwesasne,NY
Sat-Sep 12 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT
Sun-Sep 13 Autodrome Granby Granby,QUE ($10,000 to win)
Sat-Sep 19 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE ($10,000 to win)
Fri-Sep 25 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Wed-Oct 7 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Thr-Oct 8 Brewerton Speedway Brewerton,NY
Fri-Oct 9 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Sat-Oct 10 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY ($20,000 to win)
Sat-Oct 17 Orange County Fair Speedway Middletown,NY ($7,500 to win)
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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 and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Crane Cams, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.
