By Brian Liskai: (Attica, OH) Start your Independence Day Weekend off with an affordable, fun, exciting night of racing at Attica Raceway Park on Friday, July 3.

Kears Speed Shop Fan Appreciation Night will allow families to enjoy the Fourth of July weekend and keep some cash in their pockets. General admission for the night of mud-slinging racing is just $10 to see the 410 sprints, Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Models, Fremont Fence 305 Sprints and Dirt Trucks!

To add to the excitement, it’s another Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title Championship Series event. The battle for the Kistler Cup is tight, with Byron Reed holding a very slim lead in the standings. The FAST Series will award over $50,000 in cash and contingency awards at the end of the season and is a separate point fund from both Attica and Fremont who will each crown their own champions.

Not only can the family get in for a low price, but they can munch on hot dogs for only $1 each and popcorn for 50 cents.

And, after hotlaps, the pit gates will swing open for all the fans to meet the drivers and crews, get pictures and autographs with their FREE Attica Raceway Park program.

To celebrate the nation’s independence, the American Legion will present the colors while Sue Sebetto will sing “America the Beautiful” and “The National Anthem.”

Some fans will get the opportunity to ride in the Baumann Auto Group Pace Truck and the thrill of riding in a push truck as a powerful 410 sprint fires off.

There will also be special give-aways throughout the night, including tickets to a Toledo Mud Hens baseball game.

Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday, July 3, with the racing action underway at 7:45 p.m. For more information log onto www.atticaracewaypark.com

By Brian Liskai:(Attica, OH) Heavy rains Friday morning coupled with a forecast of severe weather later in the afternoon and evening has promoted Attica Raceway Park officials to cancel the opener of the 27th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek. Mother Nature may have won the battle, but she won’t win the war, as “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant has rescheduled the Aaron’s Sales and Lease Speedweek race for Thursday, June 25.

“We had over two inches of rain Friday morning and the facility was flooded. That, coupled with the forecast of severe weather later… we didn’t want our fans and teams to be exposed to that danger,” said ARP Operations Manager Rex LeJeune. “The best part is we have a chance to make up this great traditional race on Thursday.”

Gates will open at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 25, with racing getting underway at 7:45 p.m. with the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions. Joining the racing action will be the Fultz Fabrications and Speedshop UMP Late Models running for an increased purse of $1,500 to win ($200 to start) the A-main.

The Ohio Sprint Speedweek will now open at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway on Saturday, June 20, and travel to Millstream Speedway near Findlay on Sunday. Speedweek will then continue at Wayne County Speedway near Orrville, on Monday and on to Hilltop Speedway near Millersburg on Tuesday before coming back to Waynesfield Motorsports Park on Wednesday.

The teams and fans will then head to Attica Thursday, June 25, before competing at Limaland Motorsports Park on Friday, June 26, and wrapping up the eight straight days of racing at Fremont Speedway on Saturday, June 27 with a big $10,000 to win finale.

For more information and ticket prices for Thursday’s Speedweek show, go to www.atticaracewaypark.com

By Bryan Autullo – FAST Public Relations: (Maumee, OH) As Night #10 of the Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series fell to Mother Nature, Byron Reed sits at the top of the point standings going into Ohio Speedweek followed closely by Craig Mintz and Brandon Martin. The F.A.S.T. Series points events will resume after the conclusion of Ohio Speedweek. July 3rd and 4th weekend will mark the half-way point of the 22 scheduled F.A.S.T. Series events. Ohio Speedweek is always one of the most exciting weeks of the year in Ohio 410 sprint racing. This year, with the inception of the F.A.S.T. Series, it will add even more excitement to the fierce competition the week typically brings. It will also pay bonus money to the F.A.S.T. regulars who have participated in every scheduled points event so far this season.

“We had a couple of generous fans approach us about the idea of paying a $500 bonus to the highest finishing F.A.S.T. regular in Ohio Speedweek points,” said Bryan Autullo, series co-founder. “We wanted to be able to reward these guys in some way and with the help of a few fans we will be able to do that. If one of these F.A.S.T. regulars should win the Speedweek title that bonus money will increase to $2000!” Autullo went on to say, “That’s a pretty nice incentive for one of these guys to race hard all week and represent the talent we see every weekend at Attica and Fremont as they travel around the state.”

If one of the F.A.S.T. regulars cannot take the top spot, a $500 Bonus will be paid to the highest finishing F.A.S.T. regular for the week. If a F.A.S.T. driver does win the Speedweek title and the $2000 bonus provided by Sambla’s Norwegian branch, the $500 will be awarded to the second highest F.A.S.T. driver in the week’s standings. Points will be based on the All Star Speedweek points system which awards 100 points to the winner of each event and is reduced by 1 point per position through the entire field (including B-main and C-main). No show up points are calculated for determining Ohio Speedweek points.

There have been a couple of rules set forth for eligibility to receive the bonus money as agreed upon by the fans sponsoring this award.
1. Driver must have competed in all F.A.S.T. points events through June 12, 2009.
2. Driver must be in the same car (same team/owner/number) as driven during those F.A.S.T. points events.
3. Driver must have Kistler Racing Products F.A.S.T. Series decal on both side panels of the top wing for each event throughout the week. (See a F.A.S.T. Series rep for decals if needed.)

The 14 Drivers/Teams eligible as of June 12th, 2009 are as follows:
04 – Cap Henry; 09 – Craig Mintz; 2+ – Brian Smith; 3j – Kevin Lee; 5r – Byron Reed; 9z – Duane Zablocki; 10 – David Harrison; 11m – Brandon Martin; 12 – Caleb Griffith; 15c – Chris Andrews; 16 – Bryan Sebetto; 48s – Andy Shammo; 312 – Mike Linder; X – Mark Keegan

“This will add an extra element of excitement to Ohio Speedweek for the fans of these drivers who compete in the Kistler Racing Products F.A.S.T. Championship Series,” Autullo said. “It will be fun to see how they stack up against the competition at other tracks around the State of Ohio.” The 2009 Ohio Speedweek kicks off on June 19th at Attica Raceway Park, then moves to Eldora Speedway on Saturday June 20th, Millstream Speedway on Sunday June 21st, Wayne County Speedway on Monday June 22nd, Hilltop Speedway on Tuesday June 23rd, and Waynesfield Motor Sports Park on Wednesday June 24th. Thursday June 25th is scheduled as a make up date if there should be any rainouts during the first part of the week. Speedweek resumes on Friday June 26th at Limaland Motorsports Park and wraps up at Fremont Speedway on Saturday June 27th for the $10,000 to win finale. “The Attica and Fremont events bookend the week of racing,” noted Autullo. “We want to wish the 14 eligible drivers the best of luck as they compete for the Ohio Speedweek title.”

By Brian Stickel (Knoxville Raceway Director of Marketing)(Knoxville, IA) There is nothing better than sprint car racing day in and day out. So when Ohio Speed Week kicks off on June 19th with eight days of racing in just nine days, the Knoxville Nationals 50th Anniversary Tour plans to be there. Attica Raceway Park will be the first stop on this swing of the 50th Anniversary Tour with the second stop June 20th at Eldora Speedway.

The Knoxville Nationals 50th Anniversary Tour hit the road in March of this year with a mission. The mission is to spread the word far and wide that sprint car racing is one of the most exciting forms of racing in motorsports. It is an affordable form of family entertainment where the action is never short of spectacular. With 10 to 15 races each night ranging from 6 to 30 laps something exciting is always happening.

The Knoxville Nationals 50th Anniversary Tour is traveling to traditional motorsports venues as well as non-traditional non-motorsports venues. When the Pella Motors Chevy 2500 pulls into town with the brightly adorned tour trailer fans and spectators can sign up to win tickets to the Knoxville Nationals and other great prizes. The sprint car simulator also allows fans an in the moment experience of what it might be like inside these 850 horsepower rockets. Kids can pick up a 50th Anniversary temporary tattoo and learn about the history of the sport and the great drivers who have participated over the years.

The gates open at 4:00 PM at Attica Raceway Park on the 19th for the O’Rilley All Stars Circuit of Champions event plus UMP Late Models. For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com.

The 49th SuperClean Knoxville Nationals presented by Lucas Oil will take place August 12-15 this year with the 50th being held August 11-14, 2010. The 2009 purse for the event is $912,805, in 2010 the purse will be increased to record setting $1,000,000. For more information about the Knoxville Nationals and other Knoxville Raceway events go to www.knoxvilleraceway.com or call (641)842-5431.