Series | Karnac Racing News

2013 ARCA/CRA Super Series Dates Announced for Winchester Speedway

Two Traditional 100 lap Events to Lead up to 42nd Annual Winchester 400

Salem, IN (November 12, 2012) – Winchester Speedway owner Charlie Shaw and Champion Racing Association officials have announced the 2013 ARCA/CRA Super Series dates that will include the 42^nd Annual Winchester 400 on the famous High Banks of Winchester Speedway. The ARCA/CRA Super Series has raced at Winchester Speedway a total of 35 times since the series first season in 1997. 2012 ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Johnny VanDoorn is the series all time wins leader at Winchester with four, two of those came in the two 100 lap events in 2012. Ross Kenseth was the winner of the 41^st Annual Winchester 400, which was his second career series win on the High Banks.

As in the past the ARCA/CRA Super Series will have two 100 lap events that will lead up to the prestigious Winchester 400. The first 100 lap event will take place on Saturday, June 29^th under the lights. The second 100 lap event will once again be part of the famous Labor Day Weekend World Stock Car Festival, which will take place on Sunday, September 1^st, with the feature events on Monday, September 2^nd. The 42^nd Annual Winchester 400 Weekend will take place on Friday, October 11^th, Saturday, October 12^th with the 42^nd Annual Winchester 400 on Sunday, October 13^th.

Additional track and event information can be found at www.winchesterspeedway.com. More information on the ARCA/CRA Super Series is available at www.craracing.net.

By Scott|2012-11-13T14:14:30-05:00November 13th, 2012|CRA Racing Series, Featured, Front Page News, Racing News, Upcoming Events|Comments Off

Championship Contenders Finish Too Close for Comfort

Hendersonville, NC (11/12/12) –During ‘The Classic 3 Championship’ weekend at the Rock, Travis Swaim and Dillon Bassett not only had the responsibility of focusing on the race, but the Championship as well.

After Bassett clinched the Sunoco Pole, Swaim only led the Championship points by 66. Swaim’s team played out the different scenarios of how the race could go and what position they needed to maintain the points lead. The team was truly tested when Swaim started running hot only a few laps into the race. As he began to fall back into the field, the power steering on his machine was starting to fail. The only option was to come in a work on their car under green.

While Swaim’s team hustled to get back on the track, Bassett focused on winning the race. With the pressures of a potential championship, the 15 year-old rookie battled with Clay Rogers the entire race. Only to come up one position shy, Swaim was declared the official 2012 UARA Champion with an 18 point led. After a hard day of battling his race car, Swaim was relieved that his team’s hard work paid off.

Swaim’s team were not the only ones figuring out the different scenarios, the UARA officials had to be on their toes and prepared for anything on race day. According to the calculations, if a tie fell between the two drivers, the tie breaker would be the amount of wins. With both drivers having two wins this season, the officials had to look for another tie breaker, which would be the most runner-up finishes. Both drivers had two runner-up finishes prior to Rockingham. The next tie breaker would favor the driver who had the most third place finishes. Swaim lead with three while Bassett had two. (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-12T17:57:44-05:00November 12th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, UARA-STARS|Comments Off

Payne Hits Jackpot at IMCA Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 10) – Jeremy Payne outslugged a field of heavy hitters to become the first driver to win the top-paying event for IMCA Modifieds a third time.

Payne earned $7,777 for his Saturday night win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Duel In the Desert. The new 2013 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier had also cashed in at the 2005 and 2006 races.

“It’s awesome that this is my third one,” said Payne, who made the field by winning his Friday qualifier. “It’s been such a long time since I won the last time. I had some bad luck here lately.”

“It was a great race and my car was perfect,” he added, with a plug for car owner and teammate Johnny Saathoff. “The car worked really good on the bottom in hot laps so I just stuck with that.”

John Hansen was the runner-up. Two-time Duel winner David Murray Jr., two-time defending race winner Terry Phillips and Jeff Taylor rounded out the top five.

Steve Hayes was the IMCA SportMod feature winner. The 15^th annual Duel set an overall car count record of 308, with 253 Modifieds coming from 22 states and three Canadian provinces and 55 SportMods traveling from 11 states. (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-12T17:53:43-05:00November 12th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, IMCA|Comments Off

Don’t Count Him out Just Yet; Jay Fogleman wins PASS South North vs. South Shootout 150 at Caraway

Charlotte, NC 11/11/12– Veteran Jay Fogleman came in to this weekend’s PASS South North vs. South Shootout 150 at the Caraway Speedway as a man on a mission. That mission was pretty plain and simple; win the race and let the championship points fall where they may. Well consider it mission accomplished for the Durham, North Carolina driver as he picked up his second win of 2012, and more importantly gave his Bull City Racecars race team a shot at the series championship heading into the final race of the season at the Concord Speedway coming up on November 24^th.

“We knew coming in to these last two races it was going to take everything going just right for us to have a shot at this championship, and it just so happened to go our way this weekend. I knew we had a good car here this weekend in practice, but I was kind of all over the place with Tate (son of Jay Fogleman) making his PASS debut I never have had time to even think about the championship or capitalizing on a good run,” said Foglman in victory lane. “Right now I’m just happy to be back in victory lane, and the fact I can always remind Tate years from now that the first time we raced against each other I beat him.” (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-12T02:50:43-05:00November 12th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, Pro All Stars Series|Comments Off

BATESVILLE MOTOR SPEEDWAY RETURNS TO THE NeSMITH CHEVROLET WRS FOR 2013

CARTERSVILLE, GA – Batesville Motor Speedway in Batesville, AR will return to the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series line-up of sanctioned tracks for the 2013 season. Batesville Motor Speedway returns to the series with Friday night racing after being involved during the 2010-2011 seasons.

Drivers in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Late Model Division at Batesville Motor Speedway will compete for a track point fund, and a National point fund against drivers from other NeSmith Chevrolet WRS tracks. The National point fund will pay $10,000 to the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet WRS National Champion and pay back ten spot in the point standings.

“It’s time for Batesville Motor Speedway to return to the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series because the interest has grown over the past year,” Batesville Motor Speedway Promoter Mooney Starr said. “When we were involved with the series previously, we were the lone ranger, but last year, Malden Speedway in Malden, MO and West Plains Motor Speedway in West Plains, MO got involved and created some new interest in crate late model racing.” (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-12T02:47:10-05:00November 12th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, Racing News|Comments Off

Jimmy Owens Wins Second LOLMDS Title, Jonathan Davenport takes Quarter Master Rookie of the Year Title

WAYCROSS, GA (November 7, 2012) – Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN captured his second consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship in 2012. Owens, also known as the “Newport Nightmare” capped off another great season on the series by winning the season’s final event, the “Red Buck Dirt Track World Championship” and the $50,000 first place prize money. The Reece Monument Racing Team, owned by Mike Reece, put up some amazing stats during the 2012 LOLMDS season and will take home the $75,000 points check, along with numerous other awards at the series year-end awards banquet on December 6th.

Owens won seven Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events during the 2012 season. His wins came at Batesville Motor Speedway (AR) in May; Lucas Oil Speedway (MO) in May and July; Lawrenceburg Speedway (IN) in August; Brownstown Speedway (IN) in September; Dixie Speedway (GA) in October and Portsmouth Raceway Park (OH) again in October. Owens also recorded eleven (11) runner-up finishes in 2012 and an amazing 37 top ten finishes out of 38 points paying series events in 2012. The lone finish out of the top ten was a 16th place finish at Rome Speedway, only after leading most of the event to suffer a flat tire that set him back in the field out of the top ten. Owens took over the series championship points lead after the March 30th event at Jackson Motor Speedway (MS) and never relinquished the points lead the remainder of the season, beating out Don O’Neal by 470 points. (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-07T04:32:54-05:00November 7th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Racing News|Comments Off

Record-Setting 2012 Campaign Sees 23 Different Winners

Five drivers earn first win to showcase the rising talent around the country

CONCORD, N.C. – Nov. 6, 2012 – While Donny Schatz was the epitome of consistency during the second half of the season to claim his fifth World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship, 2012 was a year of parity for the premier sprint car tour.

In 74 points events, a record 23 drivers won at least one feature victory, including five first-time winners – Danny Dietrich, Brad Sweet, Lucas Wolfe, Travis Jacobson and Sean Becker.

Only two drivers – Schatz and Sammy Swindell – recorded two consecutive victories one time during the campaign.

Swindell led the series in feature wins with 13 – his most since 1997, which was the last year he won the championship. Swindell also recorded a series-best 21 heat race wins, 14 quick times and 143 bonus points in qualifying.

While the veteran ended a top those categories, diversity was spread across the board. A total of 58 drivers took the checkered flag first in at least one heat race, 21 drivers set a quick time and 63 drivers earned at least one bonus point in qualifying. (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-07T04:07:50-05:00November 7th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, Racing News, Sprint Cars|Comments Off

Rogers Wins the Race, Swaim Wins the 2012 Championship

Rockingham, NC (11/3/12) –Clay Rogers dominated “The Classic 3 Championship Weekend” presented by Richard Childress Racing Museum on Saturday, November 3rd at Rockingham Speedway. Rogers qualified runner-up to first time Sunoco Pole winner Dillon Bassett. Once the green flag dropped, Rogers jumped out front and led from green to checkered. He was awarded Tilton’s Most Laps Led Award.

During the spring visit to the Rock, Rogers had a strong car, but his loose racecar sent him spinning into the grass on the front stretch. Rogers has had tons of success at The Rock and was hoping for some redemption during the weekend. He was at top of the leader board during Thursday’s practice, started on the front row, and performed a flawless race.

With the five point bonus awarded to the pole winner, Bassett closed the gap point leader Travis Swaim had on him for the Championship. Bassett already clenched the 2012 Rookie of the year title and had every possibility of winning the Championship as well. With Bassett’s main focus on charging for the lead, he was aware of the problems Swaim was battling during the race. “When I saw the 28 having problems, there was a glimpse of hope for the Championship, but that wasn’t our main focus. We wanted to win the race,” says 2012 Rookie of the Year. “When you win races, points seem to take care of themselves; coming home 2nd is nothing to hang your head down for!” (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-06T00:45:34-05:00November 6th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, Racing News, UARA-STARS|Comments Off

JEGS Extends Sponsorship with CRA Through 2015

Salem, IN (November 5, 2012) – Champion Racing Association officials have announced that JEGS, the nation’s leader in high-performance auto parts, has agreed to extend its partnership with Championship Racing Series and its JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance through the 2015 circle-track season. John Coughlin, the son of JEGS founder Jeg Coughlin, signed the extension at the series last event of the season on October 27^th at Watermelon Capital Speedway.

“We love what the series has to offer to drivers and teams, and it’s a perfect match for us,” Coughlin said. “JEGS has been involved in drag racing for many years, and we recently decided to venture into oval-track racing. The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour is crucial to that endeavor, and we look forward to many years together.”

The template bodied crate motor asphalt late model series sanctioned by Champion Racing Association just completed its 16 race 2012 season that included 14 points events at 12 different race tracks in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, along with two non-point South events at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia. The series first event of the 2013 season will be a 100 lap South event with SpeedFest 2013 back at Watermelon Capital Speedway. (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-06T00:37:04-05:00November 6th, 2012|CRA Racing Series, Featured, Front Page News, Racing News|Comments Off

Matt Sheppard Three-Peats: Crowned Super DIRTcar Series Champion Third Year in a Row

Young Driver, Just 30, of Waterloo, N. Y., First Ever to Win Three Consecutive Series Titles

CONCORD, N. C. – Nov. 5, 2012 – Two-time consecutive Super DIRTcar Series Champion Matt Sheppard made it to the top again this year, becoming the first Big-Block Modified driver to score three series championship titles in a row.

“It put my name in the record books for a little while. It means a lot to me,” said the 30-year-old Sheppard of Waterloo, N. Y. “The first one was great, you always remember that; the second one was remarkable, it was just as good as the first one; but to win the third in a row, just the face that nobody’s ever done it before, that’s something really special.”

Sheppard and the team traveled with the series to The Dirt Track at Charlotte still in a heated points race going into PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals presented by NAPA Auto Parts. Jimmy Phelps and Brett Hearn were both within reach of the points lead, with two 40-lap, 150-point races left to determine the 2012 champion.

In the first feature race of the weekend Friday, Nov. 2, Sheppard finished 12^th and Hearn took 3^rd, putting “the Jet” within 60 points of the lead and further intensifying the championship battle going into Saturday’s finale. Britten took the initial lead in Saturday’s 40-lapper, but Hearn was right behind him, and a win for Hearn would mean that Sheppard a 14^th or better finish to clinch the title. As a result, Sheppard found himself taking fewer risks.

“When you’re down here just trying to win the race, you take more chances and you try to run a little harder,” Sheppard said. “I wanted to win the race, I wanted to run up front, but on the other hand, you’ve got to finish the thing. That’s the most important thing. (more…)

By Scott|2012-11-06T00:26:16-05:00November 6th, 2012|Featured, Front Page News, Super DirtCar Series|Comments Off