GENE PRICE MOTORSPORTS LATE MODEL RIVER SERIES HIGHLIGHTS HAVASU 95 ACTION THIS SATURDAY

The Havasu 95 Speedway will present its fans with another full evening of ASA sanctioned racing this Saturday night highlighted by an appearance from the Gene Price Motorsports Late Model River Series. Also making a contribution to the racing excitement level will be the ASA street stocks, factory stocks and the vintage sprints and midgets. The most scenic quarter mile asphalt oval is located within the Sara Park complex in Lake Havasu City-Arizona.

The phenomenally popular Gene Price Motorsports Late Model River Series is now at the half way point of the current winter racing season. The series' schedule is equally divided between the Havasu 95 Speedway and the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway. In its brief history the series has quickly become a fan favorite because it features close quarter competition from a highly talented field of late model stock car drivers who range from veterans, who know the fast way around a short track, to youngsters who are looking to climb the ladder of their budding racing careers.

Going into Saturday night's race, the series' championship picture is being led by a youngster who has been impressing everyone for several years now. "Awesome" Austin Murphy will be looking for another series win in Lake Havasu City in an effort to pad his current points lead. In four series events the Lancaster-California high school student has two feature wins, along with a second and third place finish. Making his competitive level even more "awesome" is the fact that his team, After Hours Racing, will be debuting a newly constructed late model this weekend.

Murphy will arrive at the Havasu 95 Speedway this weekend with a 28 point lead over former series champion Bobby Keirns. The local driver is well aware of the fact that he has some work to do to towards eradicating Murphy's lead and said "we just need some really good racing and some really good nights. But I do think that we've got something for him, (Murphy). We've got a lot of points to make up and four races to do it in. Our car is fast, I'm pretty excited and optimistic about the whole deal. I can't wait to get this thing going again, we're looking forward to this Saturday night."

But that pair of drivers will have to keep a sharp eye on another pair of drivers expected to be on hand Saturday night. One of them is Mark Schriner a veteran of late model campaigns who fully understands what it takes to win feature races and track championships. Schriner is currently ranked sixth in the series standings but that's only because circumstances caused him to miss a race back in November. He has a feature win during the current campaign and will be a pre race favorite to get another one Saturday night.

Yet another strong factor in the series 50 lap feature will be the presence of Lake Havasu City driver Jerry Snell. Jeff Murphy, the father-crew chief-car builder of the series points leader, has regarded Snell as a major source of competition for his team. Snell is currently ranked eighth in the standings. Unfortunately circumstances forced him to miss two of the four completed events. But it can't help but be noticed that the two races Snell did compete him resulted in a feature win and a second place finish.

Yet another exciting level of racing action, at the Havasu 95 Speedway Saturday night, will be the presence of the ASA street stocks. This ASA street stocks have been completely dominated by the series' elder statesman Ralph Adams. Then again, at age 69, Ralph Adams is the elder statesman at any race track he chooses to show up at. In four events during the current winter racing season Adams has four feature wins and a repeat track championship seems to be eminent. That success is based on years of experience, a race car that is always well prepped and an extremely smooth driving style.

While Adams has been busy taking his much younger competition to racing school this season, there are a trio of younger drivers in this division who are currently engaged in a very tight battle for second in the championship standings. Phillip Waterman and Rick Maddox Jr are tied for second at 174 points each while Rick Benzansen is only four points behind them.

The fan favorite factory stockers will be bringing their special blend of racing excitement to the Havasu 95 Speedway this Saturday night. The series' teams will also be bringing a very close championship battle to the track this weekend. Shawn Deitch and Scott Allen are tied at the top of the rankings with 256 points each. The rotating drivers from the Big O Tire team is also a very big part of the championship profile and are only two markers away from the co leaders. Also never to be overlooked here is the presence of Lisa Snell who is only two points away from third and just 12 points away from the top of the standings.

The Havasu 95 Speedway loves to bring back the exciting racing days of yesteryear. They will be doing just that again Saturday night with a special exhibition race featuring vintage sprint and midget open wheel racers. These cars hold a very prominent place in the history of racing in America. For old school racing fans their presence will be a blast in the past to the days when these open wheel cars barnstormed their way to race tracks all over the country. For younger racing fans the presence of these vintage racers will be an exciting look at history.

The Havasu 95 Speedway racing weekend actually begins on Friday night with a test and tune session for the teams from 6 to 9 pm. Spectators will be admitted free to watch the practice session.

On Saturday race day the spectator gates will open at 4pm with the racing getting underway at 6pm. General admission tickets for Saturday are $12. Tickets for seniors, 55 plus, the military and the handicapped are priced at $10. Kids tickets, ages six to 16, are $6 while kids five and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paid adult. The speedway also offers a family package for $25 which admits two adults and two kids. Fans can also enjoy the special amenities from the speedway's VIP section for $25 which features the best seats in the house for watching the racing action.

For out of town teams and fans the Days Inn is the official motel of the Havasu 95 Speedway. They offer beautiful and spacious rooms at very affordable rates. Call toll free for reservations at 800 835 2410. Reservations can also be made online at www.thehavasuinn.com.

For more information about racing at the Havasu 95 Speedway dial up their official website at www.havasu95speedway.com or contact promoter Bill Rozhon at 928 716 6300.


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Historic racing series coming to Barber Motorsports Park

Barber Motorsports Park will host the first event in a new historic racing series led by Bobby Rahal, three-time CART champion and winner of the 1986 Indy 500.

The series will feature Formula One, Can-Am, Grand Prix, Trans-Am and other classic cars mostly from the 1960s and 70s competing in eight races May 21-23.

The series, tentatively called Legends of Motorsports, has three races scheduled -- Barber, Watkins Glen in New York in June and Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Canada in July -- with plans to add one or two more, Rahal said Friday.

Rahal said he and his two partners in the series expect 200 to 250 cars to be entered with drivers coming from all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“We think 10,000 to 15,000 would be a good number the first year,” Rahal said of expected attendance.

The cars will be required to be historically accurate.

“If the car had drum brakes in its day, it has to have drum brakes for the race,” Rahal said. “It has to be true to the original.”

Tires will be less strict on historic accuracy, but cars like Corvette Stingrays will have to use treaded tires while Can Am cars will have racing slicks.

“We’ll probably have cars worth more than a million dollars in this race,” Rahal said.

That raises the question of whether the driver of a million-dollar car will be willing to mix it up on the track and risk a wreck. Rahal said that shouldn’t be a problem since most drivers of these cars are “Type-A personalities.”

“If you can afford a million-dollar car, you can afford to fix it,” he said.

The event will include qualifying heat races. The races will be 30 minutes each with about 20 to 25 cars per race and no pit stops.

There is also a road rally scheduled from the track to Mountain Brook Village the day before the event starts.


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Key Motorsports Completely Out Of NASCAR Truck Series

Key Motorsports initially established itself in NASCAR through the former Busch Series, known today as the Nationwide Series, before entering the Camping World Truck Series in 2004. The immaculately prepared #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverados became a fixture in the NASCAR Camping World Series for several seasons prior to rejoining the Nationwide Series in 2009.

Team owner Curtis Key began selling off the teams fleet of NASCAR Trucks early last fall with the remaining four trucks sold Monday to Ramirez Racing, a new team being formed by Daisy Ramirez.

"We are out of the truck series," Curtis Key said from his Mooresville, North Carolina shop. "Our focus is on the NASCAR Nationwide Series. We built a solid Truck Series program but the lack of interest from corporate marketing partners caused us to return to the Nationwide Series. I think the racing is great in the Truck Series and we enjoyed our time there, it just doesn't offer the return on investment like the Nationwide Series."

With the fleet of NASCAR Trucks liquidated, Key Motorsports now focuses solely on improving their position in the Nationwide Series. After returning to Nationwide at the beginning of the 2009 season Key Motorsports arrived in Daytona last February without any owner points or the luxury of a provisional starting position. The team made the field at Daytona and rallied all season to finish the year out 21st in NASCAR owner points. The Key Motorsports #40 Chevrolet Impala will have a starting spot when they arrive in Daytona next month for the Camping World 300.

"Key will have a solid team ready for this season," Key added. "We will continue to build our Nationwide Series program throughout this year and beyond."


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