(Salem-IN) - Officials of the Champion Racing Association/Sunoco Super Series and the O’Reilly Southern All-Stars Series announced today that the Sunoco Super Series would be added as a Co-Sanctioning body to the May 3rd event at the Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville. The date was already on the O’Reilly Southern All-Stars schedule, but the chance to bring in the Sunoco Super Series set up a prelude to October’s "Civil War on Wheels 200."

"This just made a lot of sense," said O’Reilly Series promoter Ben Atkinson. "It was an off-weekend for the Sunoco teams, so bringing us together in May makes for a great tune-up to the big event in October."

The May 3rd event will be a points event for the O’Reilly Southern All-Stars, and therefore, be governed by their rules and procedures. Even though it is not a points event for the Sunoco Super Series teams, there are still great advantages to running that weekend. Besides the opportunity to race at Nashville prior to October’s big event, the Sunoco Super Series teams present will be competing for the Southern All-Star purse and awards. The teams will also be competing for many of their own additional awards normally posted at their events. The Southern All-Stars Series has also waived the temporary license fee for all Sunoco Super Series teams.

"I really think this is going to be a lot of fun for our guys," stated Sunoco Super Series Managing Partner R. J. Scott. "Without the pressure of being a points race, the guys that want, can go to Nashville and get a handle on the place before going back in October. We’ll take a few officials to help out where needed, but more importantly, we’ll be focusing on the common set of rules we’ll be developing for the ‘Civil War on Wheels 200’ in October."

Earlier this year, the American Speed Association announced they would promote a revival of the North vs. South concept to be known as the "Civil War on Wheels 200" on Saturday, October 18 at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville (TN). The event matches drivers from the Northern based Sunoco Super Series and Southern based O’Reilly Southern All-Stars Series, and features the richest purse ever for each series.

Over $85,000 in posted awards will be contested during the "Civil War on Wheels 200" with that number likely to rise. ASA is also planning to feature a highlight package of the event on their live national television broadcast the next day. The event will feature a 40-car starting field, paying $1,000 to start. The race winner will take home a value over $30,000 with a minimum purse check of $5,000 and a $25,000 value for the opportunity to compete in the ASA Racing Series season finale with an all expenses paid ride. In addition, the purse includes a bonus for the top-five finishers from each of the competing sanctioning bodies.

The significance of the October event now places even more importance on the May 3rd event, as it now becomes a prelude to the "Civil War on Wheels 200". For the teams interested, there will be an open practice on Friday night, May 2nd.