BY MIKE COLLINS, Sports Writer

Special from the Winchester News-Gazette

After a two-year hiatus, the 35^th running of the Winchester 400 will take center stage this coming Sunday afternoon at the historic Winchester Speedway and will cap off a full weekend of countywide festivities slated to take place in conjunction with this year’s event.

The Ed Martin Auto Group will be the title sponsor for the 400 while Champion Racing Association (CRA) will be the sanctioning body.

"We are very proud to be a part of bringing back this great event to the Winchester Speedway," commented Ed Martin Auto Group President Mark Harrison. " This race was one of the biggest stock car events in the country for many years and we want to see it return to that prominence again. This track has so much history and a lot of famous drivers have raced many, many laps around its famous "high banks." We hope the racers along with the fans will help us support this great weekend of racing!"

Since opening its gates in 1914, the Winchester Speedway has been blessed with the presence of some of the best short-track racers the sport has ever seen. Years ago the road to the Indy 500, more times than not, went through Winchester. Open-wheel veteran’s Gary Bettenhausen, Duane "Pancho" Carter, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., Tom Bigelow, Sarah Fisher along with Tony Stewart are just a few of the big names that "cut their teeth so to speak" on the treacherous half-mile on their way to Indy. Other past and present stars having the famed oval on their resumes include Harry Gant, Bobby Allison, Bobby Labonte, Mike Eddy, Bob Senneker, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Dick Trickle, Johnny Benson, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman to name just a few. All of which have added to the legend of the Winchester Speedway in some form or fashion and it doesn’t take one long to see first-hand just how special the place is.

This year’s Winchester 400 Weekend will also be a countywide affair thanks to the hard work and diligence of Pam Koch, Director of Randolph Vision Inc./ United Way Randolph County.

Pam was the driving force between the RC Chamber, the Union City Chamber, the city of Farmland and the Winchester Speedway to make this Saturday Oct. 14th a day in which race fans will have the opportunity to travel by bus to neighboring communities to shop, visit points of interest, dine, etc.

"Randolph Vision Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that developed from the United Way. The challenge was for counties to identify their strategies that they felt were most important and develop them into a plan. Then the United Way provides grant money that is given to the state and dispersed to the counties that want to develop their plans. Randolph County identified 5 (five) strategies. One of those being improving the quality of life for Randolph County in the sense of tourism and recognizing what we have in developing those kinds of issues. That’s where we tied into the Winchester Speedway. We were looking at the Speedway to be a countywide/ eastern Indiana marketing tool and tying it to the community. For some reason, it seems like this county is reluctant to go forward and I don’t know why. But the tide is turning and that is a very positive thing and that’s why it is so important that we work together as a county and not just individual communities. There is no problem with the individual communities but let’s have the overall umbrella of county economic growth. We don’t want people to just pass through Randolph County we want it to be their destination."

"I contacted the Indiana National Guard here in Winchester and they were very happy to work on this campaign with us. They want America to know that they are doing more than just fighting in Iraq.

"The National Guard has provided me with some buses for Saturday the 14^th. They will be driving people that are at the Speedway - those 2,000 or so race fans that are camped there - back and forth between the Speedway and Union City and the Speedway and Farmland approximately every two hours. We are hoping to get those people out of the racetrack and into our communities to eat dinner, see our Art Associations, shop or just visit. There are just so many things happening in Randolph County during the Winchester 400 weekend for people living in Randolph County and for those coming to Randolph County. I have promised Charlie (owner Charlie Shaw) that the buses will not interfere with any of the races. Everyone will be back at the track before any of Saturday’s races get started. We want everyone that comes to the Speedway this weekend to have a good time but it’s also an opportunity for them to discover Randolph County," noted Koch.

The buses to Farmland will make the short trip over to the Monroe Central high school parking lot where Dave Wall’s Monroe Central Golden Bears will be holding its 2^nd Annual Car/Truck & Motorcycle Show Fundraiser from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Also on hand will be the USAR Hooters ProCup Series stock car from the Bigelow Motorsports stable along with driver Alan Bigelow. On the inside of the high school at Monroe Central it will be the 17^th Annual Arts &Craft show from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. sponsored by PSI IOTA XI ETA IOTA Chapter from Parker City. Exhibitors will be on hand from throughout the state.

Pam would also like for any former members of the Randolph County Timing Association to please give her a call at 1-765-546-2708.

Following is a list of business’ that will be open Saturday for your shopping convenience:

FARMLAND: The Chocolate Moose, Farmland Cultural Center presenting "Memories of the Speedway", The Art Co-Op, Pizza King, Thrift E Market, Jabo’s Sports Bar, H & S Antiques, Main St. Coffee Co., Let There Be Lite Antiques, Old Thyme Market, Tanglevine Crossing, Bright Ideas Stained Glass, Aaro’s Flowers & Gifts, SugarBowl Art Company, Farmland General Store, James Hardware and last but not least R & R Liquors where the Coors Light NASCAR stock car will be on display from 1-4 p.m.

UNION CITY: The Old Hotel Museum, Kaup Pharmacy, Simply Relaxing, Whitacre Floor Coverings, Bouser’s Barn, KP Café, McDonald’s, Sweet Shoppe, Pizza King, Subway, Longfellow’s Shadows, The Historic Depot, Jo’s Corner Florist, Lion Paint Store, Didier Hardware, State Farm Insurance, Pizza Hut, My Favorite Flowers & Shoppe, Whitestone Computers, Ghyslain Chocolatier, Westfall’s News Stand, Union City Antique Mall and The Corner Cupboard.

Racing action begins Friday evening with open practice for all divisions, 1^st round 400 qualifying, the CRA Sportsman Feature and the Modifieds All-Star Challenge. Racing starts at 7:00 p.m.

The Winchester 400 will bring to a close another fine season of racing at "the world’s fastest half-mile". Greg Wood, Glenn Luckett, R.J. Scott and all the folks at CRA deserve a well-deserved pat on the back for having done an outstanding job of promoting and running the events this season.

Of course, it all starts with track owner Charlie Shaw. Thanks Charlie, for bringing some fine short-track racing back to Randolph County.