The Sunoco Super Series will return to the High Banks of Salem
Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, October 23rd and 24th
for the 1st Annual CRA Salem Speedfest Presented By John Jones
GM City. The Spray Power 125 Presented By Sunoco and John Jones GM City
will be the series championship points event, and will pay the winner
$5000. It has been three years since the Sunoco Super Series last visited
Salem Speedway on Sunday, October 7th, 2001. Legendary Canadian
racer Junior Hanley came away with the victory that day, one of four
victories with the series Hanley has captured on the famed ½ mile
racetrack. Hanley is tied with former two-time Sunoco Super Series
Champion Brian Ross with the most series victories at Salem Speedway.
Louisville, Kentucky’s Chuck
Barnes Jr., a winner in three different divisions at Salem Speedway and
the 1999 Street Stock Champion, will look to claim the 2004 Sunoco Super
Series Points Championship on Sunday afternoon. Barnes, the 2003 Sunoco
Super Series Rookie Of The Year, currently holds a 26 point lead over
Scott Hantz and a 61 point lead over third place runner Junior Hanley.
Barnes had two Late Model victories earlier this season at Salem Speedway
competing with Salem Speedway’s KY Clutch & Performance Late Models.
Barnes Jr. hopes to use that experience to his advantage against the tough
competition that is at every Sunoco Super Series event.
"It’s really neat to come
back to Salem Speedway with the Sunoco Super Series with a chance to win
the Championship," remarked Barnes. "It won’t be easy, Junior Hanley is
awful tough here and Scott Hantz is good at what ever track he races at.
Our goal is to go out and be the Fast Qualifier and win the race, that way
we don’t have to worry about were we finish for points. It would be very
special to win the championship at my home track!"
Other top series competitors
that will challenge for the $5000 payday include current series top rookie
in points Chris Gabehart. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the
Engineer Major currently resides in Lafayette, Indiana while completing
his degree at Purdue University. Gabehart was a winner earlier this year
in Salem Speedway’s KY Clutch & Performance Late Models, Gabehart held off
a hard-charging Pete Mayden to get the victory. Gabehart currently leads
fellow rookie contender Steve Moenck by 16 points.
2003 series champion Bobby
Parsley has show his ability on high-banked tracks in the past. Parsley,
from Shepherdsville, Kentucky, scored three series victories last year,
two at Anderson Speedway and he won the prestigious Winchester 400 at
Winchester Speedway last October.1997 series Champion Kenny Tweedy has
entered along with fellow high bank series veterans Rick Turner, Dave
Jackson, Bull Baker and Eddie Van Meter.
Wheaton, Illinois second
generation driver "Fast" Eddie Hoffman, who is currently tied with Jeff
Lane for the series in victories this season with three so far in 2004,
will make his first ever visit to Salem Speedway. Hoffman scored three
wins in three appearances and was on his way to a fourth straight when a
broken Upper A-arm put him in the wall at I-70 Speedway on October 9th.
Lane was the series latest winner this past Sunday at Baer Field Speedway
in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, he’ll try to make it two in a row this Sunday.
Midwest Region NASCAR
Champion Charlie Menard will make his Sunoco Super Series and Salem
Speedway debut this weekend. Menard is the nephew of Menards Home
Improvement Stores founder John Menard, and cousin to Paul Menard who
currently races in the NASCAR Busch Series with Dale Earnhart
Incorporated. Paul Menard previously competed at Salem Speedway with the
ARCA RE/Max Series. The Eau Clair, Wisconsin native was the LaCross
Fairgrounds Speedway Late Model Champion this season.
The Salem Speedway regulars
will be well represented for the event. 2004 Salem Speedway KY Clutch &
Performance Late Model Champion Keith Gardner, from Louisville, Kentucky
has entered along with the 2004 winner Pete Mayden of Jeffersonville,
Indiana. Salem Speedway regulars Brad Craven, John Heck and Tom Craze are
also expected to compete with the Sunoco Super Series.
The 1st Annual
CRA Salem Speedfest Presented By John Jones GM City will also see the
return of the USA Modified Series to Salem Speedway. The series will crown
their 2004 champion in a 50-lap feature event. 2002 series champion Rodney
Scott currently leads 2003 series champion Jason Dietsch by 24 points. Two
other divisions will also see action in the Salem Speedfest including a
50-lap Sportsman event that will pit the best of the Salem Speedway Super
Stocks against a variety of regional talent in some great stock car
action. The SuperTruck division will have the best of the Anderson
Speedway Trucks competing against the best of the CARS Series Trucks in a
30-lap shootout for bragging rights for which series is the best on the
High-Banks!
Pits open on Saturday
October 23rd at 8AM. Spectator gates will open at 11AM.
Practice for all four divisions will begin at 11AM and will be followed by
qualifying for all four divisions at 2:30PM. There will be heat races for
the USA Modifieds, Sportsman and SuperTrucks beginning at 4PM, and will be
followed by a party in the Pavilion with live music. Pit gates open on
Sunday, October 24th at 9:30AM. Spectator gates open at 11AM.
There will be a warm-up session for all divisions beginning at 11:30AM.
The race program will begin at 1PM and will include Last Chance races if
needed, and then the feature events will run including the Spray Power 125
Presented By Sunoco and John Jones GM City for the Sunoco Super Series.
Tickets are currently selling at the Salem Speedway ticket office. More
information is available at
www.salemspeedway.com, or
here.
