Louisville, KY (October 8, 2006) – Chuck Barnes Jr. won the 2006 KY Clutch & Performance Late Model Championship at Salem Speedway Saturday night, beating two-time champion Keith Gardner. Barnes and his father, Chuck Barnes Sr., made history at the famed High Banked ½ mile oval by becoming the first father and son to win division championships in the same season. Barnes Sr. captured his sixth Lucas Oil Super Stock Championship Saturday night.

"It’s great to win the late model championship at my home track," remarked Barnes Jr. "This track has a lot of great history, my dad is a big part of that history, so it means a lot to our family to have both of us win a championship in the same season. My family has raced together for many years at this track, we’ve had good times and bad times here, but tonight was really something special!"

Barnes Jr. started the evening with a 13-point lead over Gardner, who has won consecutive championships the last two years at Salem Speedway. The lead grew to 16 points after qualifying, but the inverted start put Gardner on the inside pole starting position. Outside pole starter Pete Mayden would get the jump at the start and take the lead. Gardner challenged Mayden early in the event, but Mayden would pull away to get the win over Gardner in second. Barnes Jr. kept Gardner in his sights running third through out the entire event.

"I really don’t like points racing, I would rather be racing for the win anytime, but I did what I needed to do to win the championship. I settled into third and pretty much cruised. I could see Gardner in front of me the entire time, I just stayed out of trouble and kept him in my sight. Congratulations to Pete Mayden on getting his second win in a row this season!"

"I have to thank my mom and dad, they’ve been behind me since I started racing. I want to thank the rest of my family and my friends for their support. I want to thank the guys on my crew for their hard work this season. I also want to thank all my sponsors Crown Spray Power Multi-Purpose Cleaner, Anytime Towing, Speed Media, ARP Stock Car Bodies, AP Racing, Hawk Performance and Blake Carburetion, with out their support I would not have been able to win this championship."

Chuck Barnes Sr. came into Saturday’s Lucas Oil Super Stock Championship event just needing to start the event to win his sixth championship in that division. Barnes Sr. won his sixth championship in style, first by almost breaking his track record in qualifying, then came from his fourth place starting position to grab the victory in Saturday night’s 50 lap season championship event.

Barnes Jr. now turns his attention to next weekend were he will attempt to make his third ARCA RE/MAX Series start at Iowa Speedway for TC Motorsports. Iowa will be the third ARCA RE/MAX Series event this season that Barnes Jr. has driven for TC Motorsports owners Tammy and C.E. Clower. Barnes Jr. won in his first event ARCA RE/MAX Series start at Toledo Speedway on September 1^st, beating seven time series champion Frank Kimmel in a green, white checker finish. Barnes Jr. finished fourth in his second start at Salem Speedway on September 16^th, coming from the back of the field after an early flat tire in the event.

"I’m really looking forward to racing at Iowa Speedway. It’s a brand new 7/8 mile track that is really fast and is great to race on from what I saw in the Hooters race there. It will be our toughest test yet with TC Motorsports and the ARCA RE/MAX Series, there will be a lot of good cars there, I just want to make the show, complete all the laps and hope for a good finish."

More information is available on Chuck Barnes Jr. at www.chuckbarnesjr.com