Northeast Motorsports Expo to feature Pit Crew Challenge
Bangor daily news reports:
Northeast Motorsports Expo to feature Pit Crew Challenge
The auto racing season warms up this weekend with the 27th annual Northeast Motorsports Expo at the Augusta Civic Center and the highlight will be the third Heluva Pit Crew Challenge.
The Benjamin Motorsports crew for Pro All-Stars Series Super Late Model North driver Travis Benjamin from Morrill has won the first two challenges.
"We hit on something with the Pit Crew Challenge. It has grown. I think we'll have 40 teams attempting to qualify," said Steve Perry, who owns and runs the Northeast Motorsports Expo.
There were 30 crews last year.
Each team consists of a jack person, two tire carriers and two tire changers and the teams will begin trying to qualify based on time on at 5:30 p.m. Friday night and at noon and 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
The field will be whittled down to 16 finalists and the final competition will begin at noon Sunday.
The winning crew will earn $750 and a 55-gallon drum of Sunoco Racing Fuel and the second- place team will earn $300. All 16 finalists will receive a variety of prizes, according to Perry, who also hosts the Mainely Motorsports television show.
There will also be three other fun-oriented pit crew challenges on Saturday: one for track and tour officials at noon, another which will include a team comprised of one media member, two women, a driver and a crew member at 5 p.m. and an all-female competition at 7:30 p.m.
There will be over 50 exhibits and vendors and there will be seminars, featuring Shawn Waddell from Waddell Communications and marketing expert Debby Pastrana, mother of Travis Pastrana, who is a 10-time X Games gold medalist, four-time Rally America driver champion and former Xfinity (Nationwide) Series driver.
The Maine Vintage Race Car Association will hold its second annual auction throughout the weekend and a raffle will be held to win a race-ready Super Late Model race car, which has raced only a few times. A Pass Modified car was raffled off last year.
The drawing for the Super Late Model car will he held at the Racin' Preview Show at the Portland Exposition building on Feb. 21.
New Super Late Model cars cost in the vicinity of $50,000, according to Perry.
Show hours will be from 4:30-9:30 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday.
It will cost $9 for adults, $7.50 for seniors, $5 for children from 6-12 and it will be free for children 5 and under. Three-day passes for adults will be available for $20.
Perry said the biggest news in the auto racing industry in the northeast for the upcoming season is the cooperative arrangement between the American Canadian Tour for Late Models and the PASS Super Late Models to hold three doubleheader weekends.
That marks a warming in the relationship between ACT President Tom Curley and PASS founder and president Tom Mayberry.
"This will benefit both of them and the real winner is the fans," Perry said.
The first PASS/ACT combination event will be held at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday, April 18. The ACT International for both tours will be held on July 18-19 at Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, New York, and the final combo will be held at Autodrome Chaudiere in Vallee Jonction, Quebec, on Sept. 12.
PASS adds another championship
The PASS SLM North drivers will have the option to run for one of two championships this coming season: the PASS North overall title in which they will race all 16 races, including the four Canadian races, or the PASS Northeast championship, which will include the 12 races in the U.S. and exclude the four Canadian races.
"Allowing our racers the option to compete for the overall PASS North championship or the new PASS Northeast Super Late Model championship is a big step forward for the series," Mayberry said in a news release. "This will allow racers who don't have the funds or time to compete in the Canadian events a chance to still race for a championship. Likewise, the 2015 PASS North titlist will truly be able to call himself short track racing's international champion."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment