Fw: USAR Team Press Releases
----- Original Message ----- From: Tim Southers To: Tim Southers Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 1:54 PM Subject: USAR Team Press Releases WALLACE TRUMPED AGAIN "Bad Luck Continues at Ace" Altamahaw, North Carolina (April 22, 2002) - "Rising Star" Shane Wallace was looking to finally play his Trump card at Ace Speedway on Friday night. Instead, the 18 year old high school student was "trumped" by Lady Luck once again in running of the Jackaroo Sauces 250. The day started out great for Wallace and his #4 Engine Ice team as they posted the 2nd fastest time in the days practice session. "I was definitely looking for a front row start as we just had an awesome race car," stated Wallace. Lady Luck reared her head as Wallace took the #4 Engine Ice Ford out to qualify. The car before him in qualifying wrecked on his second lap as Wallace began his assault and thus halting him as he exited pit road. This shift in momentum and premature start cost the youngster as he fell back to the 15th spot on the starting grid as a result of his qualifying run. "That was definitely a tough break and not one we needed at that time," said Wallace. "However we still had a great car and felt like we could take it to the front once the green flag feel." And the Rookie did just that as he moved up a handful of position in the first segment of the race. Well, Lady "BadLuck" once again fell upon this team as on Lap 69 Wallace blew a right front tire as a result of an earlier brake problem. The #4 Engine Ice Ford glanced off the Turn 4 wall and this resulted in the car being towed back into the pit area with minor repairs being made. Wallace returned safely to the track but 20 laps down as the race neared the halfway point. From then on Wallace stayed clear of traffic while at the same time posting very competitive lap times in the second part of the 250 lap event. "It was hard out there as I had a great car all night, even after the accident, but had to stay clear of lead lap traffic due to being down some laps," said Shane. "I am not sure what we need to do to change our luck but this #4 Engine Ice team will continue to give me a great car each week. Our day will come soon." Shane Wallace and the Engine Ice team finished the race in the 22nd spot and as a result fell one spot in the standings to the 15th position - merely 29 points out of the Top 10. The team has a quick week as they turn around and head to Coastal Plains Raceway for the 5th event of the season for the USAR Southern Series. The 150 lap event is scheduled for Saturday night April 27, 2002 with the green flag flying at 7:30 p.m. You can learn more about this "Rising Star" and his team at www.shanewallace.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact: Brent M. Bushu Integrity Sports Marketing (704) 799-7019 Bbushu@aol.com For Immediate Release Altamahaw, NC, April 19, 2002 John Kinder, driver of the 08 PowerBase Motorsports, Inc. Monte Carlo finished 14th after recovering from an early spin caused by a fellow competitor losing a rear end and oiling down the track. "We had a great car all during practice and it looked like we had a shot at qualifying in the top ten, based on our practice, but the rain came and I was first on the grid to qualify, and the track was just too slick to drive as hard as I would have liked. On my first lap, I just about lost it, so we had to settle back and tip toe on lap two. The first 10 cars out had it pretty rough, but we made the show," Kinder said. John started back in 23rd spot of the 32 car field. Early on in the race, Fellow competitor and good friend of John, Kertus Davis, #0 lost a rear end and dumped a lot of rear end grease on the track. In addition car 09 driven by Jabe Jones was also reported to be dropping fluid on the track, both made their way to the pits without incident. "As I was coming off turn 2 traffic was pretty heavy and my spotter told me to run the outside, so I made a move to the high side, but as I brought the car down into turn three, it just came around sending me into two 360's. I never knew what happened. I thought someone got into the back of me, but that was not the case. That really hurt our chances, I could not get the car to fire up and we went down two laps. I learned later what had happened with the oil on the track. Not only did I feel bad for all my guys, I really felt bad for Kertus too, he was unable to continue to race, and I hate when that happens. Kertus is a good driver, one you can race with side by side lap after lap. He always runs you hard and clean, " Kinder said. John was able to continue to race and was steadily moving up through the field despite being a few laps down. In the end, he managed to bring his MultiMedia Graphics Monte Carlo home to a 14th place finish and all in one piece! "It was a tough break for the MultiMedia Graphics team," said crew chief Ronnie Griffin.," We tested well at Ace and the day of practice was going great. The car was working well, we were pretty quick during practice, but the rain really made a difference and, being number one on the grid to qualify did not help. John did a great job staying out of trouble all night long and gaining as many position as possible getting one of his laps back. Toward the end, like Kertus, we had a rear end problem and the brakes were giving out, so for the last 50 laps we just had to ride. I am just glad John brought the car home in one piece. We will be ready for em at Coastal Plains. This team is coming on very strong and it won't be long before we too visit victory lane" Griffin said. For more information about John and his team visit his web site at www.johnkinder.com Contact: Jim Richards Pr4Racers@aol.com 864-505-5293 John Kinder jkinder@johnkinder.com 864-297-9741 Puryear Returns to ProCup Tour Stacy Puryear had been waiting all year long for April 19. It marked his first Hooters ProCup start of 2002. Puryear went to work for team owner and business man Butch Mabe, owner of Mabe Trucking Company in early February to maintain and drive his Late Model Stock cars. He also had to get his own ProCup car ready after he purchased it from the team he drove for last year and it needed to be totally rebuilt to his liking. Puryear didn't disappoint Mabe or himself. He qualified 7th and finished 10th. Puryear ran with the leaders all night, in the top five from the 8th lap until 18 laps to go.He and the 55 car tangled while battling for 5th. Puryear collected a piece of the inside wall off of Turn 4 with the 55 car receiving a stop and go penalty. He ran as high as 2nd behind leader Jay Fogleman from Lap 160 to 185. It was the best run Puryear has had since he won at Jennerstown last April. The race was won by Bobby Gill, who has won all 4 ProCup races this season. Jason Sarvis was 2nd, Hal Goodson 3rd, Late Model stock driver Todd Massey 4th and Steven Christian 5th. "I am just so happy to be back in the Hooters ProCup Series with Mabe Trucking Company. My crew did a great job and my tire changing crew, God's Pit Crew, a crisis response team did a good job as well. I would like to thank Billy Banks for building a strong engine. We won't be at all of the rest of the ProCup races but we'll run at least 5 more. It is just hard to start a ProCup team up. You have to have good full time help, a good pit stop crew, a good engine program, good cars, and every member of the crew has to give 110 percent. We'll run Kenly, Myrtle Beach, Hickory, South Boston and Concord. We would love to get into the top 25 in points so we could run the Championship races, but that is going to be just about out of the question with the competition this year" said Puryear. For Immediate Release: Back to Back top Ten Finishes for NRE Asheville, NC (April 19, 2002), A large attendance of Blue Cross Blue Shield employees at Ace Speedway saw Mart Nesbitt and Nesbitt Racing Enterprises take the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina #30 to it's second top ten in a row in the USAR Hooter's Pro Cup Southern division. After a mid day shower, there was a lot of apprehension on how it was going to affect the car. "The car is either going to come in or go away," said Mart Nesbitt. After the first two rounds of pit stops Mart was in 2nd, but with the setup just a little off what it needed to be, Mart settled into the 9th spot for the finish. The story of the day, was the monkey that had been on the back of NRE, truly gone? Although there were some miscues in the pits which Mart said "didn't hurt us because we pitted out of sequence with everyone else" the monkey seems to be gone. Good teamwork between spotter Scott Clodfelter and driver kept the #30 Blue Cross Blue Shield Chevy out of trouble and in contention for a good finish. Race to be aired on Speed Channel April 25th at 9pm est., for more information go to www.usarprocup.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Mike "Tex" Nichols Public Relations Nesbitt Racing nichols@gotfelt.com For Immediate Release April 20, 2002 Jeff Dunmyer has Successful Debut! The opening event of the USAR Hooters ProCup Northern Tour on April 13th at Jennerstown Speedway didn't start out the way that Jeff Dunmyer and his team wanted, but they were able to pull together and make the best of the situation. Rain started at Noon and washed out afternoon practice and qualifying so officials had to use last years points to line up the race. Since Jeff and a number of other drivers didn't have any points to fall back on from last year the officials pulled pills for those drivers starting positions. Jeff ended up starting 36th in the 41 car field. Jeff was able to avoid the on track altercations that sidelined many of the cars throughout the race and was able to stay on the lead lap until his pit stop. The team had a few problems during the stop and we lost a lap in the pits. Jeff tried to battle back on to the lead lap but was unable to do so. He still managed an 11th place finish and was able to keep the car in one piece. The Bruening Motorsports team were pleased that we finished as well as we did and our looking forward to our next event. Jeff was very happy with how the car handled throughout the race although it seemed better on the first set of tires. "I went into the race not knowing exactly what to expect, but the car stayed right with me all the way to the end of the race, he said, our car didn't seem to drop off a lot. It was too bad that we lost the lap in the pits or I believe that we could have had a top ten finish." The race team is still trying to finalize some sponsorship opportunities. "We thought that we would have our funding in place before the start of the season, but it hasn't worked out like we would have hoped, said Brian Bruening, co-owner of the team. "We still hope to finalize the deal with the sponsor and be able to run more of a full schedule." We are going to miss the race at Illiana Motor Speedway it looks like, but we have hopes of making the following race at Winchester Speedway. Barry Bruening Bruening Motorsports barry@brueningmotorsports.com (814) 443-1422