ASA Racing Plans Kentucky Speedway Appearances in 2004 Pendleton,  Ind.  (September  30,  2003)  –  The  American  Speed  Association  (ASA Racing Series) season will make a pair of appearances at the state-of-the-art Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky. in 2004. Officials have announced that events on Friday, May 7 and Saturday, September 18 will make up two of an expected 18 races on the ‘04 ASA Racing Series schedule. “A third of our 2004 schedule will be run on larger tracks than we’ll race in 2003,” said ASA President/CEO Steve Dale at the Kentucky Speedway test. “Our goal is to take as many  as  25  to  30  percent  of  our  tracks  off  the  schedule  and  add  some  newer  larger facilities. From a marketing standpoint, I wanted to add facilities where we could bridge the gap for our young guys who want big track experience. This also gives our fan base the  opportunity  to  enjoy  some  new  facilities  like  Kentucky  Speedway.  It’s  a  beautiful place and we need to be here.” A tire test conducted by ASA Racing on September 15 at Kentucky Speedway was the second time the sanctioning body has been to a super speedway facility to determine the  elements  necessary  to  move  some  races  to  bigger  tracks  in  2004.  Lowe’s  Motor Speedway in North Carolina was the other track that hosted an ASA test back in July. It will mark the first time for ASA in the Commonwealth of Kentucky since an event at the  now-closed  Louisville  Motor  Speedway  in  June  of  2000.  Short  track  legend  Butch Miller won that race making it the 14th time for ASA in it’s 36-year history to compete in Kentucky. Stock car greats Dave Sorg, Ed Howe, Mike Eddy, Charlie Glotzbach and Joe Shear are among the top drivers that won at Louisville. Twelve of the 14 races were held there during the 1973 through ’79 time period. ASA  had  competed  from  1973  through  1987  at  Queen  City  Speedway  in  Butler  Co. Ohio,  just  north  of  Cincinnati.  The  high-banked  .50-mile  oval  produced  some  fabled battles  in  the  19  races  conducted  in that era. Winners included Miller, Bob Senneker, Butch Lindley, Mark Martin, Shear and Dick Trickle. Kentucky Speedway boasts a 1.5-mile tri-oval racing surface that has hosted events and racing series sanctioned by nearly every major racing organization in the United States since its opening in 1999. The facility has competitor and fan amenities second to none including more than 66,000 grandstand seats. It is located directly off I-71 in the middle of the Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington metropolitan areas. The ASA Racing Series events will be among the featured races during the respective May  and  September  weekends  at  Kentucky  Speedway.  For  complete  details  visit www.kentuckyspeedway.com. The entire 2004 ASA Racing Series schedule is planned to be released in October. The 2003 ASA Racing Series returns to action at Salem (Ind.) Speedway for the Pep Boys  300  presented  by  Greased  Lightning  Orange  Blast  on  Saturday,  October  4. The event goes green at 8 p.m. (Central) and will be telecast live on SPEED Channel.