PRESS RELEASE--44th Allen Crowe 100 at Illinois State Fair August 20

For more information on this press release contact Bob Sargent of Track
Enterprises at 217-764-3200 or Jay Hardin at jhardin3@verizon.net.

Kimmel Seeks 6th Crowe 100 Win While Allgaier Seeks First Before Home Crowd

A changing of the guard appears on the horizon as the stars and cars of the
Automobile Racing Club of America RE/MAX Stock Car Series take a trip back
in time to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the 44th running of the Allen
Crowe 100 on the World’s Fastest One Mile Dirt Track. Approximately forty
cars are expected for the first of two appearances of full-bodied stock cars
on the one-mile fairground dirt ovals competing for well over $100,000 in
cash and prizes posted by promoter Bob Sargent and Track Enterprises.  Best
Western Hotels returns to present the 44th annual stock car classic.

Seven time and defending ARCA RE/MAX champ Frank Kimmel of Clarksville,
Indiana is in a heated battle as he seeks his record eighth national driving
title and a record sixth win in the Allen Crowe 100. For the first time in
several seasons Kimmel does not come to Springfield with a commanding ARCA
RE/MAX point lead but a win on Sunday could help distance the veteran from
his pursuers in the chase for the ARCA crown.  Kimmel has plenty of
competition set for the Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fair,
including veteran ARCA drivers, several up and coming youngsters and one
very popular hometown driver.

Twenty-year old Justin Allgaier of Springfield thrilled a large Allen Crowe
100 crowd in 2005 when he smashed Bob Hill’s ten-year-old track record in
qualifying and became the first Springfield driver in the 55-year history of
stock car racing at the Illinois State Fairgrounds to capture a pole
position. Allgaier and the Auto Express-Trashman team have opted to attempt
a full ARCA schedule in 2006, which has seen the youngster secure 4 top ten
finishes and sit currently in the 14th spot in the ARCA title chase.

The 2006 Best Western-Allen Crowe Memorial entry list shows an extremely
diverse field of drivers representing no less than sixteen states.  ARCA
veterans such as Andy Belmont and Norm Benning of Pennsylvania, Mark Gibson
of Georgia, Brad Smith of Michigan and David Boggs of South Carolina
traditionally make the trek to the Illinois State Fairgrounds and are
expected to view for a spot in the starting field. Fellow veteran and second
generation driver Bobby Gerhart of Lebanon, Pennsylvania was scheduled to
run only a limited number of races in 2006 but early season success put him
atop the point standings for much of the year and he is now trailing Kimmel
by just thirty five markers.  Gerhart would like to secure one ARCA title
before hanging up his helmet.

A veteran worthy of note is making something of a farewell tour in 2006 as
former NASCAR competitor James Hylton attempts to make his final Crowe 100
start at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.  Should Hylton make the event he
could become, at seventy one years, eleven months and twenty four days the
oldest man to ever start an Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fair,
breaking a record set by Hall of Fame driver Red Farmer who was nearly two
months shy of his 72nd birthday when he started the 2004 Allen Crowe 100.

Young drivers are finding success in the ARCA series in 2006 and dot the top
slots in the RE/MAX point standings. Damon Lusk of Kennewick, Washington sat
on the pole at Springfield in 2000 and appeared to be a rising star in the
ARCA series. After trying both the NASCAR Busch and Truck series, Lusk
returns to the ARCA series chasing the title and sitting 4th in the point
standings. Barbersville, Ohio’s Brett Rowe came out of the ARCA Lincoln
Welders Truck Series to run the bigger cars in 2006 and he currently sits
5th in the title chase. Ryan Howard of Ohio has worked under the tutelage of
veteran Mark Gibson for the past two years and is currently 8th in the
standings, while second-generation driver Todd Bowsher drives for the team
of his late father, former ARCA and USAC Stock Car great Jack Bowsher.
Another second generation shoe also drives for his father as Billy
Venturini, formerly of Chicago, secured his first ARCA win in 2006 driving
for his father, former ARCA champ Bill Venturini.  Young Ryan Foster of
Arkansas is a teammate to Kimmel and has the 3rd position in the present
point standings, and Minnesota's Blake Bjorklund has taken over the seat of
the Joe Miller Dodge vacated by Joey Miller.  Wisconsin's Dexter Bixby has
also shown promise this year.

Midwestern drivers help fuel interest in the Allen Crowe 100 and this year
there should be several from Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. In fact, for
the first time in the 55 year history of stock car racing at Springfield
three hometown drivers appear on the Allen Crowe Memorial 100 entry list.
In addition to Allgaier, Springfield’s own Wes O'Dell, a five time winner of
the Sportsman National event on the Springfield Mile is set to make his ARCA
debut.  Modified veteran Kelly Kovski of Springfield returns as well driving
for the famed Roulo Brothers Mokena veteran and former Springfield
polesitter Bob Strait comes out of retirement once again to drive for the
popular Hendren Team of Normal, Illinois. Galesburg’s A.J. Fike has an entry
listed that appears to be out of father Don's stable of race cars.  Fike won
the pole position on the dirt at Springfield in 2004 and has led several
circuits in ARCA competition, as has Centralia’s Joe Cooksey who enters the
44th Crowe 100 with help from ARCA veteran Chuck Weber.  Dale Shearer of
Alahambra is a South Central Illinois native who also makes his ARCA debut
at Springfield.  North Barrington's Brent Sherman has left the NASCAR Nextel
Cup Series and has returned to the ARCA RE/MAX slate and may also enter the
Crowe 100.

Indiana drivers Josh Allison, Darrell and Dugan Basham are also expected to
compete at Springfield, and an entry was recently filed for Matt Hagans of
Indianapolis as he attempts to make his first ARCA dirt track start.   St.
Joseph, Missouri's Doug Keller is usually a front runner on the dirt and led
several laps at DuQuoin.  Keller returns to Springfield as a teammate to
Bobby Gerhart.

Sunday marks the first of just two races on the fairground dirt tracks that
are associated with traditional and historic American auto racing in an
event that is the living memorial to a Springfield race driver whose career
was tragically cut short. Allen Crowe was a local stock car driver who
developed a large fan following after much success on bullrings such as
Springfield, Macon, Lincoln, Champaign and~ Godfrey. Crowe’s success on the
local circuits led to a ride in the big leagues, which at the time meant the
open wheeled cars of the United States Auto Club. Allen found success in the
USAC sprint and midget cars and made his championship racing debut at
Milwaukee and Springfield on the same August weekend in 1961.

Allen made Central Illinois race fans proud and realized a lifelong dream in
1962 when he made the starting field for the Indianapolis 500 in the S-R
Racing roadster.  Crowe raced in the “500” again the following year, but
that June tragedy struck when he was fatally injured during a USAC Sprint
event at New Bremen, Ohio. Springfield already had named the Illinois State
Fair championship race after the late Tony Bettenhausen in 1961, quickly the
fair board and local racing officials named the fledgling USAC Stock Car
event at the fairgrounds in Allen’s honor.

Over the last 44 years some of the best men ever to sit behind the wheel of
a full-bodied stock car have captured one of the valuable Crowe memorial
trophies. USAC stars such as Norm Nelson, Roger McCluskey, Butch Hartman,
Jack Bowsher and A.J. Foyt appear on the Crowe 100 winners list, as do ARCA
standouts like Bobby Jacks, Bob Keselowski and Bob Hill. NASCAR’s Ken
Schrader won the 100-mile Crowe Memorial in 1998, and Frank Kimmel broke the
late Dean Roper’s record for Crowe 100 victories when he captured win number
five last year.

Forty drivers young and old and a supporting cast of mechanics, officials
and around ten thousand fans are expected to carry on the racing heritage of
stock cars on the Springfield Mile when the gates open on August 20. Justin
Allgaier’s track record of 33.423 (107.710 MPH) will be the focal point of
drivers during Pork Pole Qualifying which is slated for 11 a.m. The 100-mile
Best Western-Allen Crowe Memorial is slated for a flying start at 1 p.m.,
with drivers trying to break the 100-mile ARCA race record of Bobby Bowsher
of 1:08:00 set in 1992.

Tickets are available at the Illinois State Fair Box office at 217-782-1979,
by calling the Track Enterprises hotline at 217-764-3200 or at any
Ticketmaster location. Additional information on the events can be found at
www.trackenterprises.com or at www.arcaracing.com.

2006 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES DRIVER POINT STANDINGS
After Event #13, Shop 'n Save 150, Gateway Int'l Raceway, Madison IL,
7-28-06
POS NAME POINTS STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10
1 Kimmel, Frank 2960 13 3 7 9
2 Gerhart, Bobby 2900 13 1 4 8
3 Foster, Ryan 2525 12 0 2 6
4 Lusk, Damon 2435 13 0 2 6
5 Rowe, Brett 2375 13 0 1 5
6 Venturini, Billy 2360 13 1 1 4
7 Weaver, Ken 2335 13 0 1 6
8 Howard, Ryan 2330 13 0 0 2
9 Bowsher, Todd 2300 13 0 0 0
10 Weber, Chuck 2280 13 0 1 4
11 Bjorklund, Blake 2185 11 0 2 6
12 Hedlesky, Jason 2095 13 0 0 0
13 Benning, Norm 2005 13 0 0 0
14 Allgaier, Justin 1985 11 0 2 4
15 Basham, Darrell 1955 13 0 0 0
16 Bean, Dexter 1925 12 0 1 1
17 Gosselin, Mario 1770 8 0 1 4
18 Smith, Brad 1735 12 0 0 0
19 Harmon, Mike 1530 13 0 0 0
20 Sanders, Ricky 1475 9 0 0 0

ARCA Schedule 2006

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	TRACK
2/11	Daytona ARCA 200	Daytona Int'l Speedway	100 laps
4/15	PFG Lester 150	Nashville Superspeedway 	113 laps
4/23	Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 / Federated Auto Parts	Salem Speedway
200 laps
5/07	Winchester ARCA 200	Winchester Speedway
5/13	Harley-Davidson of Cincinnati 150	Kentucky Speedway	100 laps
5/21	Hantz Group 200	Toledo Speedway	200 laps
6/10	Pocono 200	Pocono Raceway	80 laps
6/16	Hantz Group 200	Michigan Int'l Speedway	100 laps
7/01	Kansas Lottery $200 Grand	Kansas Speedway	134 laps
7/07	WLWT Channel 5-150	Kentucky Speedway	100 laps
7/15	Request/Sara Lee ARCA 200 by GFS Marketplace	Berlin Raceway	200 laps
7/22	Pennsylvania 200	Pocono Raceway	80 laps
7/28	Shop 'n Save 150	Gateway Int'l Raceway	120 laps
8/12	ARCA 200	Nashville Superspeedway
8/18	Hantz Group 200	Michigan Int'l Speedway	100 laps
8/20	Allen Crowe Memorial 100 	Illinois State Fairgrounds	100 laps
8/27	Govenor's Cup	Milwaukee Mile	150 laps
9/01	Hantz Group 200	Toledo Speedway	200 laps
9/04	Southern Illinois 100	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	100 laps
9/09	SK Hand Tool 200	Chicagoland Speedway	134 laps
9/16	Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic	Salem Speedway	200 laps
10/6	ARCA 200	Talladega Superspeedway
10/15	ARCA 200	Iowa Speedway