Press Release-Ken Schrader, Frank Kimmel, Justin Allgaier Entered for 55th Federated Southern Illinois 100 at DuQuoin

Kimmel, Schrader, Allgaier Favored for Federated-Southern Illinois 100

The defending race winner who just happens to be a NASCAR Nextel Cup star,
an eight time ARCA RE/MAX Series champ and five Illinois drivers are among
the favorites to capture the Federated Car Care-Southern Illinois 100 as the
full bodied stock cars of the Automobile Racing Club of American make their
final 2007 dirt track appearance at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on Labor
Day. Over $100,000 in cash and accessory prizes is up for grabs for the
forty drivers expected to take part in the 55th annual national championship
stock car race on the “Magic Mile”.

Fenton, Missouri’s Ken Schrader had been trying to post any kind of victory
on the fairground dirt mile closest to home since his USAC Stock Car debut
at DuQuoin in 1979 and broke through in a big way in 2006 when he captured
his first Southern Illinois 100 after winning the Best Western Challenge for
the Crate American Racing Series earlier in the day. Schrader returns in the
Federated Car Care Chevrolet to defend his title and speculation abounds
that as in past years, other NASCAR drivers may attempt the 100-mile grind
in Southern Illinois. Of course the appearance at DuQuoin of any NASCAR
drivers is contingent upon the timely running of the NASCAR Nextel Cup race
at the California Speedway the night before the Southern Illinois 100.

Eight time and defending ARCA RE/MAX Series champ Frank Kimmel of
Clarksville, Indiana figures to be one driver that stands in the way of
Schrader’s defense of the Southern Illinois 100 crown. A four-time winner on
the “Magic Mile” (2000, 2001, 2002, 2005) Kimmel has adapted nicely to the
dirt tracks, so much so that he won 9 of 12 races conducted on the
Springfield and DuQuoin miles and is now the all-time leader in ARCA
victories on the dirt. The forty-five year old Kimmel drives the Pork Ford
Taurus for Iowa car owner Larry Clement and currently leads the series point
standings in search of an unprecedented ninth title.  Kimmel posted yet
another dirt track win at Springfield on August 19 when he dominated the
45th Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fair.

For the first time since Chicago’s Bob Schacht won the 1992 Southern
Illinois stock car event an Illinois driver stands a very good chance of
visiting DuQuoin’s victory lane on Labor Day. Twenty-one year old Justin
Allgaier set his hometown on fire last August when he won the Allen Crowe
100 at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, his first career ARCA win. In
doing so he became the first Springfield driver ever to win a major national
championship race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The youngster, also a
veteran of NASCAR Truck competition, led 41 laps of the 2005 Southern
Illinois 100 and was heading to the front in 2006 before being eliminated in
an accident while battling for second with Frank Kimmel. Allgaier and the
Hoosier Tire-Law Automotive-Trashman team currently sits fourth in the ARCA
RE/MAX national points after leading earlier in the year.

Centralia’s Joe Cooksey is a crowd favorite at DuQuoin and consistently runs
in the top ten on both Illinois dirt miles. Cooksey became the first
Southern Illinois native to sit on the pole for the Southern Illinois 100
when he set fast time in 2000 and finished third for the second time in four
years when he took the show position behind Schrader and and Brett Rowe last
year. Galesburg’s A.J. Fike is currently eighth in the USAC Silver Crown
Series point standings and like Allgaier may pull double duty at DuQuoin
Labor Day weekend by running a championship dirt car in the Ted Horn 100 as
well. The twenty-five year old Fike sat on the front row at DuQuoin in 2004
and placed sixth in the Southern Illinois 100 last year. Mokena native Bob
Strait, the 1991 Southern Illinois 100 winner, was injured in a motorcycle
accident earlier this year and his status is somewhat uncertain.  Strait
drives for the popular Hendren team based out of Normal, Illinois and
Schrader served as his substitute at Springfield.

Several of the top ten in the current ARCA/REMAX Series title chase are
slated to run at DuQuoin with some looking for just their first or second
start on a dirt surface. Currently second in the points, Phoenix, Arizona’s
Michael McDowell has a background steeped in road racing with two national
karting titles plus starts in the Champ Car World Series and Daytona
Prototypes. The twenty-two year old has eight top tens, two wins and six Sim
Factory poles and is second in ARCA points in his first full season in full
bodied stock cars. McDowell posted a fine second in his first dirt track run
at Springfield.  Westby, Wisconsin’s Dexter Bean is another young driver
moving through the ARCA ranks and he currently is third in the standings.
Bean led 17 laps last year at DuQuoin before losing an engine on lap 61, he
ran a strong 5th at Springfield on August 19.  Should Strait be unable to
drive it is expected Jeff Flesher of Gridley, Illinois will serve as his
replacement.

Marion, Illinois driver Phillip McGilton is fifth in the standings coming
off a tenth in his first dirt track start at Springfield and is looking to
win the ARCA RE/MAX series Rookie of the Year title. Patrick Sheltra (6th)
of Indiantown, Florida improved his points position with a fine third place
run at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.  Sheltra is an ARCA rookie who may be
a dark horse to win the Southern Illinois 100. The twenty-one year old is a
veteran of dirt late model competition and has raced in the past in the
Illinois Fall Nationals at the Springfield Mile.  Justin South of Hueytown,
Alabama continues the legacy of the famed NASCAR “Alabama Gang” with six top
tens in 2007 and is seventh in points. California’s Justin Marks also has a
road racing background but surprised everyone by running fourth at
Springfield, elevating him to eighth in the ARCA RE/MAX standings. Ninth is
Floridian Bryan Silas driving for former ARCA champ Andy Hillenburg, while
Pennsylvania veteran Norm Benning has climbed into the top ten.

Most of the top ten are expected at DuQuoin on Labor Day and they could be
joined by veteran and second generation driver Todd Bowsher of Springfield,
Ohio (the son of 1972 Southern Illinois 100 winner Jack Bowsher), Alabama’s
Mike Harmon, dirt late model driver John Gill of Indiana and fellow Hoosier
Josh Allison.  One veteran who has indicated that he would come out of
retirement to run both ARCA dirt events is Winder, Georgia’s Mark Gibson.
Another veteran who also shuns retirement for the ARCA dirt is 1999 ARCA
champ Bill Baird of nearby Sturgis, Kentucky looking for an elusive DuQuoin
victory.  ARCA rookie Josh Wise of California has USAC Silver Crown
experience at DuQuoin and looked like the man to beat at Springfield before
he crashed in practice.  Arizona’s Gabi DiCarlo could be one of two females
on the 55th Southern Illinois 100 entry list.

Two late entries have increased interest in the 55th Federated-Southern
Illinois 100 and made the field even more competitive and diverse.  Bobby
Gerhart of Lebanon, Pennsylvania was chasing his first ARCA title until
being sidelined by injury suffered in a crash at Pocono in early August.
Gerhart's replacement is a second generation driver whose name is familiar
to DuQuoin race fans, Brian Keselowski is the son of two-time Southern
Illinois 100 winner Bob Keselowski.  Joining young Keselowski as a DuQuoin
rookie is a 19 year old out of West Virginia who has teamed with a two-tme
NASCAR champion and the 2003 Southern Illinois 100 winner to make his ARCA
debut.  Josh "Kid Rocket" Richards has experience in World of Outlaw, Lucas
Oil and UMP dirt late model competition including one start on the big dirt
mile at Springfield in the 2005 Illinois Fall Nationals late model race
where he finished 4th.  Richards new owner is NASCAR star Tony Stewart who
purchased a car from his Nextel Cup onwer Joe Gibbs and sent it to the Tony
Stewart Racing shops to be prepared for DuQuoin.

Drivers of local interest who may seek a DuQuoin start include Springfield
Illinois’ Wes O’Dell, El Paso, Illinois’ Kenny Adams, Kelly Kovski of
Springfield, Illinois, Mark Littleton of Arenzville, Illinois and Doug
Keller of St. Joseph, Missouri. Keller is another dark horse in the field
having qualified well in the past at DuQuoin and he has led several laps in
ARCA competition on the “Magic Mile”.

It was fifty-seven years ago on Labor Day when the William Hayes introduced
stock car racing to the one-mile track carved out of a strip mine just off
U.S. Route 51 in DuQuoin, Illinois. National championship racing as well as
motorcycle racing were already established on the “Magic Mile” but by
coincidence, the American Automobile Association needed venues for it’s
fledgling stock car series and Hayes needed grandstand entertainment. Jay
Frank won the first 100-mile dirt track stock car race at the DuQuoin State
Fair in 1950 driving one of the soon to be famous Oldsmobile Rocket 88’s.

Stock cars were absent from the fair lineup until they returned in 1954 and
have remained a part of the fair ever since. Over the next fifty-three years
hail of fame drivers like Don White, Norm Nelson, Jimmy Bryan, Butch Hartman
and A.J. Foyt all visited DuQuoin’s victory lane. In 1979 a future NASCAR
champion got what at the time was the biggest win of his career when Rusty
Wallace beat A.J. Foyt to win the Southern Illinois 100. In 1985 the
Automobile Racing Club of America began sanctioning the Southern Illinois
stock car event and has ever since, holding races at distances of 200 miles,
250 kilometers and back to 100 miles in 1996. Some of the best ARCA and the
world of racing have tasted victory at the “Magic Mile”, including Bob
Keslowski, Bob Brevak, Lee Raymond and two-time NASCAR champ Tony Sterwart.
But their accomplishments pale in comparison to DuQuoin’s grand stock car
champion, the late Dean Roper of Fair Grove, Missouri. Roper won six times
on the “Magic Mile”, including 5 times in the stock car race held during the
DuQuoin State Fair. He is the all-time lap leader of stock car events at
DuQuoin as well.

The stars of the ARCA RE/MAX series will attempt to duplicate the feats of
stock car racing’s legendary figures when they arrive at the DuQuoin State
Fairgrounds on Monday September 3.  Brian Tyler’s two year old qualifying
record of 33.273 (108.196) will be the target in Sim Factory qualifications
while Dean Roper’s 100-mile track record of 90.101 set in 1983 could be in
jeopardy. Practice for the ARCA machines begins at 9 a.m., with Sim Factory
qualifications at 11 and the Southern Illinois 100 slated for 1:30. The
20-mile Best Western-Bill Oldani Memorial for the UMP Modifieds is scheduled
immediately prior to the Southern Illinois 100.

Tickets are on sale at the DuQuoin State Fair Box Office, Ticketmaster or at
Track Enterprises by calling 217-764-3200. Additional information on the
Southern Illinois 100 can be found at www.trackenterprises .com,
www.arcaracing.com.

Top-10 ARCA RE/MAX Series Points After Governor's Cup 200 at The Milwaukee
Mile (8-26-07):

1) Frank Kimmel 3980; 2) Michael McDowell 3885; 3) Dexter Bean 3735; 4)
Justin Allgaier 3420; 5) Phillip McGilton 3415; 6) Patrick Sheltra 3165; 7)
Justin South 3150; 8) Justin Marks 3115; 9) Bryan Silas 3010; 10) Norm
Benning 2850.

Jay Hardin
jhardin3@verizon.net
Track@trackenterprises.com
Track Enterprises
Media Relations
618-694-3135
217-764-3200



Jay Hardin
jhardin3@verizon.net
Track@trackenterprises.com
Track Enterprises
Media Relations
618-694-3135
217-764-3200