Toyota Speedway At Irwindale - CANIDAE CALIFORNIA CLASSIC Presented by MASTERCRAFT

Irwindale, November 12, 2010: “We’re very proud to announce an important name change for our Thanksgiving weekend Lucas Oil California Classic stock car race on November 27. Canidae Natural Pet Foods and MasterCraft Safety are now part of the official name of this new and exciting post-season event,” said Bob DeFazio, VP/General Manager of Toyota Speedway. “The two companies, though obviously very different in their product lines, are both known as tops in their respective fields: healthy, nutritious food for pets, and first class safety equipment for off-road racing,” DeFazio concluded.

Founded out of love for pets and animals, Canidae Natural Pet Food Company manufactures and distributes a complete line of healthy meat-based, holistic, natural dog food, cat food, and gourmet pet treats sold worldwide through independent pet food retailers including over 6,500 locations throughout the United States and Canada. For the most recent information about Canidae and its line of healthy pet products, visit www.canidae.com.

In addition to being the title sponsor of the inaugural Lucas Oil California Classic, Canidae will provide special "Fast Time" awards for each of the three races, and a generous supply of dog and cat food samples for the race teams and pit areas and to the RV camper area.

MasterCraft located in Santee, California, manufactures an extensive line of high performance seats, race suits, seat mounts, restraint systems, tie-downs, limit straps, grab handles, storage products, and other professional competition accessories that are known for their durability and quality. For additional information on their products, visit: www.mastercraftsafety.com.

Both of these sponsors, while somewhat new to professional stock car racing, are really “old pros” in motorsports having been featured Team Lucas partners in the oil company’s very popular Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.

The action-packed stock car triple bill in Irwindale on Saturday the 27th will feature the touring pros of the SRL/SPEARS Southwest Tour and the two most popular west coast weekly series (Late Models and Super Late Models) competing in three events for over $50,000.00 in prize money. Adding to the excitement is the fact that the Lucas Oil HD TV Team will live tape the races and present them on Versus the day after Christmas, Sunday evening December 27, at 4PM EST.

“This is dream event that Bob Patison from Lucas and I have been working on for some time now,” said track GM/VP Bob DeFazio. “We’ve both been very interested in bringing a special Friday/Saturday stock car event to the long Thanksgiving weekend, and, thanks to Lucas Oil, we’re on the way to what we both feel will become an important annual event. We think that the timing is perfect for both Lucas Oil and Toyota Speedway.”

The Late Models will run a 75-lap race with no pit stops, the Super Lates will run 100 laps without stopping, and the SRL cars will run 125 laps with a competition yellow at 100 for a quick hit of fuel followed by a flat-out, 25-lap sprint to the finish.

Besides the highly-coveted national television exposure and a very nice purse there’s the special honor of having one’s name inscribed as the first winner on a set of unique event trophies which are intended to become an important part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend racefest.

The all-star stock car event will bookend a long weekend of racing that kicks off with the 70th annual running of the Thanksgiving Night Grand Prix for Midgets on Thursday night, November 25.

An open-to-the-public practice and qualifying session on Friday November 26 will feature a very unique open pit area meet and greet for fans that will take place between 4 and 6 PM. Motors and work on all cars will stop for those hours and the public will be allowed full access to the pit area where all drivers will “hang out” at their cars to sign autographs for fans. “We’ll do a sort of a Pit Area version of our very popular King Taco On-Track Autograph Session,” said DeFazio. “Only this one will be in the pit area, and everyone will be welcome.”

More information on the event schedule, special ticket packages, purse breakdown, and entry blanks are all posted on the speedway’s website: www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com.

Backgrounder: The Spears SRL Southwest Tour cars are a West Coast professional short track touring series with technical rules that line up with the NASCAR Elite division. They compete on tracks throughout the Southwestern United States.

Super Late Models are the top weekly division at Toyota Speedway and Late Models are the stepping stone to the Super Lates and beyond. Pepsi and the Auto Club respectively sponsored these very popular divisions at Toyota Speedway in the 2010 season.