Sunday, May 04, 2008

The weekend isn't over, yet!

Rockingham Speedway is ready to rock for the first time since 2004. The ARCA/Remax North Carolina 500 will see the green flag waved by Tony Stewart at 12 noon EDT.

50 cars are in the starting lineup. Many of the entries are the same cars used by the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams before the switch was made in that series to the new car. The only difference is that ARCA uses spec engines, which means that Joey Logano's JGR CHEVY(!) or Scott Speed's Red Bull Toyota will have no "horsepower advantage" over Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.'s Roush-Fenway Ford.

Richard Childress' grandson, Austin Dillon is the youngest driver in the lineup, at age 16, while NASCAR and short track veteran James Hylton is the oldest. NASCAR Truck Series driver Chad McCumbee and part time Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements are also in the lineup, as is Ken Schrader, who we know from NASCAR and about every other racing series in the country. Of course, ARCA veterans Bobby Gerhart, Ken Butler, and Frank Kimmel are also in the race, as is ARCA's female up and comer Gabi DiCarlo. You may also recognize the name Mike Harmon from NASCAR's Nationwide Series.

Along with these drivers, there are several others, like Michael Annett and Matt Carter, who have NASCAR in their future.

If the beatin' and bangin' from Friday and Saturday nights' racing wasn't enough for you, the biggest race in the history of ARCA is a must see. It will be broadcast today at 12 noon on Speed TV.

2 comments:

Cheyenne said...

Joey Logano and Austin Dillon did my heart proud. Two great kids.

RevJim said...

I agree, chyenne, they are great kids. Both were in their first ARCA race and both raced it like old pros. Logano is a natural, and a seventh place finish is a great start for Richard Childress' grandson. That is a tough track, but it didn't phase those guys.
Hey, where were all the people who hate NASCAR because they don't race at the Rock anymore? The stands should have been filled.