Marty Crawford was the fastest NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Outlaw Super Late Model in an abbreviated test session Saturday afternoon at the Kalamazoo Speedway.  With the session only lasting 67 minutes before the rain forced the session to be stopped, speedway officials have announced there will be a test session added on Wednesday night.  Gates will open at 5:00 and practice will go from 5:30-9:00.  Brian Bergakker was second fastest ahead of Rick Senneker, John Long and Billy Shannon.

The Super Stock division saw the Head brothers top the speed chart.  Kenny Head ran the fastest lap ahead of his brother Buddy.  Chris Shannon was third fastest ahead of Rodney Smith and David Guarino.

Toby Montgomery ran a lap of 14.745 to top the speed charts in the Pro Stock division.  Brent Hook was second fastest ahead of defending champion John Foote.  Matt Corliss and Keith Wilfong rounded out the top five.

In the Mini Stock division young Chaz Hook was the fastest car on the property with a lap of 15.914.  Noah Gallandt was only .147 seconds slower in second place.  Logan Knight, Sierra Lantz and Garry Hale completed the top five.

Defending Cyber Stock champion Jack Cook picked up right where he left off with a lap of 16.327 seconds to top the Cyber Stock division.  Cliff Lambert was second fastest ahead of young Keegan Dykstra.  Dion Vrooman and Doug Nelson rounded out the top five.

Testing will continue on Wednesday night, just three nights before the Intimidator 75 Presented by Lane Automotive for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Outlaw Super Late Models coming up Saturday night, April 19.    Super Stocks, Pro Stock, Mini Stocks and Cyber Stocks will also kick off their seasons.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

We are proud to have Nascar as our sanctioning body and the bonuses that it provides our drivers. There is no other track in Michigan that can provide 1,000,000 worth of coverage for all sanctioned races, and an end of year point fund that Nascar supports along with Lane Automotive. We do not require you to pay anything to register your number or car, only purchase the best insurance policy anywhere.

New for 2014 and beyond

Every driver is required to purchase  a Nascar license to be able to run on opening night. If you are not planning on running the entire season , you can purchase a 15 day license which would allow you to run 3 consecutive Saturday races. The cost is $50 for the Super lates and $25 for the other 4 classes.  The KLASH is not a Nascar sanctioned event so a license is not required. If you need to make arraignment to pay for your license at payoff, please contact Donna at 269-720-2384

Kalamazoo Speedway’s first Pre-Season Testing session has been postponed one day until this Sunday, April 6 due to weather.  Sunday’s forecast shows sunny and 60 degess with no wind, which is substancially better than the forecast for Saturday.  The pits will open at noon and testing will go from 1-5pm.  Please note that due to the weather the track still does not have water and thus the main bathrooms in the grandstands will not be open.  There will also not be any concessions for the grandstands or pit area.

The Meet & Greet will take place as scheduled Saturday night from 6-10 at the Otsego Elks club.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com

The 2014 Kalamazoo Speedway Meet and Greet will once again be held at the Otsego Elks club this Saturday night, April 5.  This event will take place even if the first Pre-Season Test, scheduled for earlier in the afternoon does not.  In addition to being a great opportunity to catch up with your racing friends, the Meet and Greet will also serve as a place to fill out all of your necessary paperwork (NASCAR license, etc) for the 2014 season.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

NASCAR has announced several new initiatives for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

The competition changes, which go into effect in 2014, are designed to spotlight the sport’s young stars and reward the achievements of drivers at every level of the series. They were announced at the meeting, which was held in conjunction with the touring and weekly series awards ceremonies in Charlotte, N.C.

Starting this season, a national champion will be crowned in all five divisions of the series. In recent seasons, the Finalist Program honored top competitors in Div. II-V.

The points structure in all divisions has been adjusted slightly:

• Drivers receive two points for every car they finish ahead of in an event, up to 18 cars.
• Three bonus points will be awarded to a race winner with a single-digit starting position, and five points will be awarded to a race winner with a double-digit starting position.

“These changes were based on feedback from our competitors, track operators and fans,” said Bob Duvall, senior director, business development for NASCAR. “We feel this will bring an added element to our track’s weekly shows, and we’re already looking forward to an exciting 2014 season.”

The University of Northwestern Ohio, a longtime NASCAR partner, announced a Youth Achievement Award that will be implemented at the track and national levels. The award is available to drivers in all divisions of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series between the ages of 14-18 with valid a NASCAR license.

The track winner will be determined by applying the NASCAR point system in the series rule book based on points earned at that track – counting up to the highest 14 finishes in a division.

The UNOH Youth Achievement Award will also recognize a national champion.

For more information on Kalamazoo Speedway visit www.kalamazoospeedway.com.

Be sure to become a fan of Kalamazoo Speedway for all of the latest news and contests at: www.facebook.com/KalamazooSpeedway.

You can also follow Kalamazoo Speedway on our official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/kazoospeedway.

RW Motorsports Marketing, a Battle Creek, MI based company, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Kalamazoo Speedway for the 2014 season and beyond. RW Motorsports Marketing will be the new official track photographers offering still and video on a weekly basis, along with many other marketing services for the drivers and teams.

You will see a larger presence at the track level with a whole team of photographers and a new exciting photo booth. Many products are created to promote the driver and fulfill needs of the fans. Some of the best Hero Cards and t-shirt designs in the state come out of the headquarters of RW Motorsports Marketing.

RW Motorsports Marketing has been in the photography field for over 25 years, and in short track racing field for three. RW Motorsports Marketing provides photographic services for many West Michigan short tracks and has multiple photography teams to fulfill any photography, video and graphic needs you may require.

Any questions please contact Woody at 517-507-6086 or email at racingwoody@racingwoodys.com.

More information can be seen at www.rwmotorsportsmarketing.com

Media Contact

Woody

RW Motorsports Marketing

517-507-6086

Kalamazoo Speedway will be highlighting our five weekly classes throughout much of the 2014 season, rather than putting a bunch of touring series at the head of the class.  Most tracks could only dream of having the car counts and the outstanding quality and competition of our weekly classes; thus this will be where we will be putting our focus on so our existing as well as our new race fans will continue to see some of the finest weekly short track racing found anywhere in the Midwest.

As you open up the schedule, you will see that the Full House Night will be the theme for 2014.  Each weekly class of cars will have either 4 or more special championship style events throughout the season (not even counting the Klash, COTW or the Super Shoe), paying extra money as well as racing for extra laps.  Again, this is Kalamazoo Speedway putting our weekly five classes first, hoping that the local fans will come out & cheer for their favorite local driver!  You will notice the special event pay chart at the bottom of this article showing what each special event will pay for each class.

Kalamazoo Speedway will of course be hosting a few of their specialty events as well with some of which are listed below:

• The Must See Racing.com Xtreme Winged Super Sprints!!
• The Auto Value Winged Super Sprint Shows!!
• The Kalamazoo Klash
• The Top Speed Modified Series
• Four Front Wheel Drive Enduro Events
• The Night of Destruction, hosted by LKQ
• The Call of the Wild Extravaganza
• The granddaddy of them all, the 28^th annual Super Shoe Nationals!
• One of the Largest Fireworks Shows in southwest Michigan will take place at the Zoo on July 4th of 2014!
• All of this, not even mentioning the Intimidator 75, Season Championship Night, the Goat Roper 25 and a whole sleuth of exciting races for 2014!

As you go through the above list, you can see why our optimism for 2014 remains at an all-time high……big named events, great weekly racing…….it’s all a recipe for great success for the upcoming race season.  And for you drivers, look at the chart below at the special event pay for all five classes!

Although Kalamazoo Speedway has plenty of free paved parking spots all with electric nearby, we still offer reserved spots to rent for the season, if anyone is interested in parking in the same spot each week.  The main infield spots are $100 for the season & the top two pit areas are $50 for the season.   The spots do not include Super Shoe & special events such as the Klash or the Sprint Car shows, where you may not have your reserved spots.

We have a new Parking Spot Sheriff in town and it is none other than Kenny “Big Daddy” Head.  Contact Kenny at 269-692-2423 to see what spots are available.

With the running of the Daytona 500 being just around the corner, and although the front stretch is buried in over 4’ deep of snow (no exaggeration….and 4’ might be on the light side), its time the get our focus set on Kalamazoo Speedway for 2014!  In times where many outdoor entertainment venues (not just race tracks) are struggling or scaling way back or becoming more of a part time venue or even shutting their doors, Kalamazoo Speedway is coming off our strongest year of the past 13 seasons that the Howe’s have owned the track and looking for season 14 to be stronger & bigger yet!

We are looking at very solid car counts in all 5 classes, we have an aggressive schedule for 2014 yet we have a few weekends where we won’t be racing our weekly classes which can allow for some family vacation time or even a trip to another racing venue.  We are offering a very solid pay structure in all 5 weekly classes, working with the mid & back pack cars as much as we work with the front runners.  We continue to cut back on tire allotment for our participants which I still feel is the number one reason we are averaging 100 plus cars each & every week in our weekly 5 class shows.

With our NASCAR sanctioning, we continue to offer the best participant insurance program as any track offers in the nation.  Lane Automotive & NASCAR helps us still have a $30,000 weekly point fund for our drivers and we still have one of the strongest & best equipped Safety Crew’s as again any track in the nation has to offer.  Our 2014 Schedule is again very strong, as we at the Zoo will offer it all!  As mentioned above, we have very solid Full House 5 in 1 show’s but we also have one of the most exciting schedules as you will find anywhere.  Here are a few highlights of our schedule:

• We again have the Kalamazoo Klash for the Outlaw Super Lates but with the addition of the CRA Super Series, the Klash will rank as one of the biggest single day Late Model Shows in the entire nation!
• For the Open Wheel fans, we have the Auto Value Super Winged Sprints, we have the Must See Racing Xtreme Winged Super Sprints, and the Top Speed Modifieds are looking at bringing 26-30 Open Wheel Modifieds to the Zoo for their first visit.  USAC is going to have an Open Wheel Spectacular in August but not all of the details are finalized yet.
• April 19^th will be the Zoo’s Season Opener for all 5 weekly classes, featuring the Intimidator 75 for the Outlaw Super Lates!
• Super Shoe & The Call of the Wild…….do we even need to waste cyber space on these two classics??
• And of course we still have our FWD Enduro Series, Fireworks Spectaculars, and the entertainment slayer of them all……The Night of Destruction!
• So if you counted, we have 16 weekly Outlaw Super Late Shows, Sprint Car Shows that both run with the Outlaws, we have a wild & zany Enduro that will have dirt jumps…….Kalamazoo Speedway will be the Entertainment Capital of the Midwest in 2014!!

Season Grandstand & Pit Passes are now available…….Reserved Pit Parking Spots are now available…….and there are some great deals on VIP Skybox rentals for weekly or full season rentals.  A weekly rental of a heated and air conditioned skybox for a special event can be a great gift for that ultimate race fan in your life!

After the conclusion of our first Open Practice on April 5^th (and yes, if you have a snow plow or end loader, we may be calling you the last week of March)…..we will be having our annual Meet & Greet from 5:30-9:30 at the Otsego Elks.  This is a great time to bench race & to get your NASCAR and Track paperwork all filled out & ready to fly!

Please e-mail (gary@kalamazoospeedway.com) or call the speedway office (269-692-2423) if you have any questions on pit passes or skyboxes or would like to get any NASCAR applications or track papers sent to you early.

Thank you and see you all in early April at the Zoo!!!

Race For Kids Sake has an array of fundraising activities coming up in the next 2 weeks.  This Friday, February 10^th is round 3 of the Texas Hold ‘Em tournament at the Otsego Elks Lodge.  On Sunday, there will be a charity bowling tournament at the PInz Bowling alley…….Go to www.raceforkidssake.com for details of both of these events!

The Race for Kids Sake will also be hosting a charity hockey game on Saturday, Feb 15th, at 4:00PM. The game will be hosted at The Revolution Arena located in Battle Creek, MI. The proceeds from the game will benefit Autism Awareness and Camp Catch a Rainbow.

The game will feature local race car drivers such as Mike “Bubba” Brooks, Jamison Russell, Zack Cook, Mark Mason, Justin Lanting, and Andy Jach. They will be teaming up with retired pro hockey players from the United Hockey League, International Hockey League, All American Hockey League, Kalamazoo Wings, and Battle Creek Revolution. The game will also feature the first female to score a point in a Men’s professional hockey game Kira Hurley. There will be players from Ohio, Canada, Illinois, Michigan, and many other locations.

Following the game the jersey’s worn by the players will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to both charities. Tickets for this event will just be $5 purchased at the door, kids 12 and under are free, and parking is free. Please visit www.raceforkids.org for more information.