USAR Pro Cup

Regional Airings Abound

USAR — Fri, 9 May 2008 14:45 -0500

South Georgia event aired over 80 times

Myrtle Beach, S.C.-Now that the Hooters Pro Cup season is in full-tilt, television networks around the country are airing the ultra-competitive races multiple times in over 100 millions households.

The bulk of the households come from nationwide partner VERSUS, which currently has 74 million subscribers and airs every Hooters Pro Cup event. But through syndication, the Hooters Pro Cup races are easy than ever to catch on TV this season.

The BFGoodrichTires.com 250 from South Georgia Motorsports Park aired over 80 times around the country before being shelved.

"We’ve had great success with our regional partners over the years, but 80 airings is way beyond our expectations," said Tony Cox, USAR Series Director. "We wanted to make it where anyone could see a Pro Cup race at anytime. We’re not there yet, but we’re headed in the right direction."

Last season, the Hooters Pro Cup events aired an average of 48 times each.

Regional Listings Below

HENDERSON MOTORSPORTS RUNNING STRONG

TEAM RELEASE — Thu, 8 May 2008 13:48 -0500

ABINGDON, Va. - The 2008 Hooters Pro Cup season is off to a very good start for the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports team.

"The season opener in Lakeland, Florida was awesome," said Caleb Holman, driver of the Food Country Chevrolet. "We had great practices and the car was handling just the way I like it. We were able to qualify in third position and stayed up front the whole night. When the checkered flag fell, we crossed the line in fourth place. What a way to start out!"

The following weekend the team headed to South Georgia Motorsports Park. "With good practice sessions and a top-10 qualifying position, I thought the monkey was finally off our back at this track," says Holman. "We were running great and our pit strategy had put us in the top 5 with 78 laps to go. But lap 162 bit us with something breaking in the left rear wheel and putting us in the wall."

On April 25, we headed to Concord, N.C., and it definitely was a "stormy" weekend. It looked as though the Henderson Motorsports team would pull off a great finish.

Showers don’t douse Comeback; Kelley finishes sixth

TEAM RELEASE — Thu, 8 May 2008 13:42 -0500

South Boston, Va. – What a comeback it was.

After not running full-time in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series since 1999, Derrick Kelley began his Sears Auto Center Northern Division campaign this year by finishing sixth in the rain-shortened Miller Lite 250 here on April 19.
It was the fourth top-10 finish at South Boston Speedway in four career starts for Kelley, who’s driving this year for Comeback Motorsports. And it was a welcome way to begin what Kelley and team owner Tim Gainey hope is a championship season.

The team, sponsored by the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour, ran the Pro Cup’s Greased Lightning Southern Division opener on March 15, too, as a dry run for its Northern Division season, but that race resulted in a blown motor on the No. 21 Ford Fusion. Kelley said that was a good way to get the kinks out so everything could be in line for South Boston.

"Things kind of fell the way they were supposed to fall," he said.

Travis Kittleson and JCR3 Team Part Ways in Pro Cup

TEAM RELEASE — Thu, 8 May 2008 13:36 -0500

Young Florida Driver is now Exploring Other Options in Racing

CONCORD, N.C. – Travis Kittleson currently sits ninth in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series point standings. He’s delivered the JCR3 team a pair of top-10 finishes in three starts this season. He’s been near the front each time out in the competitive Pro Cup Southern division.

But just being near the front doesn’t cut it for Kittleson or the JCR3 team. Both the driver and team are considered by many observers as being among the best in the business, so naturally they both hope to rise to the top of the series. However, to do that requires the right degree of chemistry. And when Kittleson and the JCR3 team decided that they were missing that ingredient, they decided to part ways effective immediately.

Kittleson said that the split is an amicable one.

Wade Day Earns New Track Record, First Pole at Concord Motorsport Park

TEAM RELEASE — Tue, 6 May 2008 11:02 -0500

BRISTOL, Tenn.- In 2007, Wade Day qualified a disappointing 20th in his first USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series appearance at Concord Motorsport Park. He quickly showed strength at the unique North Carolina, half-mile tri-oval by surging to the lead before a problem in the pits cost him six laps ending any chance at victory. This year, at the Racing Electronics 250 presented by BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors, Day proved that he and his Lopez Wealth Management Ford were ready to race by capturing his first career Pro Cup Pole with a new track record time of 16.008 seconds.

"We came to Concord on Thursday to test and the car was pretty good," Day said from his Bristol, Tenn. race shop. "We were good last year and came back with a similar setup."

As the drivers were introduced, lightning flashed across the sky. "We were thinking we may have a race to halfway," said Day.

The Roller Coaster Ride Continues For Gibson

TEAM RELEASE — Tue, 6 May 2008 10:48 -0500

Statesville, N.C.-Anyone who has been involved with racing for very long knows that racing is much like being on an emotional roller coaster ride. Sometimes you are up, then you are down, then you are up and down again, and many times all in the same day. The USAR Hooters Pro Cup race on April was much like that in many ways for John Gibson.

First, the track itself is much like a roller coaster ride with its unique banking. Even experienced drivers find Concord Motorsports Park challenging, because it's simply unlike most oval race tracks. Gibson Motorsports had tested earlier in the week to help familiarize John with the track.

"It's a challenging track to set-up the car for, but we were 12th overall fastest in practice," said John. "We didn't qualify as well as we would have liked, but I knew we had a good car."

Today on VERSUS: The Racing Electronics 250

USAR — Mon, 5 May 2008 12:32 -0500

Myrtle Beach, S.C.-Make sure to tune into VERSUS Network today at 4 p.m. (ET) to catch the Racing Electronics 250 from Concord Motorsport Park.

During the 2008 season, all Hooters Pro Cup races will be aired on Versus. After the VERSUS airing, each race will be broadcast multiple times on a multitude of regional networks. Check your local listing for the regional airings.

VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation, is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), Professional Boxing and the Hooters Pro Cup Series (HPCS). The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best outdoor programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can't find elsewhere.

Bayne Takes Second in Race, Standings

TEAM RELEASE — Fri, 2 May 2008 11:37 -0500

Mooresville, S.C.-When it was all said and done, 17-year-old Dale Earnhardt Inc. development driver Trevor Bayne proved once again how adversity can be the strength among the development of a future champion.

You can look at adversity in many ways. You can let it frazzle the whole operation and derail any hopes of accomplishment or you can use it as a teams core strength and deliver the determination and never quit attitude that championship teams strive on.

After starting the Racing Electronics 250 from the eighth position Saturday night, Trevor Bayne and his No.29s Chevy Racing Team had a plan in place and that plan (coming to pit road for fuel and adjustments on lap 60) was side tracked by the stop and go penalty issued by USAR.

"That was my fault," said Trevor.

Rain Halts Gordon's Plans - Finishes Second at South Boston

TEAM RELEASE — Fri, 2 May 2008 11:33 -0500

DuBois, Pa.-The on-and-off showers at the South Boston Speedway put an premature end to Benny Gordon's plans just one position short of his goal, finishing first. It also proves the old adage "the fastest car does not always win."

"We had a very fast car", said Benny. "The car was dialed in right off the truck. We made very few changes on Friday or Saturday and we posted the fastest time in practice both days. A couple of shock changes and that was it. We set a new track record and took our first pole for the year."

The race plan Benny and Crew Chief Dan Glauz prepared was for Benny to take the lead on the first lap, stay out front and pit early in the race to take advantage of the exceptional tire wear from the BFGoodrich Tires g-Force radials. The trend for the races this year has shown this to be
the winning strategy.

Danny Jackson Confident After Season Opener Despite Finish

TEAM RELEASE — Fri, 2 May 2008 11:28 -0500

Cincinnati, Ohio-Danny Jackson took the track at South Boston, Va., with a positive outlook on the Miller Lite 250. Jackson’s car was consistent in practice and felt great as he took the Redbank Transport / Lykins Companies / Greased Lightning Chevy around for a number of practice laps. Although his practice times did not show it, Jackson felt that the hard work in the off-season was going to pay off.

"I was happy with the car after practice and felt comfortable with it going into the qualifying run. We were running on old tires most of practice, so I felt that once we put new tires on, my lap time would be better," said Jackson.

And that it was. Jackson qualified in the 11th position for the USAR Hooters Pro Cup first race in the Northern Division in 2008. That is Jackson’s best qualifying effort since he joined the series in 2007 as a rookie.