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09/18/06


KING SCORES POPULAR BRP MOD TOUR WIN AS RACING RETURNS TO EXPO FOR THE 1ST TIME SINCE 1995; CAREER 1ST FOR WOOMER IN STOCKS
By Mike Leone

Bazetta, OH.For the first time in nearly 11 seasons, racing returned from the dead at the Expo Speedway located at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds on a sweltering Thursday night. A big crowd watched as Rex King was victorious in the BRP Tour for the Mark Thomas Ford Big-Block Modifieds and Stan Woomer topped the Tom's Sewer & Drain Stock Cars in the much-anticipated and talked about show.

Local favorite Rex King scored a popular, dominating victory in the 30-lap $1,200 to-win BRP Tour Big-Block Modified feature presented by Mark Thomas Ford. For King, whose family promoted the four-event slate in 1995, it was his third BRP victory of the season and ninth overall on the western Pennsylvania/eastern Ohio circuit, which have come at five different speedways.

"We're having a phenomenal season," said the elated Bristolville, Ohio native. "Right now everything is going right, but it could probably end at any time. The track was good. I have to thank the fair board for putting this event on, the fans for the good turnout, and the show ran off well."

Making his first start of the season in the John Rebhan #99JR, Alan Dellinger took advantage of the inside pole starting position on the huge 5/8-mile oval and flew into the early lead with King settling into second. King chased the 2005 Sharon Speedway Champion before the leader slid high off turn four allowing King to breeze by Dellinger on the inside to lead lap four.

All eyes shifted to Central PA Speedway BRP Tour winner, Brian Swartzlander, who has also been on a tear on the Modified circuit. After starting eight, Swartzlander quickly reached the top five on the opening lap and by lap three found his way past Kevin Bolland for the fourth spot. Nearby Southington, Ohio racer Jim Rasey had a solid run going holding down the third spot until Swartzlander drove under Rasey for third on lap seven. It was then Swartzlander's turn to hound Dellinger, but it wasn't until lap 19 that he made the move stick going under and past Dellinger in turns one and two for second. Three laps later, Rasey regained third dropping Dellinger back another spot.

While Rex King was setting a blistering pace out in front, his oldest son Russell was progressing to the front from the 14th starting spot. Engines woes in hot laps sidelined his #56 so he turned to his younger brother, Rex King, Jr's #165. Russell cracked the top five on lap 21 taking the position from Kevin Bolland. Dellinger slowed on lap 24 and exited the event handing fourth to Russell. The following lap saw Russell move to third with another inside pass this time stealing the position away from Rasey.

Up front, Russell's dad had clear sailing as the only thing that slowed Rex's run were seven cautions and only one lapped car to deal with. King took the double checkered flags from Mike Hanshaw by a convincing, nearly half-straightaway margin in the King Bros.-owned, Cortland Banks/R.D. Banks Chevrolet/Alltel/Cintas-sponsored Bicknell #65. The defending series champion also extended his point lead with his ninth career BRP victory.

Swartzlander edged the fast-closing Russell King for runner-up. Rasey was a solid fourth over Bolland. Completing the top 10 were Rob Kristyak, Jim Weller, Jr., Chanda Reitz, 28th starting Mark Flick, and J.R. McGinley. Just 12 of the original 28 starters completed the event. Heat winners over the 28-car field were Swartzlander, Rex King, Weller, and Beltz.

Stan Woomer finally captured that elusive first career victory in the 20-lap Tom's Sewer & Drain Stock Car feature. "I couldn't wait to get here and race," said the elated victor of nearby Warren, Ohio. "I worried about running out of gas so we had the large fuel cell in."

By the luck of the draw, Woomer pulled the pole position and drove away from outside pole-sitter Ron Kennedy. Third starter, Larry Root, advanced to second driving past Kennedy on the opening lap. Current Sharon Speedway point leader and two-time winner, Sonny Wisler, started fifth and was able to pass Kennedy for third on lap two. Steve D'Apolito slowly picked off cars as he advanced forward from his 12th starting spot. D'Apolito made his way into the top five by lap two and grabbed fourth from Kennedy on lap three.

D'Apolito hounded Wisler lap after lap before finally taking third on lap nine. D'Apolito and Wisler slowly closed on runner-up Root making it a three-car battle for second. Woomer continued to tick off the laps as the trio in second through fourth cut into the margin with every passing lap. D'Apolito tried on numerous occasions to get under Root for second, but wasn't able to make the pass stick in the long, sweeping turns. Instead, on the last lap Wisler was able to sneak back under D'Apolito for second, while Root closed on the leader.

Time though would run out as the event went green-to-checkered with Woomer collecting the win to the delight of the crowd in his Premier Powder Coating/YSU Subway/Pace/Wedge Motorsports-sponsored #2. Root held on for a strong second with Wisler edging D'Apolito for third. Allan Hudzik was about a half-lap back in fifth after starting 11th. Rounding out the top 10 were Jamie Duncan, Bret McCarthy, Dave Willoughby, Carl Davis, and Gary Frederick. Topping the heat races were Woomer and D'Apolito. Just 14 of the top 30 invited cars from nearby Sharon Speedway showed and only seven finished the event.

Mark Thomas Ford BRP Big-Block Modified Tour (30 laps): 1. REX KING ($1,200) 2. Brian Swartzlander 3. Russell King 4. Jim Rasey 5. Kevin Bolland 6. Rob Kristyak 7. Jim Weller, Jr. 8. Chanda Reitz 9. Mark Flick 10. J.R. McGinley 11. Mike Turner 12. Doug Fleeger 13. Randy Snider 14. Alan Dellinger 15. Jason Longwell 16. Gary Rankin 17. Rodney Beltz 18. Jeremy Paup 19. Rob McClimans 20. Carl Murdick 21. Skip Moore 22. Del Rougeux, Jr. 23. Greg Porter 24. Rick Robinson 25. Rick Hall 26. Mike Clark 27. Dave Murdick 28. Ken Moy, Jr.

Tom's Sewer & Drain Stock Cars (20 laps): 1. STAN WOOMER 2. Larry Root 3. Sonny Wisler 4. Steve D'Apolito 5. Allan Hudzik 6. Jamie Duncan 7. Bret McCarthy 8. Dave Willoughby 9. Carl Davis 10. Gary Frederick 11. Ron Kennedy 12. Russ Stanke 13. Lauren Simmons-DNS 14. Dan Lewis-DNS.

The event was promoted by Bud Rogers of Bud's Towing and was the show scheduled for the 2006 season. Expo Speedway at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds is located north of Warren, Ohio minutes from Route 11 just off Route 305 at 899 Everett Cortland Hull Road in Cortland, Ohio. For more information check out www.trumbullcountyfair.com


RACING TO RETURN TO EXPO SPEEDWAY AT THE TRUMBULL COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS FOR THE 1ST TIME SINCE 1995: BRP MOD TOUR & STOCKS ON TAP
By Mike Leone

Bazetta, OH.For the first time in nearly 11 seasons, racing will return from the dead at the Expo Speedway located at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds this Thursday night, July 13. On the card in this much-anticipated and talked-about show will be the BRP Tour for the Mark Thomas Ford Big-Block Modifieds and the Tom's Sewer & Drain Stock Cars with racing at 6 p.m.

Highlighting the two-division show will be round five of the nine-event BRP Tour as the ground-pounding big-blocks will go 30 laps around the huge 5/8-mile dirt oval for the $1,200 top prize. Local Rex King of nearby Bristolville, Ohio will be thrilled to get back to the track his family promoted during the 1995 season. Rex has BRP victories this season at Lernerville Speedway and Mercer Raceway Park and leads the prestigious points chase. Rex's son Russell meanwhile was victorious at Tri-City Speedway for his first BRP victory. Brian Swartzlander won the last event on July 3 at Central PA Speedway.

In addition to the Kings and Swartzlander, the BRP Tour features top racers like Kevin Bolland, Del Rougeux, Jr., Andy Priest, Joe Crawford, Jeremiah Shingledecker, Dave Murdick, Jim Weller, Jim Rasey, J.R. McGinley, Mark Flick, Chanda Reitz, Rick Hall, Dean Pearson, among others. The last Modified events held at Expo was in June 1995 and was won by current Mercer Raceway Park standout driver Kevin Hoffman and then in August, which was captured by Bolland.

Complementing the program will be the Stock Cars in a 20-lap feature, which will include the top 30 in points from Sharon Speedway. Rick Prosser, Jr. was the last Stock Car victor in July 1995.

Gates open at 3 p.m. with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing beginning at 6 p.m. Admission to the fair is just $7, which includes the races at no additional charge in the 4,000 seat covered grandstands built in 1970. Pit passes are $20 and access is by Gate A Hogland-Blackstub Road right past the church. A reminder that ATVs and golf carts must be kept in the pits and cannot go outside this area.

Expo Speedway at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds is located north of Warren, Ohio minutes from Route 11 just off Route 305 at 899 Everett Cortland Hull Road in Cortland, Ohio. For more information check out www.trumbullcountyfair.com


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