Dernoshek Hopes Jennerstown Yields Better Results than Indy

CANONSBURG, PA (May 27, 2005) – In his last USAR Hooters ProCup Series race attempt, Logan Dernoshek missed making the 36 car field by four one-hundredths of a second and two provisional points leaving him to watch the event from the stands. This weekend, the Pittsburgh native will try again at his home track of Jennerstown Speedway where he has many laps and years of experience from late model and ProCup competition.

The previous event at Indianapolis Raceway Park saw 46 cars make qualifying attempts and there are about 50 currently entered for the Jennerstown event. Last season, Dernoshek hung on to qualify for the Four Champions Championship Series event as the last driver on time, but he hopes he’ll be further from the back of the field this week with the knowledge gained from IRP and last season’s events at the Laurel Highlands oval.

“That’s the worst I've felt in a long time and I would say that race was the pinnacle of frustration for me,” said the pilot of the unsponsored No. 10 Pontiac. “We had too much sway bar in the car and I think that was the major problem at IRP. There were a couple other small things that contributed, too, but we are armed with more knowledge now and we’ll continue to get better. We barely made the champ race last year because we found that the timing belt was stretched and the motor was down on power, so we feel pretty good about this go around since the car handled so well in that race.”

Included on the entry list are the cars owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart, and Jimmy Spencer which will be driven by Mark McFarland, Shelby Howard, and Jimmy Spencer, Jr. respectively. Though the NASCAR Nextel Cup influence is becoming stronger in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series, Dernoshek is still confident and looks towards his idol, Alan Kulwicki, for inspiration. Kulwicki was the independent who, in a pickup truck, moved everything he owned from Wisconsin to North Carolina in the 1980s and won the Winston Cup Championship in 1992 before dying in a tragic plane crash near Bristol, Tenn., in 1993.

“I think I underestimated the rise in the competition level this year, as did many other people. There are a lot of good, well funded northern teams this year and it is going to be hard for the little guys like us to just make the races. Last year there were less than 30 cars at IRP and this year there were forty some and I believe that says a lot in itself. I try to heed the words of Alan Kulwicki, ‘positive mental attitude.’ Some days it's harder to do than others but it’s still the best thing you can do.”

Spectator gates for the events at Jennerstown Speedway will open at 4 p.m. with USAR Hooters ProCup qualifying taking off at 4:30. The ProCup cars will remain impounded, unable to be mechanically altered, from the end of their qualifying run to the beginning of the race at 7 p.m., much like the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series has begun doing in 2005.

Tickets are still available for the Naturally Fresh Foods 250 at Jennerstown Speedway in Jennerstown, Penn., by visiting the track website at www.jennerstown.com or calling the speedway office at (814) 629-6677. The event will be broadcast on Speed Channel at 10 p.m. ET on June 4 and at noon on June 10 in conjunction with the "Lunch at Hooters" promotion.

Logan Dernoshek Racing, Inc. is actively seeking sponsors and marketing partners for their efforts in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series for 2005 and beyond. Interested parties can contact the team through USAR or through team marketing rep Tony Stevens at (412) 225-0348 for more information. More information about the Logan Dernoshek Racing, Inc. organization can be found online at www.logandernoshek.com.