THOMAS CAPTURES MAARA TITLE

JENNERSTOWN, PA (Oct. 11) … Will Thomas dominated the on-track action in the fledgling Mid-Atlantic Asphalt Racing Alliance (MAARA) series, and as a result has been crowned the 2006 champion.

MAARA was a co-operative effort between Holland (NY) Speedway, Jennerstown Speedway, Lake Erie Speedway, Lancaster (NY) Raceway Park and Motordrome Speedway to standardize regional asphalt late model racing and create a five-race special event series.

Thomas, a graduate of the Allison legacy car series, captured three consecutive 100-lap contests (Jennerstown/Holland/Lancaster) and finished fourth in the Lake Erie leg to defeat veteran Canadian pilot Pete Vanderwyst by 50-points for the championship.

“As a team our primary goal for 2006 was to win the MAARA championship,” Thomas said. “We have been a strong proponent of common rules and have been behind the MAARA concept from the beginning.

“It was fun having the opportunity to race at a number of different tracks,” said the Sharpsville-native. “Hopefully the series will get bigger and stronger next year.”

Thomas collected over $9,000 in prize money for his five race effort.

Glenn Gault Jr., who won the Lake Erie MAARA 125, was third in the final tally, followed by NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Division 3 champion Mark Bliss and Rick Miller. T.J. Johnson, Todd Hoddick, Cole Pearn, Cory Lischer and Rich Skora rounded out the top-10 in the point race.

“The track operators felt the initial MAARA season was a tremendous success,” said Lake Erie Speedway General Manager Joe Lewandoski. “The average five-race car count was 34, and 90 different drivers participated in the series. Several tracks also reported that the best fan turn-out of the season was for its MAARA event.”

Jennerstown Speedway General Manager Larry Mattingly concurred on the success of the new series. “A major goal of MAARA in 2006 was to introduce the less expensive ‘crate’ engines into competition as an alternative to the more expensive custom-built power plants,” he said. “The end result found ‘crate’ engines winning four of the five races and taking the first five spots in the point championship. Seven of the top-10 point cars were powered by ‘crate’ engines.”

The future of MAARA appears bright, with several new tracks ready to join the fold. An 8-10 race schedule is forecast for 2007, along with several increased purse long distance events.

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