HOOTERS PROCUP ‘CIVIL WAR’ RETURNS TO JENNERSTOWN SEPT. 30

JENNERSTOWN, PA (Sept. 19) … The United Speed Alliance Racing (USAR) Hooters ProCup version of a motorized ‘Civil War’ will return to Jennerstown Speedway on Saturday Sept. 30^th with the running of the ‘Charlie Campbell Memorial’ Miller Lite 250 presented by Predator Performance.

The Miller Lite 250 will mark the second stop on the six-race USAR Championship Series shootout, which features the top-56 drivers from the Hooters ProCup Northern and Southern Divisions competing on the half-mile asphalt Somerset County speed plant.

“The USAR championship is unique,” said Jennerstown General Manager Larry Mattingly. “The Hooters ProCup is essentially two separate tours, North and South, with each having its own champion. Point seedings are based upon driver’s finishes in the final divisional point standings, with the champions receiving a 25-point bonus.

“Then they bring everyone together at the end of the season for six combined races to crown a true ‘National’ champion,” he said. “On a short-track level it creates the same excitement as the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup.”

Local favorite Benny Gordon, DuBois, a three time Northern series champion and the defending USAR kingpin, along with Southern champ Clay Rogers, were tied for the Championship Series lead going into the first event at the new Iowa Speedway on Sept. 15.

However, Rogers’ seventh-place showing in the opening race gives the 2004 National Champion a 26-point cushion over Gordon, who fell to third in the standings after finishing a disappointing 15^th in the contest. Woody Howard, fifth in the final Northern point tally, vaulted into second place after scoring the win in the inaugural Soy Biodiesel 250 by eking out a .064 margin of victory over Daniel Johnson and Justin Hobgood on the fast Iowa tri-oval. Howard currently trails Rogers by 16-points coming into the Jennerstown fray.

Gordon will be looking for some ‘home cooking’ at Jennerstown to get back into the championship hunt. The driver of the Predator Performance Ford Fusion dominated the early season Northern action, winning five-times, and building up a nearly 400-point lead over runner-up Jeff Agnew with three races remaining.

But, Gordon has stumbled down the stretch, posting finishes of 11^th, 20^th, 16^th and 15^th in four of his final five starts. Only a second-place run at Bristol has salvaged his late-season slump. Looking at the season as a whole, though, Gordon still recorded impressive numbers. His 5.2-average finish was one of the best in ProCup history, surpassing his 9.4 average during last year’s championship season.

Gordon will be looking to getting back on track at Jennerstown. He considers it to be his ‘home’ oval, and nearly the entire crowd will be cheering for him. Gordon is a multi-time Jennerstown victor, and he is also is the current one-lap track record holder. 

Advance $15.00 discount tickets are now available through Thursday Sept. 28 on-line at www.jennerstown.com, or by calling 1-888 695-0888. Race day tickets will be $25.00 for adults, while kids, age 12 and under, will be admitted free.

Spectator gates open at 2:00 pm, with time trials set for 4:30. An on-track autograph session will be staged at 5:45 pm, with the Miller Lite 250 scheduled to receive the green flag at 7:00.

Rain date for the event is Sunday, Oct. 1.

###