SANTA ROSA, CA -- 1998 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Champion Steve Portenga is looking at 1999 as his opportunity to make history as the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series' only three-time champion. Many of NASCAR's heroes have come through the ranks of the Southwest Series and the 28 year old driver out of Oakdale, California wants to leave an indellible impression in the history books of this NASCAR Touring Division.

The Steve Portenga Racing team will be starting off their 1999 campaign in Tucson, Arizona this weekend in the "NASCAR Touring 200" at Tucson Raceway Park. Sunday's event marks the fifth of six competitions of the 1998-99 Winter Heat Series and is expected to draw teams from all across the country. The race will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 12:00pm PST.

For the 1999 season, Team Portenga has teamed up again with crew chief Dana Stahl and hopes to capture the same luck they had together in Tucson in 1997.

For this race, Steve Portenga Racing is also pleased to announce its partnership with the Hampton Inn - Tucson, while continuing to campaign for Exxon Superflo Motor Oils, AutoPro and Mission Uniform & Linen Service.

An 11 year veteran of NASCAR Racing, Steve Portenga has a strong foothold on his dream of someday racing in Winston Cup. Steve Portenga began his NASCAR Racing career in 1988 with Rookie-of-the-Year Honors and a NASCAR Winston Racing Series Track Championship at Silver State Raceway in Carson City, Nevada. A 2 year veteran of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Portenga earned honors as the youngest rookie to finish in the Top 5 in a race as well as the highest placing youth in the series (13th of 103 competitors in 1995). He is the 1992 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Rookie-of-the-Year and 1994 & 1998 Series Champion with 6 main event wins in his Southwest Series career.

Fans can find out more about Steve's sensational racing career by visiting his website at www.jps.net/race14.

Source: Steve Portenga Racing
Posted: 1/6/99