SCOTTS VALLEY, CA -- When the star-laden Copper World Classic weekend begins at Phoenix International Raceway Feb 4, Featherlite Southwest Series, NASCAR Touring, driver Mall Crafton will be watching more than just his stock car competitors.

Crafton, Tulare, Calif., spent the formative years of his career in open-wheeled cars similar to some of those which will also compete in the Copper World event.

The Copper World Classic brings together racers from several racing disciplines: The Series will appear along with USAC open-wheeled cars (Midget and Silver Crown divisions) and the Western States Super Modified Association.

"It gets me back to the mini sprint days," Crafton said. "It's a little sprint race, 50 laps. You don't have a lot of time to get to the front. Also, a lot of the guys I used to race against (in his mini sprint) will be there'

The Copper World event will be the second race of the 18-race 1999 Featherlite Southwest Series season. Tom Sweatman won the first event of the season, Jan. 10 at Tucson Raceway Park.

Crafton, who grew up watching his father race a Series car, started his career in karts and progressed to the mini sprints. Mini sprint cars are winged racers mounted on a midget chassis.

"I've thought about racing a midget," Crafton said. "But I always wanted to race stock cars I always knew I wanted to race on asphalt. Dirt is for growing potatoes."

The 22-year-old Crafton finished seventh in the 1998 Series standings and was 11th after starting 22nd in the 1998 Copper World race. Later in the year, he collected his first-ever Series win in a 100-lapper at Cajon Speedway in El Cajon, Calif.

The Series season opener at Tucson attracted 60 cars and the FSWS portion of the Copper World Classic is expected to attract the same kind of interest. The four divisions will attract about 200 cars-

The popularity of the event among racers, and the wintertime lull in the racing season, has turned the Series portion of the Classic into an all-star race. As an example, the last three drivers to win the Series race during the Classic weekend are Ken Schrader (NASCAR Winston Cup Series star), Rick Carelli (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series star) and Ron Hornaday Jr. (2-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion).

Source: NASCAR Public Relations
Posted: 2/2/99