SANTA ROSA, CA -- 1998 NASCAR Featherlite Series Champion Steve Portenga is ready to roll into the second race of the NASCAR Winston West season, The Orleans 150 this Friday, March 5 at the fast 1.5 mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After a strong performance in January's season opener with the Golden Gate Racing Team, Portenga heads to Las Vegas with high hopes of taking the #3 Chevrolet to a Top 5 finish.

Though busy keeping up his own NASCAR Southwest Series program, Portenga is very excited to be racing in Winston West with the Golden Gate Racing Team and team owner, Jim Offenbach. "While running in both series this season is a new challenge for me, competing in these Winston West races with Golden Gate Racing definitely offers me the best of both worlds. It feels great to be back in these heavier, more powerful cars and I've got a strong team preparing for competition. I feel very confident that the #3 Team will be strong this year." This event will mark Portenga's fourth appearance in a Winston West car, matching his best finishing effort, a fourth, made in 1996 at Tucson Raceway Park. He also has extensive track experience at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, most recently clinching his 1998 NASCAR Southwest Series Championship there last November with a solid fourth place finish.

Steve Portenga got his start in NASCAR Racing in 1988 earning 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 two time Series Champion (1994 & 1998) with 6 main event wins in his NASCAR Southwest Series career.

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

Source: Steve Portenga Racing
Posted: 3/3/99