DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- When the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division travels to Pikes Peak International Raceway for Saturday’s King Soopers Freedom 150, race fans will have several opportunities to meet the drivers from the Midwest Series and Southwest Series. NASCAR fans are encouraged to stop by these locations and see the cars up close and meet these drivers.
Jim Pettit II, the current Southwest Series point leader and defending series champion will make a stop at the AutoZone in Pueblo, Colo. to sign autographs and pictures. Pettit, from Prunedale, Calif. has two wins, six top five and seven top ten finishes in eight starts this season.
WHERE: AutoZone- 1617 West Hwy 50, Pueblo, CO, Thursday, July 21, 2005, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Eddy McKean, the 2002 Southwest Series champion and previous PPIR winner will be at the AutoZone store in Pueblo, Colo. to sign autographs and pictures. McKean, from Jerome, Idaho has four top ten finishes in eight starts this season and holds down the sixth position in the championship standings.
WHERE: AutoZone- 1617 West Hwy 50, Pueblo, CO, Thursday, July 21, 2005, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Tim Schendel, one of the stars of the Midwest Series will display his #21 Mathews Archery/Texpar Energy sponsored ride and sign autographs at the Re-Grand Opening celebration of a Wal-Mart SuperCenter.
WHERE: Wal-Mart SuperCenter on the corner of Platte and Chelton in Colorado Springs, Colorado.,Thursday July 21, 2005 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Schendel currently sits seventh in the Midwest Series standings after three events. Schendel scored the victory at PPIR in 2002 and is looking for a return trip to victory lane this weekend.
Rip Michels, one of the rising stars of the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series, will be making a local appearances this week. The San Fernando, California-based driver will be at two Stock Building Supply locations for autographs and pictures. His No. 12 Chevrolet will also be on hand for fans to see up close and personal.
WHERE: Stock Building Supply – 8200 Jefferson St ,Albuquerque, New Mexico - July 20, 2005, 11:00 am
Stock Building Supply - 78 North Silicon Drive, Pueblo West, CO. - July 21, 2005, 10:00 am
THE RACE: For the second time this season the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series and Midwest Series will compete head-to-head in a special combination event. This weekend, both series return to Pikes Peak International Raceway for the running of the King Soopers Freedom “150”.
The Midwest Series has competed at PPIR eight times over the last seven years with only Travis Kvapil visiting victory lane twice (99, 00). Eddie Hoffman took the checkers in last year’s installment with Southwest Series regular Auggie Vidovich finishing second. Justin Diercks, Steve Carlson, and Colorado Springs competitor Kevin Clark rounded out the top five finishers.
When the Southwest last visited PPIR back in 2002, Eddy McKean of Jerome, Idaho picked up the win en route to his first series championship. Todd Souza, M.K. Kanke, Scott Lynch, and Sean Woodside were the top five. Southwest Series veteran M.K. Kanke has three top three finishes at PPIR and currently sits fourth in the Southwest Series standings.
THE TRACK: More than 45 drivers are expected to compete for forty-two starting positions in the $108,772 event. Qualifying will be at a premium, but pit strategy will likely be the key to victory on the one-mile paved oval. The Midwest has competed eight times at PPIR with only Travis Kvapil picking up more than one victory. In three previous races at PPIR for the Southwest Series there have been three different winners.
THE MILE MASTER: When it comes to getting around one-mile tracks, few do it better than Eddy McKean. In his last eleven starts on the "big tracks", he has logged ten top-3 finishes. Impressed? Now, get a load of this; four of those 11 races have been victories. McKean, from Jerome, Idaho, won the last time the Southwest Series competed at PPIR back in May of 2002, the same year he claimed the Southwest Series Championship.
SUNOCO ROOKIE UPDATE: It’s a competitive rookie class this season for the Southwest Series. Five drivers have enrolled in the Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year program. This season, each driver’s best eight finishes in the 14-race schedule will be counted to decide the award winner at season’s end. Ten points are awarded to the top-finishing rookie in each event with the next highest finisher getting nine and so on. Standings will be kept throughout the season, but the best eight finishes will be selected upon completion of the final event of the year.
Don Campbell from Campbell, Calif. leads the Southwest Series Sunoco Rookie standings after starting all eight events this season. Campbell has two top ten performances so far this season. Dustin Jones from Tucson, Ariz. sits second in the rookie standings after starting each race this season. Stephan Sadler of Brea, Calif. holds down third place with one top five and two top ten finishes in seven races this season, while Ryan Foster of Anderson, Calif. is fourth. Foster has one top five and three top ten finishes in five races this season.
