The Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, will drop the green flag on round two of their 2011 season April 16th at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway, in Blythe-California, for the running of the CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food 75. For racing fans who have yet to experience the excitement of this open wheel, regional, racing series, that main event is a full 75 laps of green flag racing. This series does not count yellow flag caution laps.
"There are factors that guarantees there will be a new points leader when the CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods 75 concludes this Saturday night."
Going into Saturday night's race the series' points profile is based on the results of round one held March 26 at the Arizona based Havasu 95 Speedway. That was the night that two teen drivers, Dylan Kwasniewski and Austin Barnes, stretched their racing wings and finished one-two ahead of a full field of series veterans.
But there are factors that guarantees there will be a new points leader when the CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods 75 concludes this Saturday night. Kwasniewski will not be in attendance to expand that points lead. The Las Vegas teen driver will be competing in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event at the All American Speedway in northern California complete with the backing of the Parker-Arizona based Gene Price Motorsports.
Greg Scheidecker, Lucas OIl Modified Series promoter, said "I, of course, would like to see a young talent like Dylan entered in all of my races but, at the same time, I understand he's expanding his racing venues and building his future in the sport and I truly believe that this young man does indeed have a bright future in racing. With the support of an organization like Gene Price Motorsports this is indeed a major opportunity in the making and I wish him the best of luck Saturday night."
Then there's the matter of Austin Barnes. The young Escondido-California driver spent much of the 2010 season riding a major learning curve. He has learned his lessons well while piloting his family operated modified and is now regarded as a major threat to park that car in the series' Sunoco victory lane. His solid second performance in the series' season opener last month certainly enhances that point.
But there are some other series veterans who are very familiar with the directions to the Sunoco winner's circle. Chief among them is Arizona's Chris Gerchman. He's also reported to be laying the ground work for expanding a potentially lucrative future in racing. But during that process Gerchman would also like to wrap up a Lucas Oil Modified championship that many thinks he richly deserves. Last year he won a series high six races only to be set back by two rounds of bad racing luck that forced him to settle for third in the final standings. Gerchman fully understands what it takes to find success at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway. He's the defending race champion from last year and, more importantly, a major threat to win Saturday night's race.
The same goes for southern California driver Jim Mardis who is the reigning series champion. Mardis has made it clear that he planning a repeat title run this year and his top five finish last month at Lake Havasu City will help launch that campaign. He's also a major threat to win Saturday night.
There are a handful of veterans drivers whose merits has to be considered this Saturday night. Chief among them is Burbank-California's Tim Morse who scored his first series win last year, and finished second in the points during a final race showdown. All of this was accomplished despite the grand theft of his race car and trailer from his shop prior to the last race of the season.
Still other potential dark horses capable of scoring their first 2011 win includes Las Vegas drivers Doug Hamm and Tom Lovelady. Also with potential is series veteran Mike Salm who recently took over the reins of the #11 Swenson Racing modified. Also up for consideration is Larry Gerchman, who is no stranger to modified feature wins and track championships. Yet another driver to watch this Saturday is Brian Collins who scored a personal best last month with a top five finish.
But all of the above will have to arrive in Blythe fully prepared to handle the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway. At first glance this speedway appears to be your based quarter mile, paved oval, bullring. But there are aspects to the track that makes a driver pay attention. The speedway has a slight hint of a dog leg, just past the starter's stand, that can help a driver set up for the low line going into turn one. But a driver has to be careful using this technique because he has to sling the right rear quarter panel out while exiting that dog leg. Drive through that the area of the speedway too aggressive and you're going to scrape the wall. Slide into turn one too hard and you're going to find yourself facing the wrong way in the middle of turn two. There seems to be three distinct keys to success at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway: a good handling package, tire management and non stop driver focus.
The track will be ready Saturday night and the talent will be on that track. The CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food 75 has all the needed ingredients to be another fine showing by the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink.
This regional touring modified racing series is strong supported by a highly potent marketing concept known as "Team Lucas". Team members include: Lucas Oil Products, Magnaflow Exhaust Products, E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, GEICO Powersports, CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food, MAV-TV, Dart Machinery, Rockstar Energy Drink and Master Craft Safety Equipment.
The series is also greatly enhanced by a group of associate sponsors featuring Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tire West, Budweiser, Blue Water Resort & Casino, Sunoco Race Fuels, Frank's Radio and Racing Plus.
