BLYTH, California — Mark your racing calendars for Saturday night, October 1st. That's when the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway will officially kick off its 2011-2012 Winter Blast Racing Series. Of equal importance is the fact that Lucas Oil will be launching their stellar tenth anniversary as the proprietors of the quarter mile paved oval, located at the Colorado River Fairgrounds in Blythe-California.
"They will be receiving their points fund money, their champion's jackets and their plaques on that night."— Greg Scheidecker
In typical fashion, for an opening night at the local speedway, officials have gone all out to create a high energy evening that will please the Blythe racing fans who has supported the Lucas Oil effort there all of these years. The fans are expected to turn out in droves to support their local racing heroes from the speedway's street stock and factory stock divisions. These two divisions will, once again, be the staple for the Winter Blast Racing season.
Making opening night even more spectacular will be a special guest appearance by the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. This sensational regional touring series will be treating the fans to the Rockstar 75: that's a full 75 laps of green flag racing, this series doesn't count yellow flag laps. This series is all about wheel to wheel, door to door, racing and will be expected to once again keep the Blythe fans on their feet during the entire race. Adding to the potential excitement of the Rockstar 75 is the fact that the race has serious championship implications. It's the next to the last race of the seroes' 2011 season.
Speedway Promoter Greg Scheidecker is extremely excited about his opening night and said: "it's our tenth anniversary and we're kicking off the very first night with the Lucas Oil Modifieds, Street Stocks and Factory Stocks. We've got a lot of big plans for this year. This is a real special year for me, my family and Lucas Oil with it being our tenth anniversary."
While a new racing season will begin at the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway, the evening will also include a presentation of the division champion awards from the 2010-2011 Winter Blast season. The evening has also been dubbed Sponsor Appreciation Night in honor of the local and national businesses who has made ten years of Lucas Oil racing possible in Blythe.
"We elected this year to, on the track in front of a packed house, to honor all of our champions from the previous season. They will be receiving their points fund money, their champion's jackets and their plaques on that night. The evening will also be a sponsor appreciation night which gives me the opportunity to express my appreciation for our group of sponsors, as well as the local drivers, from the Blythe area. They are absolutely great people to work with," Scheidecker said.
The championship awards will be passed out to: Danny Dill-Street Stocks, Michael White-Factory Stocks, Mike Sutterfield-Gene Price Motorsports Late Models, Jim Mardis-Lucas Oil Modifieds, Kyle Niquette-Legends and Jeremy Orozco-Bandoleros.
The Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway opening weekend will actually begin on Friday night with a test and tune session for all racing divisions. This practice session is free of charge to the fans. On the October 1st Rockstar Energy Drink race day the spectator gates will open at 5 pm with the green flag falling on the new racing season at 7 pm. As always the racing will be preceded by an on track autograph and photo session that will allow fans to get an up close and personal look at the cars as well as meeting the drivers.
Tickets for Saturday race day are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors, 55 plus, the military and the handicapped. Teen tickets, ages 13 to 17, are $5, kids tickets, ages 6 to 12, are $3 while kids five and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paid adult. Students from Palo Verde High School will receive a $1 discount by presenting their ASB cards. The speedway also offers a family package for $20 which admits two adults and two kids 17 and under.
For more information, regarding the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway 2011-2012 Winter Blast Series, dial up the speedway's official website at www.i10speedway.com.
