2002 CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE DECIDED AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY'S "BULLRING"

UPLAND, California --The 200 lap season finale for the Mechanix Wear Speed Truck Challenge will be a first on many fronts. The Speed Trucks have never raced a 200 lap event, never experienced a competition yellow pit stop, a rookie has never won the Championship and the series Championship has never been decided in Las Vegas. What a race this is going to be!

Randy Brown of West Covina, California the 2000 "Rookie of the Year" in his #99 Chevy S-10 is the points leader at 866, and has been all year with impressive stats of 8 wins, 12 top fives and 14 top tens. Six of his wins have come from The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Lee Hatch from Covina, California in his #91 Ford Ranger is second in the Championship points at 846 and also presents impressive stats of 3 wins, 12 top fives and 14 top tens. Lee also captured the 2002 Speed Truck Challenge "Rookie of the Year."

Brown and Hatch have battled all year for the prestigious "golden ring" but its down to the final race at Las Vegas to decide the 2002 Speed Truck Challenge Champion. Brown's consistency through the previous 17 races has placed him on top in points and perhaps carries an advantage going into the 200 lap race at the "Bullring" as he has won all six races there this year. "If you have an ace up your sleeve the time to pull it is at the Bullring. We won all the races there this year and I think this gives me the ace and advantage. Our ace is on the table and Lee is going to have to work very hard to beat us. Lee's a tough competitor and I have had him on my bumper all year long. We gained a lot of experience at the Bullring earlier in the year and we'll put this together for the 200 lap season finale," stated Randy Brown.

"I feel I'm a better driver now and our team has grown together," comments Lee Hatch. "Winning the Speed Truck Challenge "Rookie of the Year" helped solidify our team and we have been chipping away at Randy's points lead all year getting as close as 18. They are going to be tough to beat. I'm not saying we can't do it because I think we can. Anything is possible. We need to qualify up front and as close to Randy as possible and not let him get out of our sight," concludes Hatch.

Most of the attention seems to be focused on Randy Brown and Lee Hatch for the Championship, and rightfully so, however, Dan Digiacomo of Laguna Niguel, California in his #31 Ford Ranger might have something to say about that. Dan is in third place with 788 points and although it's mathematically impossible to win the Championship, the 2001 "Rookie of the Year" is looking for that second place position and will race Lee very hard to take it away. Dan has 3 wins, 10 top fives and 13 top tens this year and is always in the battle up front with the Championship contenders. "I hope we can utilize the experience we gained this year and put it all together for a strong finish at this 200 lap event, Dan states. We're third in the points and we want that second position. Randy got a jump start on the points from the very first race and went on to win the next 5 at Las Vegas. He and Lee are very tough competitors, but are not unbeatable as we have won three times this year. It's going to be a battle and the best team will come out on top," concludes Digiacomo.

The 2002 Speed Truck Challenge points battle runs throughout the top twenty positions. Fourth place Darren Young, the 1999 Speed Truck Champion from Gilbert, Arizona in his #11 Toyota Tacoma, is only 34 points behind Dan Digiacomo's third place position. Rancho Mirage, California resident and 5th place points holder Dave Hartsook in his #3 Chevy S-10, is behind 4th place Darren Young with an equal 34 points. Sixth place Kenny Smith from El Monte, California and his #43 Chevy S-10 wants the 5th place position from Hartsook and only needs 26 points to accomplish this. Seventh place Las Vegas, Nevada resident Casey Kingsland in his #88 Dodge Dakota needs only 4 points to take the sixth place position from Smith.

Another angle to consider is the youngsters in the series. Those fast 15 year olds in #04 Andrew Lewis, #23 Spencer Clark, both Legend Cars Champions can race at the "Bullring." These young guns are always at the front of the pack and very tough competitors. Something else for the Championship contenders to be aware of.

The points battle is a tight one and will be decided in the first ever 200 lap race for the Mechanix Wear Speed Truck Challenge at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on November 2nd. The race will be filmed for FOX Sports and broadcast in a tape delay format.