This Saturday’s SPEARS Southwest Tour Series “Motor Racing Outreach ‘MRO’ 125” at Madera Speedway will mark the half-way point of the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series championship season. Saturday night’s event will also feature a Fireworks Spectacular, the Legends of the Pacific / SRL Legends Tour, LunkerDaddy Late Models, Hobby Stocks, MST, Toyota Sedans, and 4-Bangers.
General admission for Saturday is $25 for adults, youth ages 6 – 12 are $17, and children 5 and under free. Spectator gates open at 3pm, SPEARS Southwest Tour Series Qualifying at 6pm.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
POINT LEADER – After his wins at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 12th and at Stockton 99 on June 9th, Derek Thorn and his Campbell Motorsports team currently lead the 2012 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series championship entering this weekend’s race at Madera Speedway.
FIREWORKS/SPEARS SOUTHWEST TOUR – Saturday will be the fourth consecutive year that the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series has been packaged with a Fourth of July ‘Fireworks Celebration’ for Madera Speedway’s biggest event of the season.
PAST RACE WINNERS – Past SPEARS Southwest Tour Series race winners at Madera Speedway who are entered for this weekend’s “MRO 125” include; Jim Pettit, M.K. Kanke, and Derek Thorn.
APRIL 21st RACE WINNER – 2009 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series champion M.K. Kanke won the “Melo’s Gas & Gear 125 presented by AmeriPride Services” at Madera Speedway on April 21st. With five laps remaining, Kanke made the race-winning pass on defending series champion Pettit. David Ross finished a SPEARS Southwest Tour Series career best 3rd, followed by Jason Gilbert and Keith Spangler rounding out the top five.
NATIONAL LEADER – SPEARS Southwest Tour Series driver, Derek Thorn continues to lead the national point standings for the SUNOCO Driven Challenge. Thorn leads all drivers of the CRA, PASS and ASA Midwest Tours competing for a test with Joe Gibbs Racing at the conclusion of the 2012 season. The top ranking SPEARS Southwest Tour Series driver in the SUNOCO Driven Challenge standings following this weekend’s race at Madera will be awarded a mid-season bonus of $1000 in SUNOCO and Joe Gibbs Driven products.
TOP ROOKIE – Roseville’s Zane Lovelace currently leads the 2012 Victory Circle Chassis Rookie-of-the-Year point standings over Jeff Oleen, Brandon Loverock, Donny St. Ours and Bobby Hodges.
NEW TRACK RECORD – With the resurfacing of Madera Speedway this past off-season, it was expected that the one-lap SPEARS Southwest Tour Series track record at Madera Speedway would be broken; Derek Thorn set a new track record of 14.009 seconds at the April 21st event.
QUALIFYING BONUS – In addition to the $250 cash bonus awarded for setting fast time on Saturday, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series fast qualifier will also be awarded an additional $500 if they go on to win the main event.
LEGENDS – Saturday’s event is the 5th round of the SRL Legends Tour. SRL Legends Tour point leaders after four races are; Ryan Cansdale with 630 points, Darren Amidon 619, Cale Kanke 573, Zane Smith 570, Chad Shug 569, R.J. Johnson 546, Christian McGhee 530, Ricky Schlick 487, Johnathan St. Ours 487 and Buddy Shepherd with 485 points.
The Race: The “Motor Racing Outreach ‘MRO’ 125”
The Place: Madera Speedway, Madera, CA
The Date: Saturday – June 30th (Practice Day Friday – June 29th)
Track Layout: 1/3 mile banked oval
Current SPEARS Southwest Tour Series Top 10: Derek Thorn 668 points, M.K. Kanke 650, Jason Gilbert 650, Jim Pettit II 639, Jared Vorse 530, Greg Voigt 525, Ross Strmiska 517, Jonathon Gomez 512, Jacob Gomes 510, Dave Byrd 502.
SPEARS Southwest Tour Series Event Sponsors: AmeriPride Services, SPEARS Manufacturing, Melo’s Gas & Gear, Bay BioDiesel, 51 FIFTY Energy Drink, AERO Race Wheels and Motor City GMC - Buick.
SRL Race Procedures Notes: When the caution is displayed – the field is frozen – no racing back to start/finish. Only the first 3 laps per caution period are counted. A ‘Free Pass’ is awarded to the first car 1 lap down; the car will simply drop to the rear of the field for the restart. During the final 10 laps of the race, only green flag laps are counted.
Event Contact: SPEARS Southwest Tour Series Contact:
www.racemadera.com www.SRLSouthwestTour.com
Following Madera the Next Event for the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series – July 21st the “NAPA Auto Parts 125” at Rocky Mountain Raceways in Salt Lake City, Utah.