POINTS BATTLE ALREADY HEATING UP IN THE ASA SHORT TRACK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Tuesday, June 10, 2008

For Immediate Release
American Speed Association PR 

Link to National Points Standings
http://www.speednetdirect.com/points.php?track_id=7002

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 10, 2008) – With a Joe Gibbs Racing test session on the line it is already becoming clear that the points battle for the inaugural ASA Short Track National Championship will be a heated battle throughout the hot summer months.

“We’ve started tabulating the points for the ASA Short Track National Championship and the system we laid out has already proven to be extremely competitive,” said Dennis Huth, president of Racing Speed Associates which now owns the American Speed Association.  He pointed out that it was still early in the race season however, and that he expects so see many “passes for the lead” before a champion is named.

“We still have a few ASA Member Tracks that have not submitted all their results yet so that will change the standings, of course. Once all the racetracks have the minumum14 races completed then we should really have a much clearer idea on who the top drivers are that will be battling it out for the Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil Champion Award and the test session behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota,” explained Huth.

Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil, sponsor of the ASA National Short Track National Championship, is the same oil developed and used by Joe Gibbs Racing. The team sells the oil so racers across the country can have access to the latest technology in racing lubricants. 

The ASA Short Track National Championship will be decided by a standardized point structure for competitors in the racetrack’s feature division, along with a handicap to create equality between the variety of track sizes and equipment standards to determine a performance index. This index will be used to calculate competitor points for each race and will be factored by the number of races run to create an average (similar to a baseball batting average). Though the index number is simply a measurement device and holds no real relevance except to be compared to another performance index number, in general the larger the number the better. So, for example, a 10.1234 indicates that driver has fared better at this point in the season that a competitor with a performance index of 9.4321.

According to Doug Binstock, general manager at Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah, the ASA Short Track National Championship has already generated considerable enthusiasm among his competitors.

“This is a huge, huge opportunity for the racers. It has brought a tremendous amount of excitement to our competitor base,” he said. “As exciting as it would be to win the title, the test session with Joe Gibbs Racing is the type of opportunity that no amount of money could buy and that is the real pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

“The great thing about this program is that it really helps the racetracks like ours that are remotely located. Our guys don’t travel much because it is a long haul to some other tracks so they don’t get much visibility beyond Rocky Mountain Raceways and the local media. But the ASA Short Track National Championship lets tracks like ours showcase the skills of the drivers that we have here and lets the world see the level of talent that is racing on these ASA Member Tracks,” added Binstock.

The updated points will be posted at  www.ASA-Racing.com each Tuesday night. This will show the leaders at each track in the two divisions, and a link will open a page with the complete driver standings. Results of competitions run up to midnight on Sept. 28 can be utilized for the calculations.

“I think that once the drivers really grasp the fact that someone at their level will be able to win a test session with Joe Gibbs Racing then the whole program will really explode in terms of enthusiasm. I want to thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for having the foresight to see the value in supporting this program and making a dream come true for the eventual winner,” said Huth.

Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR, currently fielding three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, two NASCAR Nationwide Series teams and a driver development program. Its driver lineup consists of Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in the Sprint Cup Series; Stewart, Hamlin, and Busch in the Nationwide Series; and Joey Logano and Marc Davis in the NASCAR Camping World Series East. Based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by Joe Gibbs – a three-time Super Bowl winner as head coach of the Washington Redskins and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame – JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning three Cup Series championships and more than 80 NASCAR races, including three Brickyard 400s and the 1993 Daytona 500.

The ASA Short Track National Championship is another step by the industry leader in creating new and innovative programs. This follows the recent announcement about extending the insurance coverage for ASA members traveling to, from, and during an ASA-sanctioned event.

The ASA Member Track program is comprised of a network of short tracks around the United States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series. For more information, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and tours involved in the ASA, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.

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 For more information, contact:
American Speed Association
(386) 258-2221
info@asa-racing.com