Southern Ohio Speedway Opening Night Event Preview

WHEELERSBURG, OH-After a long, cold winter, the months of anticipation are over with. This Saturday, April 6th the 2013 season at the Southern Ohio Speedway will officially get underway with the “Opening Night” races. The exciting racing card will feature Late Models-$2,000 to win, Modifieds-$600 to win, GCP Engines Sport Mods presented by Tomahawk Race Cars-Regular Purse, and Pure Stocks-Regular Purse.

With a winners purse of $2,000 on the line, a good quality field of Late Models are expected to be in attendance. Many Late Model teams have circled the Opening Night races as the perfect opportunity to get some laps in at the track before the big Southern 100 weekend on May 3-4 when a potential $16,000 to win will be on the line. Race fans can expect to see a great show on Saturday night in the track’s premiere division. Last year’s Late Model track champion Eddie Carrier Jr. has won the past two Opening Night races.

With a lot of fast Modifieds in attendance at the preseason Test N’ Tune’s, there is also lots of anticipation for the Modified portion of Opening Night on Saturday. The Modified class always puts on a lot of great racing and with the caliber of drivers that race at SOS week in and week out, a great show is expected. Lucasville, Ohio’s Jeremy Rayburn won the Modified portion of Opening Night last season and went on to win the track championship.

Saturday will begin what it set to be a historic season for the GCP Engines Sport Mod division. As witnessed at the pre-season Test N’ Tune’s, the class has grown tremendously over the offseason and is anticipated to have full fields each week this year. What will make the class so much fun this year is the diversity seen in the drivers lineup. The class will feature three full time female drivers, lots of young rookies, experienced veterans, and up and coming drivers who have began their career in this class. The class is literally wide open with who will walk away with the 2013 track championship. The 2013 GCP Engines Sport Mod track champion will receive cash from GCP Engines as well as a free Sport Mod chassis from Tomahawk Race Cars.

History will also be made Saturday when the Pure Stock division will take to the track for their first ever race in the modern era of SOS. This class was designed to be the most economical class at SOS and has received a lot of interest over the offseason. One driver will walk away Saturday as the winner of the first Pure Stock race in the SOS modern era.

Opening Night will kick off the start of a new, more enhanced fan experience at SOS. As part of the enhanced fan experience, a total of 12 fans will be chosen Saturday to draw where the top six fastest qualifiers in the Late Model and Modified divisions will start at in the dash race. Later on in the night, ten fans will be chosen to participate in the “Southern Pick Em’ Challenge” where the chosen fans will pick who they think will win the nights Late Model feature. The fan who picks the winner of the race will win a free general admission ticket and get to go down to victory lane to have their picture taken with the winner.

Gates will open on Saturday at 4:00 pm with hot laps starting the nights action at 6:30 pm. General admission is $12 for ages 17 and up, $5 for ages 13-16, $2 for ages 7-12, and free for ages 6 and under. Pit passes are $25 for ages 13 and up, $15 for ages 7-12, and free for ages 6 and under. For more information visitwww.southernohiospeedway.com.