Evil E
03-10-2009, 10:55 AM
By Mark Kielblock
Felton DE - The ARDC Midgets will take center stage Saturday afternoon March 14 at the Phillipsburg NJ Mall as part of the IRCO Dirt Track Heroes Show. The show kicked off Saturday March 7 and is dedicated to all things past, present and future in NJ, Pa and NY Dirt Track Racing. Saturday afternoon ARDC will be saluted along with Flemington Speedway, owing to the great tradition that the midget club had racing at the now defunct Hunterdon County square shaped oval.
Phillipsburg's own Stephanie Stevens will have her no. 26 ARDC Midget on display and she has already reaped the rewards of participating in the show long before the ARDC Day takes place. "The interest in midget racing is just unbelievable," Stevens related by phone. "There was so much traffic at the show the first two days that I went through three quarters of the 200 autograph picture cards that I brought with me. I've also handed out about 60 ARDC schedules and talked to so many people who are hard-core midget fans."
Stevens experience with doing car shows and off-season events should serve as encouragement to other racers who are in a sponsorship search; she has seen a great return on her time investment. "I landed my sponsorship with Wildlife Photography as a result of doing the Phillipsburg show last year and they will be back with us again for '09," Stevens explained.
"I have a new sponsor for this year, Schooley's Mountain Auto Works that I obtained from doing the Warren County Car Show," Stevens said. McMillan Oil, DJ Safety, Broadway Automotive, Power Mist Fuels and Ayers Enterprises complete the sponsorship package on Stevens no. 26 ARDC midget.
Andrew Hannula, Zach Martini, PJ Gargiulo, Justin Grosz, Jimmy McGuire, Ken Brenn Sr, and Nick Wean are expected to be on hand to discuss the upcoming 70th season of ARDC and the Club's great history as well.
Nick Wean who capped off a strong 2008 season with a third place finish in the season standings is heading into '09 with a renewed emphasis at running up front. "We really want to concentrate on winning races this year," Wean enthused. "We're starting out the year planning on running all the races, but as time goes by we'll see where we are in the points and take it from there."
Wean will enter the season with his no. 78 Spike/Gaerte Chevy well shaken down. He took that piece to the Chili Bowl in Tulsa back in January and had a strong week. "We won our heat race which had some tough competition, including Tim McCreadie (former Chili Bowl Champ), Wean remembered. "That put us into the qualifier where I was running fourth with two to go when I got passed. We got second in the B main and finished 18th in the Wednesday A main."
Wean went on the run the D Main on Saturday where he qualified into the C. That is where his Chili Bowl experience came to an end. "At least I made it on TV," Wean joked.
Wean also took part in the recently held California Driver Challenge where he ran a pavement midget for DMS racing and Bryan Clauson. "They are coaching and teaching drivers," Wean said. "It's a competition for a full ride out there, so we'll see how that goes."
Saturday: March 14th- 2:30 PM - IRCO DIRT TRACK HEROES at PHILLIPSBURG MALL
Flemington Speedway and ARDC Midgets
CARQUEST
Gasoline Alley TV/Internet Show
Felton DE - The ARDC Midgets will take center stage Saturday afternoon March 14 at the Phillipsburg NJ Mall as part of the IRCO Dirt Track Heroes Show. The show kicked off Saturday March 7 and is dedicated to all things past, present and future in NJ, Pa and NY Dirt Track Racing. Saturday afternoon ARDC will be saluted along with Flemington Speedway, owing to the great tradition that the midget club had racing at the now defunct Hunterdon County square shaped oval.
Phillipsburg's own Stephanie Stevens will have her no. 26 ARDC Midget on display and she has already reaped the rewards of participating in the show long before the ARDC Day takes place. "The interest in midget racing is just unbelievable," Stevens related by phone. "There was so much traffic at the show the first two days that I went through three quarters of the 200 autograph picture cards that I brought with me. I've also handed out about 60 ARDC schedules and talked to so many people who are hard-core midget fans."
Stevens experience with doing car shows and off-season events should serve as encouragement to other racers who are in a sponsorship search; she has seen a great return on her time investment. "I landed my sponsorship with Wildlife Photography as a result of doing the Phillipsburg show last year and they will be back with us again for '09," Stevens explained.
"I have a new sponsor for this year, Schooley's Mountain Auto Works that I obtained from doing the Warren County Car Show," Stevens said. McMillan Oil, DJ Safety, Broadway Automotive, Power Mist Fuels and Ayers Enterprises complete the sponsorship package on Stevens no. 26 ARDC midget.
Andrew Hannula, Zach Martini, PJ Gargiulo, Justin Grosz, Jimmy McGuire, Ken Brenn Sr, and Nick Wean are expected to be on hand to discuss the upcoming 70th season of ARDC and the Club's great history as well.
Nick Wean who capped off a strong 2008 season with a third place finish in the season standings is heading into '09 with a renewed emphasis at running up front. "We really want to concentrate on winning races this year," Wean enthused. "We're starting out the year planning on running all the races, but as time goes by we'll see where we are in the points and take it from there."
Wean will enter the season with his no. 78 Spike/Gaerte Chevy well shaken down. He took that piece to the Chili Bowl in Tulsa back in January and had a strong week. "We won our heat race which had some tough competition, including Tim McCreadie (former Chili Bowl Champ), Wean remembered. "That put us into the qualifier where I was running fourth with two to go when I got passed. We got second in the B main and finished 18th in the Wednesday A main."
Wean went on the run the D Main on Saturday where he qualified into the C. That is where his Chili Bowl experience came to an end. "At least I made it on TV," Wean joked.
Wean also took part in the recently held California Driver Challenge where he ran a pavement midget for DMS racing and Bryan Clauson. "They are coaching and teaching drivers," Wean said. "It's a competition for a full ride out there, so we'll see how that goes."
Saturday: March 14th- 2:30 PM - IRCO DIRT TRACK HEROES at PHILLIPSBURG MALL
Flemington Speedway and ARDC Midgets
CARQUEST
Gasoline Alley TV/Internet Show