I-30 Speedway Kicks Off 2010 with Fourth Annual 600 Nationals!

Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (February 25, 2010) – Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway closed out the 2009 season in top style with another rousing rendition of the ever popular Short Track Nationals featuring the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars.

Now, thanks to a curve ball hurled by Mother Nature last September, the high-banked I-30 Speedway will kick off its 2010 campaign with another high profile event in the form of the Fourth Annual 600 Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires on March 11-13.

Originally scheduled for last September 17-19 only to be postponed by torrential Arkansas rains, one hundred or so of the nation’s top 600cc Outlaw Micro Sprint teams will converge upon Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway in just two weeks to vie for the $8,000 winner’s share with each of the Saturday night feature starters collecting a minimum of $500.

The weekend also includes the Third Annual Landers Harley-Davidson $1,000-to-win Horizon Mini Sprint Nationals.

Following a Test N' Tune session on Wednesday night, March 10, two full nights of preliminary competition rather than the one night of previous years will lead into Saturday night's 600 Nationals championship finale. Originally posted as a $7,500 to win event, an extra $500 was added to the top spot courtesy of K&W Truck Repair in Searcy, AR.

All entries may compete on either of the qualifying nights or both of the qualifying nights, with the top four from each qualifying night main event locked into Saturday night's Pole Dash, which sets the starting grid for the front four rows of the championship finale.

All others outside the top four on each qualifying night will battle through a full card of heats and qualifiers to set the balance of Saturday night's main event lineup.

All non-qualifiers will collect $275 on Saturday night.

All paid entries from the originally scheduled September event will be honored with new entries accepted for just $150 until March 10. Entries submitted after March 10 will be $250.

The weekend also includes the Third Annual Landers Harley Davidson Horizon Mini-Sprint Nationals. The Horizon Mini-Sprints take to the track on both Friday and Saturday, with Friday's top six finishers locked into Saturday night's $1,000-to-win main event.

After topping the inaugural version of the event in 2006, Osceola's Travis Senter, Jr., defended his home-state turf for the second time in three tries by besting a field of 110 entries in 2008. Jerrod Wilson took the winner's loot across state lines to Oklahoma in 2007.

NOTICE - RULE ADDITION

Raceivers (one-way radios) will be required for the 2010 season. We need to get an idea of how many people will need a radio so we may pursue a club quantity discount with an area dealer. Please let Terry know ASAP by e-mail or phone.

Board Meeting Update - January 16, 2010 - White River Jct.

In Attendance - Larry Sheridan, Matt Robie, Troy Boissoneau, Annie Boissoneau, Dean & Jane Hanson, Lacey Hanson, Zach Herbert, Terry Reil, Derek Eldridge. Absent - Mike Bubnis, Josh Boissoneau.

Promotion of the club through car shows will be very important this year. We discussed participating in the following cars shows this year. Canaan Dirt Speedway, Bear Ridge Speedway, Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Expo at Marlboro, Dare Event at NHMS, Concord Race Fever, 4th of July Parade Randolph, VT, Rutland, Vt Diamond Run Mall. Volunteers and cars are needed, please contact Terry ASAP if interested. Cars participating in cars shows need to be clean and neat and in race ready trim. We want to present and represent the Club in a positive manner.

After polling the membership on Facebook on who needs a raceiver we had only about five responses. It's unlikely we'll get a discount on this quantity so the board agreed to let the members acquire their own radios. If anyone has any questions on where to get them feel free to contact a boardmember.

All three of our tracks are on board and excited about having GSMSRC track champions in 2010. The board agreed to present this prestigious award to only the top point getter in the 500 and 600 classes for the upcoming season. This will certainly add a new level of drama to the weekly races. All point counting events at each track will count towards the track championship. There will be no drop races factored into the track championships.

Our lineup procedure is completed and will be posted on the website. We will have nearly the same procedure as last year with the exception that high point cars will not be able to start in the front of the feature.

Our Rulebook Committee has finalized their edits and updates to the rulebook. Some highlights are brakes are required at all times, raceivers are required, add Communications Officer to the board, Alcohol stickers must be used, Kawasaki 636 engines may not be bored. A summary of changes will be added to the Tech Page once the formatting is complete.

Our last topic was the website. All boardmembers agreed to replace our current website. There were many great ideas discussed and options identified. Unfortunately, we are not in a position at this time to purchase a new website so we will do a little housekeeping on what we have and see of we can spice things up some. Our goal is still to move to a new website in the future.

BOARD MEETING - DECEMBER 5, 2009

We had a very good meeting on Saturday. I would like to say that although this is a board meeting we welcome any members to attend and participate in these meetings. In attendance for this meeting was Dean, Jane, and Lacey Hanson, Zach Herbert, Larry Sheridan, Mike Bubnis, Matt Robie, and Terry Reil.

The meeting was opened with a review of the last meetings minutes, which were approved and accepted. We did not review the Treasurer's Report however I will get a copy and distribute to the boardmembers through e-mail. Old Business was reviewed next beginning with our schedule. We have confirmed four races at each track, Bear Ridge has confirmed, Big Daddy's and Canaan will be confirming in the next couple of weeks. Rain dates look like they will be at Bear Ridge and Big Daddy's. We briefly discussed Communications as Derek was having fun at Atlantic City racing TQ's! Derek has built a points calculator that very easily updates points and keeps historical and statistical information. Dean Hanson gave us an update on the Rulebook Committee progress. If anyone has any changes they would like to see please get them to Dean Hanson or myself ASAP as we want to button up the rulebook by next meeting. Mike Bubnis updated us on raceivers. He has found a dealer in Massachusetts that is willing to work with us on pricing. While discussing this a motion was made to require the use of raceivers (one-way radios) in all cars for the 2010 season, which passed. With that, we will need to determine how many club members need radios so Mike can work on a discount with the dealer.

Next we moved to New Business. I distributed a new lineup worksheet and instructions for the boards review. The only difference in this lineup procedure is a high point driver that finishes poorly in the heat cannot start on the front row of the feature. I asked the board to review this further and let's discuss it in more detail at our next meeting. We discussed car shows, where they are, who will attend them, and when they are. We'll be looking for lots of cars and volunteers this year to help out with this very important promotional activity. During discussions with the tracks I have sought input on having GSMSRC track champions. This seems to have been received pretty well. More to come on this later!

Some odds 'n ends from the meeting...Christine Boesch has sold her 600! We're going to miss you Christine, make sure you come to the races and cheer us on! Zach's car is rumored to be the 'brightest' car this side of the Mississippi. Larry Sheridan's new 500 ride is complete and ready for competition. Rumor has it there will be a shinny yellow #75 360 sprint competing with Scone's in 2010 piloted by...you guessed it...Matt Robie. The former Johnny Chestnut 500 car has been purchased by Brian Gray.

Make sure to check us out on Facebook!

Lacey Hanson, VT Motorsports Magazine Driver of the Year Contender
Lacey Hanson has advanced from the Traveling Tour Driver category to a finalist position in the Vermont Motorsports Magazine Driver of the Year voting! This is quite an accomplishment as Lacey is matched up against the best of the best from the Vermont racing scene. Visit the VT Motorsports Magazine website and vote for Lacey!

2009 25th Anniversary Championship Banquet – October 24, 2009

Under very precipitous skies the GSMSRC held their annual Championship Banquet.  This wasn’t just any banquet though, repeat champions were about to be crowned, and it just happened to be the 25th Anniversary of the Granite State Mini Sprints Racing Club.

With an excellent turn out Club President Troy Boissoneau opened the evening with a reflection of the club back to its founding members.  As luck would have it, four of the original seven club members and founders were in attendance for the banquet.

Each would take their turn reciting some club history, how the club started, the cars, and of course some very interesting stories.  Overall their vision 25 years ago and their message at the banquet was very timely, the club was started to have fun, keep it fun, promote the club, keep the costs down, and go racing! 

These are guys and names that will live on forever in the club and the club’s history, great job guys!  They are: Ken LaPointe, Dave Allen, Lenny West, and Dave Feathers.  In addition, there was a beautiful display of photos of the club and its members back in the day when this group was turning the wheel.

On to the current members, the evening next moved to presenting season trophies to the top ten in the 500 cc division.  This field was marked with many new drivers and a ton of exciting racing all season long.  Each member of this group should be very proud of their accomplishments.  Week in and week out these guys put on great shows.

The 500 cc championship trophy was presented to Lacey Hanson.  This one was a little more special though as this was Lacey’s 2nd championship in a row!  It has been many years since this has happened.  Great job Lacey!  We look forward to seeing you defend this championship again in 2010.

The 600 cc gang was up next.  Again a very good group of drivers.  Often times in 2009 we were short of cars but these guys didn’t disappoint.  2009 provided some of the most thrilling action in this division in a long time.

Trophies were presented to the top ten drivers culminating in the presentation of the championship trophy.  This with no doubt would be a very special moment.  Matt Robie is not only our 2009 champion; he is now a three time champion and a three championships in a row champion!  This is quite an accomplishment that deserves all the accolades.  What can we say Matt, simply awesome!

Our 2009 Rookies of the Year are a couple of hard charging standouts that most definitely will make their presence known even more in 2010.  Our 2009 500 cc division Rookie of the Year is Zach Herbert.  When you think of the term, “working it” Zach comes to mind.  This guy worked every angle, prepared his equipment to perform every week and just plain got it done.  Zach offered up a very nice thank you to his Dad, none of us can get it done without support from home!  Great season Zach.

Coming out of the 500 cc division our 2009 600 cc division Rookie of Year, John Chestnut could definitely be called Johnny Lightning!  Hoping into a 600 was a little rocky at the start, with a mid season break that didn’t dampen his spirits, this kid figured it our quickly with a couple of near wins.  Look for him in 2010 to be a force to be reckoned with.  Nice job Johnny!

Next in line was the GSMSRC’s Spirit Award.  This award is presented to the individual who promotes what the club is all about.  This year’s winner Troy Boissoneau is without a doubt a shoe in for this award.  Troy has spent many years in many capacities with this club, working the daily grind behind the scenes to make it all possible.  Troy, congratulations, well done.

Lastly was the GSMSRC Sportsman of the Year Award.  This year’s award went to Terry Reil in the 600 cc division.

That concluded the 25th Anniversary Championship Banquet.  Great season by all!  We expect great things in 2010.  Hope to see you all there along with any new competitors or club members.

2010 GSMSRC GENERAL MEETING – October 25, 2009

The 2010 meeting began with the Treasurer’s report.  Troy Boissoneau spent a few moments thanking the club and its members for allowing him to serve as their President.  Next up, 2010 Board of Directors elections.  There were no contested positions so quick vote installed the 2010 Board, which is as follows:

Terry Reil, President

Dean Hanson, Vice President

Lacey Hanson, Secretary

Annie Boissoneau, Treasurer

Troy Boissoneau, Head of Teach

Derek Eldridge, Communications

Mike Bubnis, Member at Large

Larry Sheridan, Member at Large

Matt Robie, Member at Large

Josh Boissoneau, Member at Large

Zach Herbert, Member at Large

A new board position was created called the Communications Officer.  This position will facilitate all club communications and promotion.  As you can see from above Derek Eldridge will be the first officer in this position.

Diane Howes suggested reinstating the annual Fun Day and adding the Dare event to our schedule.  The consensus of the group was to do this.  Great idea Diane.

We will have a rulebook review committee lead by Dean Hanson to review the rulebook for necessary updates, safety issues, etc.  A draft of changes will be presented at the next board meeting.  Troy Boissoneau, Derek & Drew Eldridge will also participate on this committee.

We discussed many items that had been tabled at the last board meeting.  Included in that group were raceivers (scanners), repeal of the on board adjusters rule, and 50” rear axle tread widths.  We are going to research raceivers more before making a decision.  Jordan Eldridge and Mike Bubnis are working on this.  The remaining items were left unchanged.

The group approved a 12 race, 2 rain dates, and 1 drop race schedule for next season.  Most felt this schedule worked very well in 2009 so we should stick with it.  There were some suggestions to add some special races to give us more opportunities to race throughout the year.

Lastly, we talked about creating a club promotional committee.  Anyone interested in this should contact Derek Eldridge or Terry Reil.

The next board meeting will be held December 5th, 10 am, at White River Jct., VT.