For Immediate Release:
New Paris, MI (August 9, 2008)

Smalley Lays the Smackdown at New Paris

After finishing second in the past two events, John Smalley closed the deal at New Paris Speedway claiming his first victory in the ShortTrackTrcuks.com Challenge Series. The cagey veteran stormed to the front early and never looked back winning at the tight quarter-mile bullring with the most dominating performance of the season. Darren Lane turned in his best performance this year to finish second followed by championship points leader Justin Claucherty. Fellow championship points contenders, Joey Shuryan and Paul Schaffer, rounded out the top five.

Renegade Race Fuels Fast Qualifier of the night was Justin Claucherty piloting his Chevrolet Silverado to just a three-hundreths of a second advantage over the Ford F-150 of Joey Shuryan. Paul Schaffer, Rob Roney and Keith Wioncek rounded out the top-five qualifiers.

Taking the green flag for the main event, it was Josh Leo jumping into the lead over rookie David Stone. Smalley, though, was not to be denied from his third starting position, taking just three laps to work past both young guns to assume the lead. Smalley, a Speed Pro Masters Division contender, set sail and showed his veteran savvy in extending an early lead.

Behind Smalley, the battle was for second spot as Josh Leo drove his guts out defending the position from Darren Lane and Keith Wioncek. Behind them, series championship contenders Claucherty and Shuryan plotted their way to the front running nose to tail.

Near the midway point, coming off of turn two and passing a lapper, Leo got sideways trying to stay ahead of Darren Lane for second place. As Lane drove inside down the backstretch, Leo slammed the door moving low to block. This allowed Paul Schaffer to make the move on the outside of both Lane and Leo heading into turn three. Leo drove in deep to protect his position but slid up the track nearly running Schaffer to the wall and allowing Lane through to the inside. As trucks steamed by on the inside through the middle of turn three and four, Leo hit the gas off the exit of turn four again sliding sideways. In the process of saving his Ford for the third time in a single lap, Leo chased the truck down the track and spun into the infield grass bringing out the only caution of the fifty lap feature.

On the restart, it was all John Smalley up front as he cruised into the sunset to earn the feature win and claim the Speed Pro Master of the Race. Behind Smalley the action was intense for second as now Darren Lane would assume the role of defender. First up to challenge was Schaffer as he shot to the outside off turn two. The charge faded though as Schaffer found no grip coming off of turn four. Claucherty took advantage and pinned Schaffer to the outside sneaking through into third as Shuryan snuck through as well for fourth. Claucherty tried sounding the chrome horn nudging Lane slightly trying to rattle the young driver. But it was to no avail as Lane held steady and true to skate in second over Claucherty, Shuryan, and Schaffer rounding out the top five.

Rob Roney drove a steady race to finish sixth ahead of Wioncek, Jason La Duke, and Tom Sliwa in ninth. Josh Leo jumped back on the horse and drove well to get back to tenth at the finish. Claucherty picked up the all important bonus points and $50 gift certificate for the Allstar Performance Hard Charger award. Junior Pruitt earned the St. Clair Engine Hard Luck award for his fit with a sticking throttle. Series newcomer John Schafer won the Engine Pro Lucky Dog award.

The ShortTrackTrucks.com Challenge Series races specially prepared racing trucks at the finest short tracks across the Great Lakes area. The still growing truck racing class offers professional oval track racing in an exciting, fast-paced, fender banging and affordable formula. Drivers from around the country are eligible to compete in Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, and Dodge Ram full-sized racing prepared trucks. The series competes at all major racing venues in the Midwest, including Mansfield Motorsports Park, Berlin Raceway and Kalamazoo Speedway. Information on the ShortTrackTrucks.com Challenge Series events, schedule, and drivers can be found at www.ShortTrackTrucks.com.