Petty Paying Whopping $2,500 to Win Saturday’s Season Opener

RIVER GLADE, NB (May 15, 2013) – Petty International Raceway opens its gates for 2013 this Saturday and will start the year off with a whopping $2,500-to-win 150-lap feature for the GT Enterprises Sportsman. The Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete 150 is expected to attract the top sportsman racers from throughout the Maritimes.

“We’ve got 25 sportsman teams already registered for the race this Saturday,” said Brett Benoit, co-owner of Petty International Raceway. “And the likelihood is strong we’ll see upwards of 30 cars in the field by Saturday.”

With Benoit and his two Petty partners, Craig McFetridge and Wayne Smith, entering their third season as owners of the facility and continuing to give back to the facility and racers, race teams are in turn showing strong support for the trio and the track.

Besides guaranteeing a whopping winner’s cheque this Saturday, over the winter the owners have continued to improve the facility by erecting a concrete wall around turns 1 and 2, providing added safety features as well as allowing traffic to travel freely to and from the pit area during racing action. Those in the pit area will also benefit from a new public address system.

More than 60 teams have pre-registered to compete for points in the four divisions featured regularly at the facility – the GT Enterprises Sportsman, the C Max Paint & Body Shop Supplies Street Stock, the Leisure Days RV Bandoleros, and the Mister Transmission Mini Stock.

Among the pre-registered teams is 2012 Petty points champs Rick Cashol (street stock). While he has not yet registered, 2012 sportsman champ Dave O’Blenis was in his car testing at last Saturday’s pre-season tech’n’tune. Other notable names in the sportsman ranks are 2011 Speedway 660 pro stock champion Greg Fahey, former sportsman feature winners Russell Smith Jr., Chris Reid, Mike Power Jr., and Phillip Barkhouse Jr., as well as local favourite Shawn McLean and New Brunswick racing legend Bill Sommerville.

Drivers that plan to run for overall season points at Petty International Raceway are required to register in advance of the season, however, there is no requirement to pre-register for a driver not interested in points, so anticipated car counts often increase on race days.

All four divisions are included in Saturday’s season opening show with racing starting at 4 p.m. The pit area opens at 11 a.m. and the box office/main gate opens at 1 p.m., which is when practice gets underway.

Admission is just $20 for adults, $10 for youth aged 8 to 15, children 7 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Pit admission is $25 and restricted to those 18 and older. All box office sales are cash only.

Petty International Raceway is located on Highway 106, just 40 km west of Moncton, New Brunswick. To learn more about Petty International Raceway, its location, admission, policies, history, and more, please visit www.pettyraceway.com or call the event hotline at 506.372.8080. To receive current updates please follow us on Twitter (@pettyraceway_nb).