AFFORDABLE RACING TECHNOLOGY

Myerstown, PA - September 29, 2009 - Billy VanInwegen Jr. of Sparrow Bush, NY showed his talents and driving diversity while claiming the 2009 SpeedSTR National and North East Regional Championship. The 17 year old sensation VanInwegen, who was also the 2007 Slingshot National Champion, was consistent and strong all season long in his #23 Len and Joe's Pizza STR. VanInwegen earned 4 feature victories and showed his array of driving ability by winning 1 on Dirt and 3 on Pavement.

After the inaugural SpeedSTR season in 2008 this exciting series entered 2009 with 30 STR's taking to the track. The interest and enthusiasm of this division has been astounding in just a short period of time. With the Canadian market debuting in the SpeedSTR series for 2009, Speedway Entertainment added a new format to their championship series. The SpeedSTR's would be crowning a regional champion from both the Northeast U.S. and Canada along with a 6 race series to crown an overall National Champion.

The National Championship would be determined by a formula calculated from their Regional points compiled with their National event points. The STR's competed in 6 National events, these events took place at a variety of track sizes and surfaces to determine the drivers abilities to adapt and perform at the highest of  levels.  2009 events took place at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, PA (dirt), Cornwall Speedway in Cornwall, Qc (dirt), St-Eustache Speedway in St-Eustache, Qc (pavement), Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, PA (pavement), Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY (pavement), and again back to Cornwall Speedway in Cornwall, Qc (dirt).

The parity of this division was demonstrated with 6 different National event winners. Rich Tobias Jr. of Hershey, PA (Big Diamond), Dominic Beaulac of Daveyuville Qc (Cornwall), Dominic Lussier of Hyacinthe Qc (St-Eustache), Paul Lotier Jr. of Lebanon, PA (Mountain), Billy VanInwegen Jr. of Sparrow Bush, NY (Airborne), and JF Tessier of St-Damase, QC (Cornwall).

VanInwegen entered 2009 determined to capture his first STR victory and to vie for the 2009 Northeast regional championship. After just the fourth race of the season VanInwegen would complete goal number one by winning the feature event at Susquehanna Speedway Park. VanInwegen would battle all season long compiling points and winning races. As the season reached its mid way point VanInwegen was now seeing that both the Regional and National points were within his reach. After taking a wild flip at the National event at Big Diamond Raceway, the VanInwegen's regrouped and thrashed to prepare for the next STR event. From that point forward the #23 STR was on a tear. Kyle Hieber of Langhorne, PA who competed in both the STR's and the Slingshots in 2009 stayed in contention all season long. Hieber secured his first STR victory at Trailways Speedway during the huge MicroRacing.com Spring Nationals. Third in regional points was pavement specialist DJ Macri Jr. of Waretown, NJ who came over to the SpeedSTR series this season from Legends cars. Macri adapted to the more nimble and higher powered machines very quickly picking up his seasons best finish on his first night out at the Shenandoah Speedway finishing second. Fourth in regional points went to Tyler Potts of Milford, NJ who also made the transition from the Slingshot division for 2009. Potts was a contender at several events all season long. Rounding out the top five was the series mastermind Rich Tobias Jr. of Hershey, PA. Tobias competed this year in the series for three quality reasons, to learn more about his product, to keep the competitors honest, and finally to raise money for a cause dear to his heart, the Fragile X Foundation (www.fragilex.org).

JF Tessier from St-Damase, Québec put up a strong

fight for the title, finishing 2nd in the National Points.

While VanInwegen was taking control in the Northeast region, JF Tessier of St-Damase, Qc was showing his talents in the Canadian region. Tessier captured a SpeedSTR season high, 5 victories in 2009, 3 on dirt and 2 on pavement. The Canadian points battle was fierce all season long. Tessier's teammate, Dominic Lussier of St-Hyacinthe, Qc  who conquered 2 STR victories, one on dirt and one on pavement came home second in points with Yannick Poirier of Beloeil, Qc only 62 markers behind in third. Poirier was triumphant at Autodrome Chaudiere. Patrick Vigneault of Trois-Rivieres, Qc finished fourth in points only a mere 2 points behind Poirier. Vigneault was victorious on the pavement at the famed Sanair Speedway. Rounding out the top five was Michel Lainesse of Princeville, Qc who was solid and consistent all season long.

Both VanInwegen and Tessier were triumphant in their respective regions, but VanInwegen would win the clash for the National Championship by beating out Tessier by only 95 points followed closely by Tobias, Lussier, and Vigneault.