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MEDIA
DAY NOTES
Jimmy Childs, Jonathan Urlin,
Eric Williams win TD Banknorth 250 tires
PORTLAND, Maine - Jimmy Childs
enjoyed more than a free lunch and television camera time at Oxford
Plains Speedway's annual media day.
Childs, the two-time Allen's Coffee
Flavored Brandy Mini Stock champion and an Oxford Networks Late
Model rookie, learned upon arriving at Holiday Inn West that he was
one of the three winners in the drawing for eight Goodyear tires to
be used in the TD Banknorth 250 Presented By New England Dodge
Dealers on July 20.
All 107 drivers to file a
compimentary race entry by April 15 were eligible for the prize.
"Wow, things are already looking
up for us!" Childs said. "That will definitely come in
handy for that weekend. I would just love to get into the race. It
would be a dream come true."
Two of the three winners are
'rookies' (in terms of eligibility, at least) in their divisions
this season.
Childs was joined by Jonathan Urlin,
a second-generation driver from Ontario, and 2003 Vermont Milk Bowl
champion Eric Williams of Hyde Park, Vt., in the lucky trio.
"Urlin's father is somebody a
lot of people around here probably don't even remember -- Russ Urlin,
who won an ACT championship back in the late 1980s," said ACT
promoter Tom Curley.
"Jonathan is a kid, 23 years
old, who lives about an hour from Detroit and had done some
open-wheel racing who all of a sudden decided that he wanted some
experience running on a short track late model tour and came to us.
That kind of speaks to the effectiveness of what we're trying to
accomplish with our program here in New England and Canada."
Williams tested at OPS last weekend in preparation for Saturday's
New England Dodge Dealers ACT 150 season-opener. Qualifying begins
at 2 p.m.
"It's a nice cross-section of
drivers," OPS owner Bill Ryan said of the tire winners.
"You have a veteran ACT driver and two young guys who already
have some diverse racing experience."
Childs, a 30-time Mini Stock feature
winner who intends to run weekly for speedway Rookie of the Year
honors, isn't sure if his #10 will be ready for the tour stop.
"I'd like to at least get out
there and practice," Childs said. "This car is taking us a
while to get ready. We've been fortunate that all our Mini Stock
sponsors came back and that we've even picked up some new ones this
year. But those tires are going to be a big help."
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Four of the last five Oxford Networks Late Model championships were
represented at media day, with Travis Adams and Shawn Martin sharing
a table. Both will be among the favorites to win Saturday's event.
Martin has a pair of past ACT victories on his home track, while
Adams captured the season-ending New England Dodge Dealers 150 last
September.
Also in attendance was Joey
Polewarczyk, the 18-year-old who dominated ACT's first race of the
season in the Governor's Cup at Lee USA (N.H.) Speedway on Sunday.
"This is his fourth year with
us, and he's pretty close to being a veteran," Curley said.
"He started third and ran away from everybody. We went more
than 60 laps without a caution, and he didn't waste any time putting
a bunch of lapped cars between himself and second."
Polewarczyk ran third at OPS last
April and also logged a runner-up finish in the 2006 Little Guy 100.
Zach Emerson rounded out the list of
Late Model hopefuls at the luncheon. Sumner Sessions represented the
Allen's Strictly Stock delegation, while champion Vanna Brackett and
Deanna Bisbee appeared on behalf of the Ladies division and the
Acceleration Series.
The cars of Emerson and Ashley
Marshall (Mini Stock #77) provided the backdrop for the outdoor
question-and-answer session.
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