“The fan and racer motorsports extravaganza.” Triple crown winner J.J. Yeley will be at Motorsports 2004 presented by Sunoco to meet his many fans and sign autographs on Sunday, January 18th, 1:00 to 3:00pm/et. Yeley, just recently selected as the Al Holbert Memorial Driver of the Year award winner by the Eastern Motorsport Press Association, is one of the few drivers to ever win the United States Auto Club Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown titles all in one season. Yeley did it in 2003 and his mentor, 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart, was the last to do it before him. Also visiting the three day show that opens on Friday, January 16th at the Fort Washington, PA Expo Center is Tyler Walker. The young open cockpit racing star is a standout out performer in O’Reilly World of Outlaws competition, the United States Auto Club events and has had some experience in NASCAR Busch Series competition. Walker is very popular with the fans especially for his trademark “back flip” that he does when he appears in victory lane. He will sign autographs from 1:00 to 3:00pm/et on Friday, January 16th. Yeley and Walker join a growing list of outstanding motorsports participants and personalities that will be part of the Motorsports 2004 presented by Sunoco show. Current Nextel Cup champion Matt Kenseth will join former NASCAR Winston Cup champion Bobby Allison at the show along with Busch Series racer Tim Fedewa, Winston Cup ace Dave Blaney along with a long list of outstanding local and regional racing stars. There is plenty more for the auto racing fan with more than 150 motorsports vehicles on display. The three day show covers close to 300,000 square feet of exhibit space with more than 600 display areas covering just about everything imaginable in motorsports. There is a complete area just to house the collectible vendors who will be offering some special deals for show attendees. In addition there will be Big Wheel competition for the youngsters and for the first time the Big Wheels will be made available by the show organizers. No one will be permitted to compete using their own Big Wheel. And the very popular U.S.Smokeless Tobacco Ms Motorsports Pageant will again be part of the show with preliminaries taking place on Saturday afternoon and the finals being offered Saturday evening. Discount coupons, good for $2.00 off on adult tickets, will be available at participating Sunoco outlets starting on December 26th. Look for the show signage. For information on the show schedule check in at aarn.com and hit the Motorsports 2004 link. And you can telephone for ticket and show information at 609.888.3618. ALSO – Yeley to recieve Award: USAC Triple Crown winner J.J. Yeley will receive the annual Al Holbert Memorial/Eastern Motorsport Press Association National Driver of the Year Award at the organization’s annual convention taking place January 23-25 in Trevose, PA. Yeley was the hottest driver in open cockpit racing this season winning the USAC Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown titles. The last driver to do that was Yeley’s mentor Tony Stewart who is a two time winner of the Al Holbert Memorial Award. Yeley also set a new mark for wins in a season with USAC, a mark that had been held by A.J.Foyt. More than 200 members, professional media covering motorsports on a regular basis, gave Yeley more votes than Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Scott Dixon, Clay Millican or Frank Kimmel who were also nominated for the award. In other news from the Eastern Motorsport Press Association five new names will be added to the prestigious EMPA Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the convention taking place at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Trevose, PA. Voted into the Hall of Fame by the Board of Directors was former NASCAR Modified ace Bugsy Stevens and dirt modified star Stan Ploski. The EMPA membership has voted to add veteran broadcaster Ken Squier, former National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel champion Joe Amato and Fonda, NY Speedway standout, the late Lou Lazzaro to the Hall of Fame. Veteran dirt track modified racing standout Kenny Brightbill will accept the second annual “Junie” from legendary NASCAR Nextel Cup car owner Junie Donlavey. The award is named in Donlavey’s honor and is presented to someone in the motorsports industry for their outstanding accomplishments “doing it their way.” Several other special awards to EMPA members will be announced at the convention.(EMPA PR)(12-22-2003)
