Mansfield hosts downtown festival Mansfield, Ohio, delighted with the thousands that lined streets for last years hauler parade, will close city streets Friday evening to showcase participants in the UAW/GM Ohio 250. Hauler display and driver autograph opportunities are the centerpiece of festival events.
ETC. Mansfield Motorsports Speedway management announced last week that all 25,000 tickets have been sold marking the second consecutive full house for the UAW/GM Ohio 250. The speedway added 5,000 seats for this years race. Sundays race will be a home state affair for many competitors including the Germain-Arnold Motorsports trucks of Chad Chaffin (No. 9 Germain-Arnold Toyota) and Shige Hattori (No. 9 AISIN/AISIN AW Toyota). Team co-owner Stephen Germains auto dealership group is located in Columbus, about an hour west of Mansfield Motorsports Speedway Terra Marckese has joined Kevin Harvick Inc. as the engineer for Hornadays team. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. TECH-NET Professional Auto Service has inked one-race sponsorship of Bobby Hamiltons No. 04 Dodge. Toyota Certified Used Cars becomes an associate sponsor of Johnny Bensons No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Toyota for the remainder of the season. Xtreme Outdoor Camo will sponsor the team at Mansfield. More than 65 Ohio companies will participate in NASCAR Day on May 20. For a $5 donation to any one of three charities Victory Junction Gang Camp, Speedway Childrens Charities and Speediatrics pediatrics units at hospitals in Daytona Beach and Miami, Fla. employees receive a commemorative lapel pin and may wear NASCAR-themed apparel to work.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK
Experience counted for this rookie Tracy Hines (No. 13 ThorSport/Dave Zoriki Chevrolet) finished a career-best fifth as the leading Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender in last years UAW/GM Ohio 250. Hines, unlike most of the field, had prior experience in open-wheel competition at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway. He was one of seven freshman drivers to complete all 252 laps.
10 YEARS TOUGH
There were 15 short-track events on the 1995 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule most ever in a single season. Mike Skinner won six of those races; Ron Hornaday Jr. won four. Joe Ruttman (two), Mike Bliss, Terry Labonte and Butch Miller split the remaining short-track stops of the inaugural campaign.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, at a half-mile, is the smallest track on the 2005 schedule, but not the shortest short track on which the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has competed. The old Saugus Speedway northeast of Los Angeles measured a third-mile with both Colorado National Speedway and Tucson Raceway Park checking in at .375-mile. South Boston Speedway, at a quarter-mile and the old Louisville Motor Speedway at .438-mile complete the roster of facilities under a half-mile.
Fast Facts
Next Event: GM/UAW Ohio 250 (Race 6 of 25).
Where: Mansfield Motorsports Speedway.
When: 2:15 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 15.
Track layout: .5 -mile paved oval.
Race length: 250 laps/125 miles.
Posted awards: $452,500.
TV: SPEED Channel, 2:15 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite.
2004 winner: Jack Sprague.
2004 polesitter: Jack Sprague.
Pre-race schedule (all times local): Saturday Practice 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. 2 p.m. Qualifying 5:30 p.m. Trucks impounded after qualifying.(NASCAR PR)(5-12-2005)
