Series Michigan pre-event news 2008-05-22

ARCA Goes Home to MIS; 27th Running Coming; Open Test too.....

ARCA RE/MAX Series to Make 27th Appearance at Hometown MIS Friday, June 13

BROOKLYN MI (5-22-08) -- When it comes to the ARCA RE/MAX Series superspeedway world, Michigan Int'l Speedway is as hometown as it gets.

Located in the Irish Hills of Brooklyn, Michigan, the renowned superspeedway is about an hour away from ARCA's home office in Temperance, Michigan.

And it will be there on the two-mile oval that the ARCA RE/MAX Series will converge Friday afternoon, June 13th for the 27th running of the series at MIS since 1980 when Joe Ruttman won the inaugural event from the pole.

Since then, the variety and quality of winners would turn anyone's head.

From Ruttman to Tim Steele; from Jeff Purvis to Frank Kimmel; from Kerry Earnhardt to Steve Wallace; from Casey Mears to Erik Darnell, the winner's list at MIS through the years is impressive to say the least.

This year's entry list is arguably more competitive than ever before, stacked with talent from a variety of top-notch NASCAR Cup teams going head-to-head with ARCA's best.

Two-time Michigan winner and nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Kimmel, the only repeat winner at MIS in the last 14 races there, will most assuredly have his hands full.

Expected entrants include current point leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., a development driver under the Roush Fenway Racing banner, current Hoosier Superspeedway Challenge leader Michael Annett, who drives for Bill Davis Racing, and Eddie Sharp Racing's Scott Speed, a Formula 1 veteran.

After seven events in 2008, there have already been seven different winners: Annett at Daytona, Justin Allgaier at Salem, Matt Hawkins at Iowa, Speed at Kansas, Joey Logano at Rockingham, Stenhouse at Kentucky and Matt Carter at Toledo. Hawkins, Logano, Stenhouse and Carter are all first-time winners.

Practice for the 27th running of the ARCA RE/MAX Series at MIS is from 10:00 AM -- 12 noon Thursday, June 12th followed by SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying at 3:00 PM. Justin Hobgood is the current one-lap track record holder at MIS with a speed of 188.210 mph set back in 2004. The race is LIVE on SPEED Friday, June 13th at 5:00 PM ET.

ARCA RE/MAX Series Open Test at MIS Coming Wednesday, May 28

Prior to the race, an ARCA RE/MAX Series open test is scheduled at MIS Wednesday, May 28th. Expected participants at the test include Stenhouse, Hawkins and Michiganders' Billy Leslie, Larry Hollenbeck and Robb Brent. Rookies' Tayler Malsam, Tom Hessert III, Michael Phelps, Marc Davis and John Wes Townley are also scheduled to test. Other test entries include Amherstburg, Ontario's Terry Jones, Wisconsin's Bryan Reffner, Indiantown, Florida's Patrick Sheltra, Aurora, Ontario's John Graham and more.

-credit: arcaracing.com