AMB Scoring system at Grandview

Transponders to be mandatory at Grandview Speedway.

BECHTELSVILLE, PA February 9, 2003 . . .NASCAR sanctioned Grandview Speedway, a one-third-mile, banked clay oval located in Bechtelsville, PA, is joining the move to "high technology" that is being offered at a number of speedways across the country.

When the season gets the green flag at the popular Saturday night Berks County sports attraction on Saturday, April 5th, AMB Scoring and Timing System technology will be in place and will be required on all the stock cars taking part in the NASCAR sanctioned events.

"Every once in a while we have a racer that feels he has not been scored properly. A review of the score sheets usually shows that is not the case. However with the AMB Transponders in place there will be no questions about the scoring. We will have the transponder system and the regular scoring system (manual scoring) in place," said event organizer Bruce Rogers. "We have experimented with it for a couple of our special events and it has worked very well."

Basically how it works is that the transponder, located in the right rear portion of the race car behind the right rear tire will send a signal to the scoring tube, when it crosses the start finish line that is buried under the speedway track surface.

When the scoring tube receives the signal from the car it will carry the information to the computer located in the scoring/announcers tower. The computer collects the information (lap time, speed of car, laps completed, etc.) for each car to be printed out at the end of the race.

Power for the transponders can be provided in two different ways. Either the transponder can be removed after each race night and put into a charger and readied for the next event, or the transponder can be wired directly to the race car's battery.

The AMB Scoring and Timing System offers benefits for the racers including there will be no question on what position the racer is in when a caution comes out on the track. That will make it a better show for the racers and the fans as lining up on restarts will be done much quicker. The transponder will also be able to print out each car's individual lap times during the evening. This is important to a race team as they make chassis adjustments. In the past they had to rely on a hand-held stop watch.

With more and more speedways using transponder technology it is possible that racers will be able to use the same AMB System at other tracks where they are racing.

Each transponder will have a different serial number on the outside of it. The corresponding signal that is transmitted from the transponder will match up with the transponder serial number that is programmed into the computer at the track.

Every team will be responsible for registering their race car transponder serial number with Grandview Speedway officials at the pit office on or before opening night.

A free-to-the-public practice session is planned for Saturday, March 29th at 12 noon. This will give teams a chance to test their new and refurbished race equipment as they get ready for the 2003 season.

And on Saturday, April 5, 6 p.m. the 2003 stock car racing season gets the green flag with the running of the Patriot Bank NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge Modified and Late Model stock car doubleheader. The Modifieds will run in a special 40-lap feature event.

Grandview Speedway continues to offer some exciting marketing opportunities for area businesses. Complete information include a fact filled brochure is available by telephoning Ernie Saxton Communications at 215.752.7797. Race night sponsorships are available and can be divided between two or more businesses to make for an economical marketing opportunity reaching the thousands of fans that attend racing events at Grandview Speedway.

For information on racing at Grandview Speedway telephone 610.754.7688 or visit their website at www.grandviewspeedway.com.

-gs-