namars: Aaron Pierce Shadybowl pre-race notes

(Middletown, IN) - Kicking off a string of busy race weekends, the Sam Pierce Chevrolet Racing Team with driver Aaron Pierce is looking forward to the April 28th NAMARS Championship Midget Series Season Opener at Shadybowl Speedway in Degraff, OH.

"I really like Shadybowl," Aaron said about his favorite track. "I've run Legends cars there a lot, and I won in a Midget there the last time we raced at the end of the season last year (NAMARS race, September 30, 2000). I have a bit of an advantage because about half the people that go there don't like the track, but I love it. It's really fun. I'm excited about going back - it should be a good weekend for our team. There's no reason why we couldn't win there again."

Aaron will not only be busy on the track this coming week, but he's also going to put on his "promotion hat" and attended the ARCA stock car show at Winchester (IN) Speedway on Sunday, April 22, to promote the upcoming "Rich Vogler Classic" and lucrative "Shootout" weekend on May 5-6 at that facility. He showed his #26 Sam Pierce Chevrolet/Snyder Chevy/Beast Midget in front of the large stock car crowd at that event, and participated in an autograph session. In preparation for the Shadybowl race, the Sam Pierce Chevrolet Racing Team is testing at that venue on Tuesday evening, and then will head to Winchester (IN) Speedway on Wednesday for an all-day test. Aaron's sleek Midget race car will be on display at the Anderson Meijer Wednesday through Friday as a promotion for Winchester's "Vogler Classic" race as well. Thursday Aaron will be back promoting again when he attends the NAMARS/Indianapolis Speedrome Media Day. After a day break to re-group, the team will head to the hills of Shadybowl on Saturday to attempt to defend his NAMARS race win at the end of last year.

Practice for the NAMARS Championship Midget Series race at Shadybowl Speedway in Degraff, OH begins at 4:00 pm (EST) on Saturday and racing is scheduled for 7:00 pm. The 3/10 paved facility is located in west central Ohio off of I-75 - take Route 36E to Piqua to 235N to Route 29 East to Rosewood, OH, turn left (north) on Rosewood/Quincy Road, cross Shanley Road to Flowing Well Road (turn right). Track is ½ mile on the left. For more information, please call Shadybowl Speedway at (937) 585-9456.

Visit www.aaronpierce.com for more news and information about Aaron Pierce and the Sam Pierce Chevrolet Racing Team.

The Sam Pierce Chevrolet Racing Team would like to thank their sponsors for the 2001 season: Sam Pierce Chevrolet, Snyder Enterprise, Long's Excavating and Cooper Tire and friend Gale Tschuor. Without their support, the team could not race.

Sam Pierce Chevrolet Racing Team
Driver: Aaron Pierce

Sanction:  North American Midget Auto Racing Series, Inc. (NAMARS)

Division:  Championship Midget Car Series (race #1)

Track:  Shadybowl Speedway, Degraff, OH - 3/10 paved

Date:  Saturday, April 28, 2001

Schedule: Hot laps - 4:00 pm, Racing - 7:00 pm (EST)

Last Race: Won season-ending NAMARS race at Shadybowl Speedway, on September 20, 2000

FAST FACTS ON DRIVER

Number - 26
Chassis - Beast
Engine - Snyder Chevrolet
Sponsors - Sam Pierce Chevrolet, Snyder Enterprise, Cooper Tire, Long's Excavating, Hanna Auto Body

Age:  27 (birthdate:  3/28/74)

Residence:  Muncie, Indiana

Family:  Wife, Brooke - Daughter, Paige (born 6/30/00)

Crew:  Dave Hurley (Mayor of Daleville), Tony Hay, Ron Brunner, Larry Martz

Driver Coach:  Tom Bigelow, USAC's all-time winningest Sprint car driver

Driver Duties: Everything - driving the truck, working on the cars, parts runner, racing the car

Full-Time Job: Racing career. Aaron also continues to work in his father's car dealership

2001 Racing Schedule: Will follow both NAMARS Championship/Regional Midgets and USAC National Midget tour

Racing Honors: 2000 NAMARS "Rookie Of The Year;" 2nd In NAMARS National Points; Won "Rookie Of The Race" for 2001 "Thunder In The Dome" 100-lap invitational; 1998 Kenyon Car Champion

Racing Background: Midgets, Kenyon Cars, Legends, Karts
Started Racing: Age 20
Racing Aspirations: Professional Race Car Driver

Shop Location: At Sam Pierce Chevrolet, in Middletown, Indiana

Favorite Track:  Shadybowl Speedway, Degraff, OH

Home Track:  Anderson Speedway - won many Legends races there

Racing Heroes: Tom Bigelow, Dale Earnhardt, Mel Kenyon
Family Ties: Father Sam Pierce is owner of Sam Pierce Chevrolet, sponsor of the #26 Sam Pierce Chevrolet Racing Team/Snyder/Beast

DRIVER QUOTES

Regarding expectations for the upcoming 2001 season:

"We'll be racing a lot this year, and will be primarily concentrating on the USAC National Midget Series. I would like to finish in the top-10 in points in the USAC Midgets. I feel that would be a pretty successful season."

Regarding expanding 2001 schedule to race with USAC full time and also race 3 Silver Bullet races:

"We have a lot to learn in USAC. After a full schedule in NAMARS last year, we felt it was the next step we could take on the ladder to move up in racing. It will be tough - the USAC National Midget Series is one of the most competitive around, and we'll need a lot of track time, but I feel that we are prepared to handle the workload. I have a great team, and we are all committed to this year's schedule. Aside from our Midget racing, I will also be running in three Silver Bullet races in the Snyder Enterprise champ car - they are one of my sponsors and take care of my motor program. I am really looking forward to running the champ car, and hope that by next year I'll be able to put together a full program in that series as well."

Regarding future racing goals - stock cars or Indy cars:

"I'm open to the best opportunity that's out there, either in stock cars or Indy cars - and I definitely want to move up to one of them in the future. That's why I'm racing so hard now. I like them both, and am just doing my best to prepare on and off of the track to take advantage of any opportunity that may come up for me to possibly test in either one of those types of cars. In the next year I will be doing whatever I can to understand each of those circuits, and hopefully get to know some of the people involved. I will do what I can to prepare myself, my racing skills and my marketing skills to make that jump when the right opportunity comes up."

Regarding the races Aaron's completed so far this year - Ft. Wayne, Thunder In The Dome, Copper World, USAC/Anderson:

"The race in Ft. Wayne (indoor midgets - "Rumble In The Expo") was only my second year at the (Ft. Wayne) Coliseum, so I was still getting used to that tight little circuit, but it was a good experience overall. The "Thunder In The Dome" race just about a month ago was a little better, as I did fairly well and got the "Rookie Of The Race" award for the 100-lap Feature. I felt pretty good about that considering it was basically an all-star race. The "Copper World" was also a new experience for me. We didn't make the Feature, but it was my first real experience on that big, tricky one-mile oval. I felt pretty good about our weekend and know we'll do well there when we go back next year. And Anderson was just a day filled with a lot of bad luck. That's a track I'm completely comfortable on and really like racing there, but we had someone squeeze us into the wall during our heat, which bent up a bunch of stuff. Then in the semi, an oil line came loose which ended our day. It was really unfortunate as I knew I had as good of a chance of winning that race as anyone there - we tested earlier that week and were turning times below the pole speed last year, so I knew we were plenty fast. Just some dumb luck that eventually put us on the sidelines."

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