BNS: Thompson fact sheet

2001 BUSCH NORTH SERIES NASCAR TOURING RACE FACTS

WHAT: Pepsi Racing 150 Busch North Series, NASCAR Touring Race #10 of 21

WHERE: Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn. 625 mile paved oval

WHEN: Saturday, July 14, 2001

DISTANCE: 150 laps (93.75 miles)

POSTED AWARDS: $83,550 (including $3,500 Busch North Series, NASCAR Touring Championship point fund money)

FIELD: 36 cars (Fastest 31 through one round of time trials Two additional positions will be added as provisional starters based on the current 2001 Busch North Series driver point standings, two based on the current 2001 Busch North Series owner point standings, and one reserved for a past Busch North Series champion, if needed).

SANCTION: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)

PROMOTER: Thompson International Speedway, Inc. <pre> SCHEDULE: Saturday, July 14 8:30 a.m. Registration & Inspection 9:45 a.m. Mandatory drivers meeting 10:45 a.m. -12:00 noon Practice 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. Practice 4:15 p.m. Bud Pole Qualifying (pos. 1-31) 7:45 p.m. (approx.) Pepsi Racing 150 </pre> NOTES OF INTEREST

Tracy Gordon won the 2000 edition of this event, held in August. Gordon started fourth and bided his time as Jerry Marquis and Brad Leighton took turns at the lead. Gordon pitted with most of the leaders at lap 70, which put the short-pitting Bobby Dragon and Jamie Aube out front. For most the second half the two veterans held the top spots, but Gordon passed Dragon for second on lap 132 and Aube for the lead on lap 139 to score his fifth win of the year. Aube, Dale Shaw, Leighton, and Dragon completed the top five. Gordon averaged 70.799 miles per hour through 8 caution periods for 48 laps.

Dave Dion won the Bud Pole and set a track record in 2000 with a lap in 21.459 seconds for a speed of 104.851 miles per hour. That record is expected to be broken on the new track surface in 2001.

The Pepsi Racing 150 will mark the 19th appearance of the Busch North Series at Thompson International Speedway. Of the previous 18 races, Ricky Craven and Mike Stefanik have each won three, Bobby Dragon, Kelly Moore, and Jerry Marquis have two wins each, and Ken Bouchard, Mike McLaughlin, Robbie Crouch, Andy Santerre, Jeff Fuller, and Tracy Gordon have each visited victory lane once. Dragon's two victories were the first two BNS races at the track in 1988 and 1989.

The last Saturday night races at Thompson were staged in the early 1980's by the Southern New York Racing Association, whose home track, the Danbury Racearena, closed after the 1981 season. The SNYRA races lasted only one full season.

Thompson International Speedway opened in 1940 and has always been a 5/8 mile paved oval. It is the oldest track in New England built specifically for auto racing and one of the oldest speedways in the country which does not trace its ancestry back to some other entertainment facility- fairgrounds, horse track, amusement park, etc.

STAT OF THE WEEK

The Busch North Series record winning streak is four, set by Ricky Craven in 1991 (Flemington-Oxford-Thompson-NHIS). Since that time, Tracy Gordon's 2000 trio (Holland-Beech Ridge-Jennerstown) is best.

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