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To kick off their 50 Years of Asphalt Racing Celebration, the famed Music City Motorplex (MCM) in Nashville, TN will host Old School Racing’s (OSR) inaugural event, “The Old School-RacersReunion.com Shootout. OSR, in conjunction with RacersReunion.com, will bring the July 18th event live to the web with the veteran racing analyst Randy Pemberton in the broadcast booth with many special guest that will bring the fans racing stories that may never be heard again. Fans not attending the event will be able to view it live in it’s entirety at www.RacersReunion.com. Some of the greatest drivers of all time have been slated to compete in this long anticipated inaugural event. Harry Gant, Sterling Marlin, Geoff Bodine, Dave Marcis, Jack Ingram, Larry Pollard, Charlie Glotzbach, Joe Ruttman, Tommy Houston, Mike Alexander, and Randy LaJoie will treat racing fans to a night of racing they’ll never forget. “It’s great to finally give the fans something they’ve wanted to see,” said OSR Managing Partner Gene Weaver. “These guys are my hero’s and putting these legends back on the track is not just a thrill for the fans, but also to everyone involved in the Old School Racing Series. We’re excited about this opportunity to bring this inaugural event to the fans along with RacersReunion.com and our sponsors.” Drivers will be available for autographs between qualifying and race time. Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm and the green flag drops for the Shootout at 8:30 pm. One of the must see events during the live broadcast will be a round table discussion with four of these racing legends. It will be hosted by Randy Pemberton and is sure to bring out some great stories from these “old school” drivers. This special event will also serve as the national launch of the “Suitcase Jake Commemorative Fund” established to raise money for Jake Elder, one of motor racings true living legends. The “Jake Elder Crew Chief of the Race Award,” sponsored by Darrell Waltrip, will go to the winning car’s crew chief. In addition, OSR will offer, for sale at the track and on their website (www.osrct.com), a “Suit Case Jake” commemorative coin. All proceeds from the sale of the coin will benefit the Jake Elder fund. “One of our goals at Old School Racing is to establish the Retired Racers Foundation to help support retired racers that may need financial support in trying times,” said OSR Managing Partner Gene Weaver. “Pioneers of racing, like Jake Elder, did not get the huge paychecks that these guys get today, yet they paved the way for them and we want to try to pay them back for everything they have done for this sport. Helping “old school” racers is a lofty goal, but one that is long overdue,” added Weaver. “We’re thrilled to be able to participate in this event with OSR,” said Jeff Gilder, of the RacersReunion Network. “Our goal is to bring recognition to the roots of stock car racing and to keep these legends of the sport in front of their fans. This is a perfect fit for us.” Tickets for the event start at just $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com. And the three hour-live broadcast can be seen for FREE at www.RacersReunion.com. Track Info:
www.musiccitymotorplex.com |
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Nashville, TN (May
1st, 2008) - As part of the 50 years of asphalt racing in Nashville, TN, Music
City Motorplex along with help from Old School Racing founders Norm and Gene
Weaver, will hold a race for the racing legends at the Music City Motorplex on
Friday July 18, 2008. The race will feature such drivers as Geoff Bodine, Dave
Marcis, Jack Ingram, Larry Pollard, Joe Ruttman, Jimmy Hensley. Many of the
legends will be on hand for the festivities the rest of the weekend. |
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Mooresville, NC (January 17, 2008) – The inaugural season of "Old School Racing"
(OSR) will make a stop at the .596 mile Music City Motorplex (MCM) in Nashville,
TN on July 18, 2008 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of
asphalt racing at the fairgrounds. The inaugural race at the famed track will be
sponsored by Toyota and will feature such legends as David Pearson, Harry Gant,
Geoffrey Bodine, Dave Marcis, James Hylton, Dick Trickle and Joe Ruttman.
A total of fifteen racing legends have signed up to be a part of this historic
event. |
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Mooresville, NC (January 15, 2008) – Old School Racing will take old
school fans back in time when they kick off their inaugural Old School Racing
Tour this May. That is when the fans will be able to see their favorite drivers
and the paint schemes they made famous. |
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Mooresville, NC (December 19,
2007) – Fans can now purchase racing gear for the hottest new racing series to
debut in years. Old School Racing (OSR) has launched an
online store where fans of racing legends can purchase official OSR
merchandise. |
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DAYTONA BEACH
-- A group of motorsports idealists in
West Virginia
have come up with a novel plan, a sort of senior stock car tour for retired race
drivers. |
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Orlando, FL (December 6, 2007) – Old School Racing (OSR)
along with racing legends Jack Ingram, Dave Marcis, and Larry Pollard unveiled
the first race car out of the stables of Old School Racing today at the
Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando, FL. |
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Mooresville, NC (November 29, 2007) – The highly anticipated Old School Racing
(OSR) series that is set to debut in May of 2008 will be well
represented at the 20th annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in
Orlando, Florida December 6-8, 2007. |
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ON-TRACK Presented by GMDC Auto Repair and Auto Sales Welcomes Norm
and Gene Weaver from Old School Racing to Tonight's Show,
November 26th, Monday Night from 8 to 9 PM. |
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Mooresville, NC
(November 13, 2007) – Old School Racing (OSR) is proud to
announce the launch of the official OSR message forum. |
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Mooresville, NC
(November 5, 2007) – May 18, 2008. |
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Old School Racing (OSR) will debut in 2008. This series will be for retired and semi-retired champion drivers from NASCAR, ARCA and selected other series. OSR is currently in talks to obtain a series title sponsor and are hopeful at being able to make an announcement on series sponsorship in the near future. In addition to series title sponsorship OSR has already announced that they have signed such legends as David Pearson and Cale Yarborough to race in the series in 2008. Recently the head of vehicle development for the series, Norm Weaver spoke with StockCar Review’s (SCR) Matthew Blaylock about the series. SCR: How did this series come about, who was the brainchild? Norm Weaver: We were brainstorming coming back from a race as I race the ARCA Truck Series and we were talking about how the older guys had fallen by the wayside but they still have that competitive heart. We just thought about it and figured out a way that we could see the hero’s that we grew up watching. Not only that, but we will be able to see them beat and bang on each other on these small tracks like they once did. Heck, I can’t wait to see Cale, Harry, Dave, Geoff, David, Jack and all the others rubbing fenders again. SCR: What type of sponsor are you looking for? NW: – Currently our major focus is the Title Sponsor and Presenting Sponsor. But in addition to those two major sponsors, we are looking for a manufacturer sponsor and individual race vehicle sponsors. We will also have individual race sponsors and product sponsors. Some of the individual vehicle sponsors are concerned, we would love to see some of the old paint schemes running again. Can you imagine seeing Harry’s old #33 Skoal bandit’s paint scheme on the track again? How about Richard’s STP #43, and Darrell’s #17 Tide car, and my brothers favorite, Alan’s #7 Hooters car?, and then there is Tim Richmond’s #27 and so on and so on. That just gives me cold chills thinking about it….. SCR: How much will the different sponsorships cost? NW: We have the sponsorship pricing set and you can contact us at www.osrct.com for those numbers. SCR: Are there any drivers that you all are currently in talks with that have not yet been named? NW: Actually I was recently at Michael Waltrip Racing, his brother (Darrell) is not signed but we would love to have him be a part of the inaugural season. He is a big name when you think of “Old School” racers. I think he would want to come aboard on this as we are going to help a lot of charities. Old School Racing, LLC is going to be heavily involved with charities and Kyle (Petty) would be a perfect fit for us. We have been in touch with the Victory Junction Gang (VJG) Camp and are trying to introduce the series to Kyle and see if he would be interested in participating. In this series each driver will be competing for a charity of their choice as well as for themselves. Each driver will have the logo of the charity they are competing for on the side of their race car. This will bring attention to the charity as well as a donation on behalf of the driver. There will also be an autograph session before each race and all proceeds will go toward charity…probably the VJG. We are going to be extremely involved in raising monies for racing charities. We are in talks also about putting our own charity together for retired drivers. SCR: According to the OSR website, drivers for the series have to be retired, part-time or past winners. I saw Todd Bodine’s name as being signed up and he currently drives full time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, I was hoping you could clarify? NW: He wasn’t when we started but he is definitely going to race full-time I think Busch next year too. So that would make him non-eligible but he is all for the series. The drier eligibility is what it is (it can be found on the web site also). Drivers may move in and out of the eligible driver list from time to time as their careers wind down. SCR: How will points be awarded in the OSR Series? NW: Nothing is down in stone yet, but we have preliminary drawn up a system very similar to other popular racing series. We are planning on having qualifying for each race but we are currently working on the race day schedule as we speak. Drivers are only eligible to compete in 6 of the 10 races. This way there won’t be the same group of drivers at every race. As far as the points are concerned; the point system will be the same for each driver, but never the less we take the 10 races and the best five of a drivers six races would be your points, we give you a mulligan. After the 10 regular season races, we would take the top 10 in points and they would advance to the Championship Race to be held the following February. Points positions 11-30 will compete in the Last Chance Race the night before the Championship Race. The top ten in the Last Chance Race will be placed with the 10 drivers already in the Championship Race, for a one race Championship shoot-out. And we’re thinking “Winner-take-All”. What a heck of a race that would be! SCR: How many drivers can enter a race? NW: 15 SCR: Is there a reason for having the championship race the February of the following year? NW: There are a couple of things. You have heard NASCAR talk about there Super Bowl being in February at the start of there season, we are going to make our Super Bowl in February but it will be our last two races. We are also going to do it at a time when race fans are in Florida but there will only be 10,000 tickets for these events. We think tickets will be hard to come by. Heck, when you get 4-5 of these guys together just to sign autographs, you can’t get near the place. Just imagine what it will be like to see them race again. SCR: What type of cars will OSR be using, do you have any specs? NW: It is going to be a NASCAR Busch North type chassis, but we are not sure about the bodies yet. We are talking with three of the, as I call it the big four with Toyota being involved. We are not sure if one company is going to be the manufacturer of choice and want them all to look the same, we just don’t know at this point. Heck, it might be truck bodies instead of car bodies as one manufacturer has mentioned to us. SCR: Will the cars be set the same like IROC or will teams be able to work on there cars like in ARCA or NASCAR? NW: It will be more like IROC, all the drivers have to do is show up, they don’t even need their on helmet we will have all that stuff, everything is supplied for them. The only difference might be that each vehicle will have a different sponsor, unless one company steps up and wants them to all be the same. And that is a possibility with a small budget in this series compared to some of the other series. SCR: Is NASCAR in anyway a part of this? NW: At this point NASCAR is not part of this, we did this on our own. We are trying to bring it back to the Saturday night track. That is way you see the likes of South Boston Speedway and Southside Speedway on the schedule. SCR: What is the reason for not racing on tracks over ¾ a mile? NW: There are a couple of reasons for that, first thing is DRIVER SAFETY and the second is durability of the race cars. Heck, we don’t want our stuff tore all to pieces and that won’t happen on these smaller tracks. Also we are not associated with NASCAR so we can’t go run Bristol the Thursday night before they run Bristol, because that would be more or less being associated with NASCAR. And they probably wouldn’t want us there anyway. SCR: Is there anything you would like to add that I have not asked? NW: We have yet to discuss this with a driver or sponsor that has given us a negative reaction. Just hold onto your seats, this is going to be big. In addition to David Pearson and Cale Yarborough, the OSRCT has also announced that they have also signed such drivers as Dave Marcis, Larry Pearson, Geoff Bodine Robert Pressley, Jack Ingram, Tim Fedewa, Johnny Rumley, Ronnie Silver and Todd Bodine, who will not be eligible to race in the OSRCT in 2008 due to his truck and possible Busch Series plans for next season. You can look for the excitement of OSR at a track near where NASCAR is running starting in the spring of 2008. |
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(8-8-07) In 2008,
fans across the country will be introduced to a new racing series titled “Old School Racing”. The twelve race series will feature retired
to semi-retired stars of professional racing. NASCAR® Cup, Busch,
and Truck Series winners as well as CART, Indy Car, and ARCA Series champions
will be among the fan favorites competing on the circuit. |