FOR RELEASE: January 18th, 2012

Outstanding Modified Competition Expected in 2012 at the Point!

For Immediate Release

Re: Wide open 2012 Mod field

2012 Five Mile Point Speedway Modified Division To Be Wide Open For Championship Hunt.

KIRKWOOD, NY…The 2012 Five Mile Point Speedway Modified weekly division is once again going to be ultra competitive. The upcoming Track Championship race for the Modified stars will be wide open as an impressive group of young drivers will be gunning for their first track title along with their place in the $150,000 American Racer Cup.

Out of the top 30 Modified drivers in the 2011 point standings only Stewart Friesen, Jim Crawn and Mike Colsten had a prior track title at Five Mile Point Speedway. For the first time in several years Friesen will not be calling the speedway home on Saturday nights in 2012 and both Crawn and Colsten were semi-regular competitors this past season.

With the departure of Friesen, the 2012 Modified Track Championship will not only be wide open but could prove to be very lucrative for one of the large number of young competitors in the division. In March, Friesen will be awarded $5,000 for his Five Mile Point Speedway Track Championship along with another $5,000 for his final standings in the $150,000 American Racer Cup standings (based on his Five Mile Point Speedway performance).

This past season, the Modified division saw ten different feature winners visit victory lane in what proved to be one of the most competitive season’s in recent memory. When looking at the final 2011 point standings 7 out of the top 10 drivers were under 30 years old. An impressive group of young talent has really developed over the past few years at the historic quarter mile oval.

Championship runner-up Justin Holland, Shaun Walker, Kevin Bates, Jim Gabriel Jr., Nick Rochinski, Ken Titus, Scott Brady, Brian Puckett, Jamie Batzel, Glenn Knapp, Dan Creeden, Barry White and Tim Votra chased Friesen for the title last year. Every one of those drivers has earned Modified feature wins at the speedway in the past. Rookie Mike Nagel, Jr. was the only top 15 driver in the point standings not to have a feature win. Only a streak of bad luck kept him out of victory lane as he still finished 8^th in the overall standings.

This past season saw three Modified “Rookie of the Year” candidates have a strong influence on the division. Justin Holland was a feature winner and finished second in the final point standings. Fellow rookie Jamie Batzel recorded a late season feature win and was saddled with mechanical problems in his first season. Mike Nagel, Jr. finished 8^th in the final standings.

Five Mile Point Speedway Track Operator Andrew Harpell certainly has made every effort to help the weekly Modified teams have a legitimate shot at the American Racer Cup title in both of the first two years of the upstart program. The division can once again count on the two nights of Twin 20 events along with an ambitious overall schedule to help teams with their opportunity to compete fairly in the $150,000 American Racer Cup.

The 2011 Five Mile Point Speedway will officially come to a completion with the Annual Champions Award Dinner on Friday, March 2^nd at the Binghamton Riverwalk Hotel in downtown Binghamton, NY. Stewart Friesen, Nick Petrilak, Ryan Stone, Scott Bennett, Andy Brigham, Wendy Elliott and Rob Warner will be recognized as 2011 Track Champions on that evening.

For additional information please contact the Five Mile Point Speedway offices at 607-775-5555 or log on to www.fivemilepointspeedway.net. You can also email the speedway directly at fivemilepoint1@aol.com or find us on Facebook.