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IRL: Ernie Moody becomes co-owner of Playa Del Racing

Ernie Moody Joins Ownership Group of Playa Del Racing Will be First Person in History to Compete as an Owner in Both Indianapolis 500 and Kentucky Derby in the Same Year INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Playa Del Racing (PDR) founders Susan Schafer and Gary ...

Ernie Moody Joins Ownership Group of Playa Del Racing

Will be First Person in History to Compete as an Owner in Both Indianapolis 500 and Kentucky Derby in the Same Year

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Playa Del Racing (PDR) founders Susan Schafer and Gary Sallee today announced that legendary video poker inventor and premier stable owner Ernie Moody has joined the organization's ownership group.

By joining PDR, Moody has placed himself to make his mark historically in both the professional sports of auto racing and horse racing. He becomes the only person to compete to win the two greatest sporting events in the world - the Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby in the same year. Moody is founder and president of Action Gaming, Inc., a Las Vegas based casino game design firm, which is involved in leading edge design of new types of casino games. Videopoker.com is a new website under the Action Gaming, Inc. umbrella that serves to introduce people to a wide variety of new and innovative casino games. It is a non-gaming, educational website designed to assist players in learning and strategy before they go to the casinos.

His horse racing venture, Mercedes Stables, competes at the highest level of that sport with a history of fielding the finest horses competing on tracks throughout the country.

Moody's newest and most exciting venture is a recent partnership formed with Terri Lanni, Bernie Sciappa and Mercedes Vil0x00e4 to purchase a premier Thoroughbred, Sinister Minister. Sinister Minister, a two-year old bay, is qualified for the 2006 Kentucky Derby and has drawn post number four for the 132nd Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of Playa Del Racing," Moody said. ""I have a love for and attraction to competing in historic races. The month of May will be extremely busy but very exhilarating for me. With my horse, Sinister Minister, starting the Kentucky Derby then going to Indianapolis to be a part of the Indianapolis 500, I am going to be involved in the two greatest sporting events in the world.

"It is a dream-come-true for me to bring that love to IndyCar racing," Moody concluded. "And to start my tenure as an owner at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing as part of the Playa Del Racing team. Gary Sallee and Susan Schafer have assembled a team that appears to be ready to join the fight for victory."

In 1997, he introduced Triple Play Poker; the first machine that lets players play three hands of poker at the same time. The game was a runaway success. Since then, Action Gaming, strictly involved in invention and not manufacture, has created dozens of video poker games and sent them into the marketplace. Moody holds patents on numerous video poker machines. Videopoker.com, his latest venture, is designed strictly as a non-gaming education software site.

Formerly a restaurateur and casino investor, Moody was born in Elizabeth, N.J. and now resides in Bon Sall, CA.

In addition to Sallee, Schafer and Moody, the PDR ownership group includes Jon Herb and Jeff Brougher.

Sallee is a licensed, practicing attorney in both California and Indiana who focuses his practice on complex business and financial transactions, sports and entertainment. His IndyCar racing background is extensive as well. Sallee was a co-founder of Team Cheever with driver Jeff Ward as well as ISM Racing with driver Steve Knapp. Both teams finished third in the Indy 500 1997 and 1998 respectively as well as both drivers capturing Rookie of the Year honors. Schafer owns Race Performance Marketing, a sponsorship company for teams in the Indy Racing League and NASCAR, and is one of the first females in history to co-own an IRL IndyCar Series race team. Her tenure in the sport as well as depth of knowledge gives her stature as one of the few women deeply involved in IndyCar racing who have enjoyed tremendous success.

Brougher is an Indianapolis-based entrepreneur who is the chief executive officer of the National Association of International Travelers, which specializes in identify theft insurance.

Herb is the full-time driver for PDR in the Infinity Pro Series Division of the IRL. He has fielded his own team competing in both the IRL and IPS. When he isn't racing, Herb serves as Vice President of Aercon Industries, a business based in Florida that produces, sells, and installs autoclaved aerated concrete building material.

In the near future, announcements of the 2006 PDR driver and sponsor line-up for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 2006 will be made.

-www.playadelracing.com.

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