Big Diamond car show

February 14 - Big Diamond Raceway kicks off the 2001 NASCAR season with their annual Fairlane Village Mall Car Show on February 19 through 24, in Pottsville, PA. Over 18 cars were confirmed for the show last week with several spaces still remaining.

The activities throughout the week will feature a pit crew tire changing competition on Wednesday, a special driver autograph night on Thursday and the annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial Fund Auction on Saturday. Also drivers and team members who do not have NASCAR renewal forms will be able to pick-up required NASCAR registration forms at the mall throughout the week, with the announcement that the speedway officially renewed their contract last Wednesday, February 14.

On Wednesday night, February 21 at 7 PM two person teams will contend for the top prize in the Art Bair Racing Wheel and Wheel Repair Tire Changing Competition. While Art Bair will put up the top prize, Vince James of V&M Towing on Route 61 north of Reading will conduct the competition which will use Shawn Fitzpatrick's T102 Sportsman. No pre-entry is required.

Drivers are invited to be on hand at the mall from 7 PM to the mall's closing for a special Autograph Night.

The annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial Auction will be held on Saturday night, February 24 at 4 PM. The auction supports the Georgie Stevenson Memorial Fund, a non-profit organization that benefits chronically and terminally ill children and their families in Schuylkill, Berks, Lebanon, Dauphin and Luzerne Counties of Pennsylvania.

Among the cars already confirmed from the ranks of the weekly Big Diamond Raceway competition are the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Modifieds of Bruce Williams, Ryan Moyer, Tim Fitzpatrick and Kyle Weiss, the NASCAR ShorTrack Series Sportsman Stocks of Bill Moyer, Shawn Fitzpatrick, Terry Bensinger and Tom Brennan and the NASCAR Roadrunners of Mike Allar, Dave Miller, John Ulsh and Jay Wiederhold. Grandview Speedway's two-seater "fans can ride" modified stock car built by Ray Swinehart will be on display as will Big Diamond's Stoudt's Auto Sales Corvette Pace Car, the go-kart of Brian Shiley, the micro-sprint of Mike Burke and the limited sprint of Jamie Schwartz.

The Fairlane Village Mall has plenty of room for race cars but Big Diamond competitors are encouraged to pre-register their cars to assure space. Race teams wishing to participate in the show are urged to be at the Fairlane Village Mall just north of Pottsville on Route 61 at 5 PM on Sunday evening, February 18. The cars will go into the mall between 5 and 6 PM on Sunday, February 18, well after the expected conclusion of the Daytona 500! Likewise the cars will leave the show after the mall closes on February 24, permitting teams also planning to participate in the Reading shows to do so. The track is also looking for representatives from the 410 sprints, super sportsman and URC sprints to participate in the show.

Throughout the week Big Diamond Raceway representatives will be on hand with racing schedules and items for the fans and rule books and new 2001 NASCAR registration forms.

Big Diamond opens its 30th season of racing on Sunday afternoon, April 1, at 2 PM with a show featuring the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Modifieds, NASCAR ShorTrack Sportsman and NASCAR Roadrunners. All three divisions will return one week later for action on Palm Sunday. After taking the Easter Weekend off, the action moves back under the lights on Friday, April 20, for all three divisions. Throughout the season the Modifieds, Sportsman and Road- runners will be featured but joining them for special events are the United Racing Club limited sprints, the Super Sportsman, and the 410 Super Sprints.

-BDS-