Hardeeville Motor Speedway August 4th preview

HARDEEVILLE, S.C. (August 2, 2001) - After celebrating its first anniversary last weekend, the Hardeeville Motor Speedway will present "Coca Cola Night at the Races" this Saturday. The first 100 fans through the gate will receive a special gift from Coca-Cola. Taking part in the festivities will be the O.C. Welch Ford-Lincoln-Mercury Late Models, Legends Cars, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Xtreme Stock Cars, Open Wheel Modifieds and the return of the Lady Legends.

Participants having great success on "Anniversary Night" were Bob Gossett (Xtreme Stock Cars), Craig Goess, Jr. (Legends Cars), Jimmy Lang (Legends Cars Young Lions), Ellis Huggins (Street Stocks), Tommy Porter, Jr. (Late Models), Dusty Lee Garus (Open Wheel Modifieds) and Stephen Moore (Mini Stocks). Craig Goess, Jr. won on the first Legends Cars race at the "new" Hardeeville Motor Speedway on July 29, 2000 and repeated this feat on the anniversary night. Goess has already been predicted to win the second anniversary race on Saturday night, July 27, 2002.

Dusty Lee Garus from Summerville, S.C., also returned with a collar bone injury suffered his last time out to capture the Open Wheel Modified feature. The Open Wheel Modifieds have struggled throughout the year with car count, but more cars are expected to return this weekend.

Grandstands open at 5:00 p.m. each Saturday. The green flag waves at 7:05 p.m. for qualifying races, followed by the feature events. The Hardeeville Motor Speedway is located three miles south of I-95 (exit 5 in SC) on Highway 17 South or just ten miles north of Savannah on Highway 17.

Ticket prices are $10 for adults, with reduced rates for seniors, military and children. Children under five are admitted free. Information is available at www.hardeevillespeedway.com or by calling (843) 784-RACE.

Other HMS Pit Notes

- After an extensive and thorough engine tear down of the top three Late Model finishers last Saturday night, the engines were declared legal by HMS officials. The drivers whose cars were inspected included current point leader Tommy Porter Jr. of Savannah, Chris Beach of Hardeeville and Skeeter Godbee of Sylvania. The inspection included the removal and weighing of the crankshaft as well as many other parts of the engine. Total cooperation and support from all three teams made the inspection process extremely smooth.

- Offering some of the best weekly purses in the southeast, the Hardeeville Motor Speedway has distributed $202,985,00 already in the 2001 season. The total purse payout for 2001 should easily exceed a quarter of a million dollars by the end of the season.

- Known as the "Iron Men of HMS," five drivers were honored for participating in every race since the inaugural race on July 29, 2000. These drivers are Tommy Porter, Jr., Skeeter Godbee, Mark Terry, Bob Gossett and Corey Fletcher.

- As a sign of appreciation of the continued support of the drivers at the Hardeeville Motor Speedway, the partners of BHTH Racing, LLC, gave all drivers to last weekend's race complimentary pit passes.

- "Legends Gypsies" Tommy Jordan and Eric King, both from Hartsville, S.C., drove all night from Wisconsin to compete in the Anniversary Race. After winning all the races they participated in at tracks in Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota, Jordan finished third and King finished fourth in the Legends Cars feature at HMS.

-HMS