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ARCA RACING SERIES TO DEBUT AT MOBILE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY IN 2012

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will make its inaugural appearance at Mobile International Speedway a Rick Crawford Performance Track in, 2012. The ARCA-Mobile 200 will see the national touring series bring its old school door handle to door handle style of hard nose racing for 200 laps on the half-mile, high-banked paved oval on Saturday, March 10, 2012. Since the series’ inception in 1953, the series has raced at over 200 different tracks but this will be the first at Mobile International Speedway.

 “The 2012 season is ARCA’s 60^th, and Mobile will be the first short track on the schedule following the season opener at Daytona in February,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “The ARCA Racing Series short track races have proven to be highly competitive and entertaining regardless of the venue. Mobile's style of racing lends itself to an exciting ARCA show.”

From the short tracks like Mobile, to dirt, to road courses to speedways and superspeedways, the ARCA Series has proven itself to be the most versatile driving series in the world. With a diverse schedule and competitive fields the ARCA Series has produced an impressive list of alumni including Alabama gang members, Red Farmer, Davey, Donnie and Bobby Allison and current racing stars, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Danica Patrick.

Not only does ARCA have a rich history, today’s drivers are carving out their own places in the ARCA record books. Today’s stars include 9 time ARCA Series Champion, Frank Kimmel, current Championship Point’s leader Ty Dillon, along with Mobile’s Grant Enfinger, who has become a series regular and is currently in the top 5 in the Championship standings along with Chris Buescher and Chad McCumbee.

“Having the ARCA Series come to Mobile International Speedway is a real honor for myself and our track. In the Truck Series we spent many weekends around the country sharing tracks with the ARCA Series and these guys put on a heck of a show. I can’t wait to see them on my home track,” offered Manager/Promoter of Mobile International Speedway Rick Crawford. “The effort to bring the ARCA series to Mobile is a team effort and couldn’t be possible without the Mobile Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mobile Sports Authority and our elected officials.”

The ARCA Series is the latest in first and big time promotions at the Speedway since Crawford took the helm at the beginning of 2011. Along with great racing highlighted by NASCAR stars through the year, fans have helped fuel the Speedways resurgence while enjoying performers like Larry the Cable Guy and Bubba Blackwell’s Daredevil Motorcycle jumps.

Opened in 1964 Mobile International Speedway is Alabama’s fastest half mile and is currently host to the Sunoco Gulf Coast Championship Series and Miller Lite Super Late Model Series along with a regular schedule of Saturday night racing. Lee and Ida Fields purchased the Speedway in 1972 and for almost 40 years the duo produced “The Fastest Fun Around”. In 2011 the Speedway embarked on a new era of track management when Mobile native, multi time Track Champion and all time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts leader Rick Crawford returned to Mobile to become the Manager/Promoter.

Although the ARCA-Mobile 200 marks ARCA’s first appearance at Mobile International Speedway, the ARCA Racing Series history in Alabama reaches back to 1961 when, on November 5, Ernie Derr won a 250-lap race at Birmingham. ARCA race events at the Fairgrounds in Montgomery in 1962, at Huntsville Speedway in 1963 and 1965, followed by a long tenure at Talladega Superspeedway (1969-present) have kept ARCA’s presence in Alabama alive over the decades.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season of 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series tests the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, annually visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as left- and right-turn street and road races.

Founded by John Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in two professional touring series and local weekly events.

Crawford Returning to MIS

Click on Picture for Randy Patrick's story on WKRG TV5

3-15-11 CRAWFORD TAKES REIGNS AT MOBILE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

NASCAR driver Rick Crawford has entered into a multi year agreement to manage and promote Mobile International Speedway. Crawford’s career began at MIS racing for owner’s Lee and Ida Fields and has now come full circle with his return to the Speedway. “I am truly humbled that Ida Fields has chosen me to takeover her and Lee’s baby. Growing up, I thought winning at Daytona was just a dream and that dream came true, today another dream has become a reality,” said Crawford. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and I hope our fans and our racers will be patient with us as we get started.”  Ida Fields added the following: “I had a great partner in Lee and we were able to build the track into something special. I see a lot of Lee in Rick and Lee would be so proud that Rick has come back to Mobile International Speedway.” Crawford’s management team is in place as of today and is making preparations for the Speedway’s Annual Swap Meet this Saturday and Miller Lite Super Late Model series season opener on March 26^th.

No NASCAR No Cup for Danica

1-5-11: In Mobile, Alabama for the GoDaddy.com Bowl, Danica Patrick we asked if there was a time line for her to be in Sprint Cup racing: “Unless I plan on doing NASCAR there is less of a point of doing Cup. I have a long way to go to establish whether or not if this (NASCAR) is what I want to do. I suppose at some point in time I’ll have to choose but I don’t have to yet.” Patrick will serve as the Grand Marshall for the GoDaddy.com Bowl Mardi Gras Parade on Wednesday night and perform the coin toss duties at the beginning of the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

 www.snowballderby.com

11-26-10 JIM KOBLAS HAS MADE HIS FINAL BROADCAST
 

Mobile International Speedway’s track announcer Jim Koblas passed away after a long struggle from complications of a stroke suffered during the Summer. Long before Jim’s current post at MIS, Koblas was Sports on the Gulf Coast. In the Sixties and Seventies Koblas anchored sports on NBC’s WALA TV 10 with Carlton Cordell and Danny Treanor. In an age of only 3 channels Koblas was bigger than life. “My first TV interview was with Jim on WALA and he remained a part of my career until his passing. He was a great friend,” offered NASCAR driver Rick Crawford.  After TV, Jim took his deep baritone voice to radio and during the Eighties and Nineties, joined Wayne Gardner, Bill Dodsen and Michael P Sloan at 95 KSJ. The group propelled KSJ to the mega station it remains today. “As a kid growing up I wanted to be just like Jim Koblas” said Randy Patrick Sports Director at WKRG TV 5. “Jim was an inspiration to me and he’ll be sorely missed.” After retiring from broadcasting Koblas was called on to return to Mobile International Speedway several years ago.  “Jim was having a great time announcing our races and working on our web site,” said Ida Fields owner of Mobile International Speedway. “Jim was more than an announcer, he was a dear friend.”

“It is impossible for today’s generation to understand how big Jim Koblas’s contribution is to sports broadcasting. His work on WALA made sports more than 5 minutes interrupting the news. Jim’s work paved the way for today’s ESPN and non stop sports coverage. Jim was the gold standard for sports broadcasting on the Gulf Coast,” said Tommy Praytor host of Inside Alabama Racing.  “It’s like Randy said if you grew up on the Gulf coast you wanted to be like Jim. When I first started doing radio Jim was at KSJ. Koblas and the rest of the KSJ group were at the top of their game but Jim would always take time to help me along the way and offer his advice and guidance. This year I had the honor of sitting in for Jim at MIS while he was trying to fight back from the stroke that sidelined him. We’ve lost a sports broadcasting pioneer, a mentor and a friend.”

Thomas Praytor, the Moose, will run a special “Koblas Is Sports” sticker on the B post of his car for the 43^rd Annual Snowball Derby at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway.

Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday at Mobile Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, 6040 Three Notch Road. Graveside services and interment will be held at 10 a.m. Monday in Mobile Memorial Gardens.

11-17-10 Show Justin Lofton cutting back to 10 NCWTS races in 2011. ARCA Champ Patrick Sheltra to NASCAR in 2011.

11-10-10 Show David Stremme close to full time Nationwide Series Sponsor for 2011. Tom Hessert running last 2 NCTS races with Jon Monsam on pit box. Looking for full time ride in trucks in 2011.

11-9-10 Johanna Long set to run season finale in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series   

   
Join us every Wednesday night at 6:00 PM CST for Fausak Tires Inside Alabama Racing on WNSP 105.5 or on the web at www.wnsp.com.