Four-Day Summer Shootout Added to Petty Schedule

RIVER GLADE, NB – Management of Petty International Raceway is excited to announce the creation of a new event for the 2019 season. The inaugural Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout will see four action-packed days of racing action on the River Glade, New Brunswick oval. The racing kicks off on Thursday, August 1st and runs to Sunday, August 4th and will feature racing action in the Bandolero (Beginner, Bandits, and Outlaws), Mini Stock, Street Stock, and Late Model Sportsman divisions.

Modeled similar to major stock car racing events south of the border, the Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout will feature event champions with points being tabulated for each division. The Bandolero division will run 25-lap features with the Beginner Bandoleros having 20-lap feature contests over the four days. Regular distance Mini Stock and Street Stock features on the week will be 30-laps with the Late Model Sportsman class having 35-lap features throughout the Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout.

“We are excited to bring something new to the Maritime racing scene with the Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout,” said Ellen Smith of Petty International Raceway. “After experiencing these kinds of events in Florida and North Carolina, we thought it would be something unique to offer our race teams and our race fans in the Maritimes.”

The 100-lap extended distance races for the Late Model Sportsman (Saturday, August 3rd) and Street Stock (Sunday, August 4th) divisions will also count towards the season-long point championships. The Mini Stock division will run a Twin 50 feature on Friday, August 2nd as their headline feature of the week.

With the Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout leading into a long weekend and other tracks within the province traditionally being idle, the early announcement of this event gives teams and fans a chance to plan for the weekend well in advance. While a number of tracks in the Maritimes have run Friday night shows, the Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout will be the first event in well over a decade in the region to run a Thursday night racing card.

“This is a pretty sweet deal,” said reigning Petty Raceway Late Model Sportsman champion Brady Creamer when first hearing of the event. “This has the potential to be the next big marquee stock car event in the Province. Hopefully, we’re able to grab a checkered flag on the August long weekend!”

From all aspects of an inaugural event, especially one with this format being new to the region, it will be a test for everyone involved.

“This is really going to put us in the Mini Stock division to the test,” said Rob Poirier, the defending Mini Stock champion at both Petty International Raceway and Douglastown’s Speedway Miramichi. “It will test drivers fatigue and consistency over the week. It will test the cars and their reliability. It will test the team’s ability to have the car ready to go for the next race the next day. I like it.”

“It’s great to see a race track supporting young racers in Atlantic Canada and putting on an event like this,” commented Owen Mahar on the announcement. Mahar, the 2018 INEX Bandolero Bandit Canadian champion, has raced in INEX sanctioned events such as this one in both Florida and Texas. “With four days of INEX National Points on the line along with the chance to be the inaugural Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout champion, hopefully, we see a number of traveling teams come to our neck of the woods to compete on the high banks!”

There will be payouts of cash/prizes for all four divisions. Registration for teams will open on March 1st at a cost of $100 per car for the event with prizes for early registrations up to the deadline of July 24th. Event pit passes will be sold at $100 or $30 per day and extra practice time will be available at $50/day or $100 for the week of the event. Grandstand admission is $15 for adults and $10 for youth eight to 15 years of age with children seven and under admitted free for each day of the Petty International Raceway Summer Shootout.

An open practice is scheduled for Wednesday, July 31st from Noon to 5pm with a Pit Party taking place from 6pm to 10pm, free of charge. An event schedule outline can be found at the bottom of this story. More information surrounding the event will be available as the event nears.

The Caleb Dunn Memorial, which has been held during the first weekend in August since its inception in 2012, will be moved on the Petty International Raceway schedule. The complete 2019 racing schedule will be announced in its entirety in the new year.   Stay tuned for more exciting announcements for the 2019 season.

About Petty International Raceway:
Petty International Raceway is located on Highway 106, just 40 km west of Moncton, New Brunswick. To learn more about Petty International Raceway, its location, admission, policies, history, and more, please visit www.pettyinternationalraceway. com. To get current updates delivered to you directly please follow us on Twitter.

source – track communications