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Tony Stewart Racing Geared Up for East Bay Winternationals
McMahan, Chevrolet Prepare for Season Debut
INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 26, 2007) - For Tony Stewart Racing's Paul McMahan, the
time between where the 2006 racing season ended and the 2007 season will
begin has been something of a blur. In the two months since the No. 20 Tony
Stewart Racing/Bass Pro Shops team last competed in winged sprint car
competition, McMahan has been passing the time behind the wheel of a sprinter
in Australia. An 18-hour flight back to the United States on Monday will see
McMahan rejoin the team in Tampa, Fla., where they'll compete in the 30th
anniversary East Bay Raceway Park Winternationals.
"I am really looking forward to heading back to the United States to get our
season underway," said McMahan. "Racing in Australia is a lot of fun. You get to
meet a lot of great people, but all of the exciting things we've seen develop with
our team is really turning up the anticipation for 2007. I'll be very glad to get to
Florida and rejoin Jimmy (Carr, crew chief) and the team. It's also great to have
Bass Pro Shops back as a sponsor for this year. They're a great fit with our team
and the race fans that attend short track racing events. We're looking forward to
growing our relationship even more this season."
Next week's season opener at East Bay Raceway Park will be the start of a new
era, not only for McMahan and Tony Stewart Racing, but for winged sprint car
racing as a whole. The event will mark the first outing to go in the history books
with a Chevrolet-powered and sponsored entry in the field. McMahan will
compete with a Chevrolet/Donavan/AllPro by Kistler powerplant under the hood
of the No. 20 machine.
"It's a tremendous opportunity to be able to be a part of Chevrolet's new
open-wheel racing effort," said McMahan. "Paul Kistler and the Chevrolet team
have been working very hard to give us some great engines for this program.
They've really jumped into this program with both feet. We believe that we're
going to see good results early on and that we'll be contenders at every race this
season."
McMahan and company will take to the 1/3-mile clay oval of East Bay Raceway
Park on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1-3. The California native turned Nashville, Tenn.,
resident has had a strong start to the 2007 racing season, collecting several
top-five finishes while in Australia. McMahan posted a sixth-place finish in the
National Sprint Tour Series Championship in 2006, and also won a World of
Outlaws Sprint Series event at USA Race Park in Tucson (Ariz.) last March. The
No. 20 team did not compete in the 2006 East Bay Raceway Park
Winternationals event due to relocating the race shop to its present location in
Indianapolis.
McMahan is pleased to be returning to action next week at East Bay Raceway
Park and beginning his second season with Tony Stewart Racing.
"I've been waiting for this event since October, the last day we raced together
last season," McMahan said. "This day just couldn't get here fast enough. The
opportunity I've had is just unbelievable. To be associated with Tony Stewart and
a great race team like Tony Stewart Racing is huge. It's something you work your
whole life for. This has definitely been the highest point of my career, and I'm
looking forward to continuing to build our program."
The 30th anniversary East Bay Raceway Park Winternationals will feature nine
nights of open-wheel racing for the O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT wingless Sprint
Cars, the winged 410-ci Sprint Cars and the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on
Tour Series. Racing action begins with the Ninth Annual "King of the 360s"
Ronald Laney Memorial featuring the ASCoT Series Feb. 25-27. The Sprint
Bandits TNT Series is scheduled to compete Jan. 29, Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. The
Winged 410-ci Sprint Cars will wrap up the event Jan. 30, Feb. 1 and Feb. 3.
The Sprint Bandits TNT finale Feb. 2 and the winged Sprint finale Feb. 3 are
both lucrative ones, with a $10,000 payout to each winner. In addition, another
$75,000 is available to the one driver that can win all three finales, including the
Jan. 27 O'Reilly ASCoT Ronald Laney Memorial, the Feb. 2 Sprint Bandits TNT
main event and the Feb. 3 winged 410-ci Sprint final. Any driver that wins two of
the three finals will earn an extra $5,000. To be eligible for the bonus, drivers
were required to be pre-registered for the event by Jan. 25.
For complete results from the 30th anniversary East Bay Raceway Park
Winternationals, log on to www.eastbayracewaypark.com. For information
regarding Stewart or Chevrolet, log on to www.tonystewart.com or
www.chevrolet.com.
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