H-SPORTS PRESENTS: LIVE FROM HAPEX!
(The night before the Super Skychief 500)
(The night before the Super Skychief 500)
OLIVER MARLIN RACING TO RUN NSSCRA NEXT YEAR, HARRIS COMMUNITY MEDIA TO RUN EVERLONG
Two top HASCAR teams announced plans to run in NSSCRA series next season during Saturday’s sessions at the Hapilopper Automotive Fair.
The most surprising of these announcements involved Oliver Marlin Racing, which has announced it will run a two-car team in next year’s NSSCRA Multiversal Cup Series. Tyson Hoyt and Ray Harding, two of the team’s mainstays, will drive Stevens/SAM Sentry Mk.IIs full-time in next season’s series. A third car is expected to be driven by Hapilopper City driver Arnold Milburn Jr. on a part-time basis, likely using the NSSCRA Open Charter in a handful of races.
It is believed that the team will officially represent Wreckeria in next year’s Multiversal Cup Series. Marlin, the team owner, was born in Halsted, Wreckeria, and his family fled that nation during the Wreckerian Civil War.
“For all intents and purposes, this is a shot across the bow,” Marlin said. “We’ve always been as good at this game as Team Blue, and we’re gonna prove it to the world next season. To the rest of the NSSCRA grid, you all are on notice. We are coming to race and we are coming to win.”
“I think we can win next season,” Hoyt said. “We’ve got a great team, and we’ve got a great base that we can build off of. We were going to do this a few years, and we’re going out to show the world that we can’t be stopped. This time next year, when we’re back at HapEx, watch out for us. We’re gonna be unstoppable.”
Sponsorship will likely come from Southside Bank, a longtime benefactor of the OMR team, as well as Seaside Seafood, a longtime benefactor of Milburn and his family.
Due to an interesting agreement, the cars will be known as SAM Sentries in international events, and Stevens Sentries in Hapiloppian events. According to Bob Stevens, head of motorsport operation for Stevens Automotive Manufacturing, this is to respect another manufacturer also known as Stevens that competes in the NSSCRA.
“They got here first,” Stevens said. “We don’t want to confuse race fans.”
Harris Community Media, an owner of local newspapers in the Pinkerton area that has run a HASCAR team for about 15 years now, will run a two-car team in the NSSCRA Everlong Contenders Series with longtime drivers Colin Meredith and Alex Remington. The team will field Preston Super Skychief Mk.II models in the NSSCRA Everlong Contenders Series.
“We feel as if it is time for us to move on to an international racing series,” said Michael Harris, Chief Publisher of Harris Community Media. “We have had a tremendous amount of success in the HASCAR Challenge Cup, and we are excited to see how we can do in the Everlong series. Colin and Alex are fantastic drivers and we are looking forward to seeing how we can do against competition from across the multiverse.”
Harris Community Media owns the Pinkerton Daily Times, which publishes seven days a week, the Sparks Observer, the Bolton Picayune, the Statenville Herald, the Greenville News and the Lakefront Times, which all publish on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
HAPILOPPER EXHIBITION BOARD VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO DROP “SUPER SKYCHIEF” NAME
In a vote of the members of the Hapilopper National Exhibition board, and upon request from four of the five major automakers in Hapilopper, the Super Skychief 500 will have its name changed to the Exhibition 500 effective with next year’s race.
According to a release from the HNE Board, the move was made to avoid the illusion of bias among any particular automaker.
Instead, the race will be sponsored by each of Hapilopper’s big five automakers – Preston Autos, Major Motors, Stevens Automotive Manufacturing, Primetime Motorcar Company and Hamilton Car Company, all of which have an involvement in Hapiloppian stock car racing.
“We understand and respect the HNE Board’s decision,” said Shawn Hammer, head of Preston Performance Products, the automaker’s racing arm. “We’d prefer to keep the sponsorship, but the HNE Board has to respect the wishes of the other four carmakers here, and they’d like a piece of the pie too.”
A piece of the pie indeed. According to the HNE Board, there will be trophies given out to the leaders at the 100, 200, 300, 400 and 450 lap marks. The trophies will be awarded by each of Hapilopper’s big five automakers, and will be decided at random.
Tickets for the 6th Annual Exhibition 500 will officially go on sale on Monday morning at 9 a.m., the morning after the Super Skychief 500.
HUMPHREY TO STAND BY FOR HOLMES
Gord Humphrey, who drives for Team Blue in the AOCAR Stock Car Series, will stand by for Chris Holmes on Sunday for the Super Skychief 500.
Holmes is expecting the birth of his first child, a baby boy named Zachary Rinzi Holmes, any day now. Holmes reported on twii.tur that his due date is the day of the Super Skychief 500, and has indicated that he will hand the car over to Humphrey if needed, “regardless of what’s going on.”
“The fact is, I have priorities, and I’m looking forward more to seeing little Zachary than anything else,” Holmes told reporters. “I need to be with Angela and Zachary when he comes into the world, and that’s more important. We’ve got a capable driver that can take over.”
Humphrey, who finished 7th in the crash-filled Good Oil 200 on the HNE Half-Mile, said he is excited about possibly making his NSSCRA debut.
“I wish Chris and Angela all the best, and I hope it all goes smoothly,” Humphrey said. “Selfishly, I hope he has to duck out right before the start, but honestly, what matters more is that everyone is OK.”
Amanda McAlister, team principal for Team Blue, confirmed that Frank Bronson had been lined up to stand in for Holmes for the race, but Bronson, driving a Team Blue research and development car in the Super Skychief 500, will be unable to replace Holmes.
HAPEX CONFIRMS THREE FANS TREATED FOR INJURIES AFTER BRUCE INCIDENT
Three fans were treated for minor injuries this week during the Berman Bros. Classic, a representative with the Hapilopper/Wreckeria Exhibition confirmed to H-Sports.
The injuries, which a HapEx representative confirmed were no more severe than a twisted ankle, came at the end of the G-Main during the Berman Bros. Classic when Buckridge driver Anton Bruce hit a rut in turn three, sending his car flipping upside down. The car flipped into a catch fence, sending fans scattering for cover.
Bruce was uninjured in the accident, while the three fans were treated on the scene and remained at the HNE Half-Mile after treatment.
In response, Exhibition officials have announced that changes will be made to the seating structure of the HNE Half-Mile to prevent any further similar incidents.
“Any fan getting hurt is too much,” said an Exhibition representative.
Other news: HTN CONSIDERING SITCOM BASED ON MEMEWATCH; PROPOSED NATIONAL STADIUM ON HAPEX GROUNDS TO TAKE PRECEDENT OVER MILE OVAL UPGRADES; HAP CITY POLICE PUT WARRANT OUT FOR CHET BYRD’S ARREST; TRAFFIC REPORT: ROADS TO RACEWAY ALREADY ‘HOPELESSLY’ BACKED UP
