Action packed field for opening UARA STARS event at Hickory Motor Speedway

Hickory, NC (March 13) – When you combine multiple track champions, regional champions, national champions, and two previous UARA STARS champions all in one event then you are in store for one of the best races in the country.

This Saturday night March 19^th, fans, drivers, and crews from all over the South East will be treated with an action packed event of the most talented drivers in the area. Leading the entry list of top gun drivers will be the 2004 UARA STARS Champion. He will not be along; other top gun drivers include Lee Tissot, Jamie Yelton, Terry Allison, JR., Ashley Huffman, Keith Stiltner, Marty Ward, Tony Grady, Jamey Caudill, Deac McCaskill Stephen Gahagan, Chad Mullis, Mark King, Robert Elliott, Dennis Queen and 2004 Hickory Motor Speedway Champion Matt McCall.

2005 Rookie contenders that can be added to the list of potential winners for this weekend’s event include Kyle Grissom, Royce Peters, Willie Allen, Steve Pendergrass, Mike Blue, Marc Davis, Ed Cox, Gary Weeks and many more.

The list can go on and on. Yelton dominated the 2004 events and has tested very well in the off season. Huffman won the last UARA event at Hickory and McCall with over fifteen victories in 2004 and knows his way around Hickory Motor Speedway about as well as any driver in the field should be the pre-race favorites.

" I feel like we are as good as anyone who has tested so far and by race weekend we will be even better" Yelton stated, " the car was turning almost too good on last Sunday and the times were great but we wanted to not only be fast but very consistent. I think the worst time ran all day was in the low 50's, but were feel like there is more there. So we decided to come back today and try some new things back to back and see if it would work, and it did. What can I say about this crew and David King, they never give up and will do what it takes to get better, David feels like there is still some more left in this car and he will get it out by race day. I feel real good about our chances for the Win. This new Goodyear tire is great, I think they made a great choice in this tire, its fast, and consistent and all the readings were excellent."

If you haven’t made plans to attend this weekends 2^nd Annual Joe Walker Memorial 150 then you need to do so. “We are expecting over thirty-five cars for this opening event. We will have to run a last chance race to give everyone an opportunity to be in the twenty-eight car field,” commented Competition Director Brian Vance.

There will be an open practice for all cars on Friday March 18^th from 10 till dark. Gates open Saturday March 19^th, at 9:00 a.m., practice at 12:00 p.m. Qualifying at 5:00 p.m. drivers autograph session at 7:00 p.m. and Racing at 8:00 p.m. For more information contact Hickory Motor Speedway at 828-464-3655 and UARA-STARS at 828-692-3833. Also visit www.uara-stars.com and www.tracksidetalk.net