Hendersonville, NC 5-30-07 

What Do UARA-STARS Drivers Do With Time Off - Win Races

Four of the UARA-STARS regulars won feature events at different speedways recently that I am aware of.  While the UARA-STARS have had a break in racing since their event at Tri County Speedway on April 20^th several of the regular drivers have been getting extra seat time.  Others have just been enjoying the break in action preparing to hit the road again. 

Our next stop will be the Shenandoah Speedway this coming weekend June 2^nd.  The season has started with an average of 40+ cars and we look for a good turnout at Shenandoah.   

Lee Tissot has been racing at Newport, TN.  He finished 2^nd on April 28^th.  Tissot went on to take a win on May 19^thstarting on the pole and leading every lap.

Lucas Ransone raced his way to a victory at Hickory Motor Speedway May 26^th taking that monkey off his back.  Ransone ran third at the UARA season opener at Hickory but had mechanical problems at Concord and hit the wall hard.  Ransone should be a serious point contender for 2007.  He currently holds the 11^th place position but with this win he should have some great momentum coming into Shenandoah.

Clay Greenfield has been getting his extra racing underway at Nashville, TN.  Greenfield brought home the checker there Saturday night May 26^th.  Clay said, “Now I just have to come back to the UARA and see how we do there”.  Greenfield along with many others knows what hard competitors the UARA-STARS bring along them and just how difficult it has been to make the show.

Kevin Liecht was the fourth UARA-STARS regular to come home a winner taking the spot at Tri County Speedway on Friday night may 25^th.  Fellow UARA contenders Jake Crum, R.A. Brown and Matt Leicht were also present for that event.  Crum had his best finish of the year coming home second followed by Brown.  Matt Leicht finished 9th. 

Matt DiBenedetto, the current series point leader has been in California for the birth of his new nephew! It is now Uncle Matt!  After that, he has been doing some spotting and helping some friends race! He is in racing withdrawals per his mom. 

Second place points runner BJ Mackey went up to Motor Mile a few weeks ago and was fast in practice.  A lifter seized up and they had to come home and regroup before they got to race. Mackey and his team went back to Motor Mile for the Memorial Day race and qualified 7^th and finished 3^rd.  

May 12th found Alex Yontz at Kentucky Speedway for Alex’s ARCA debut. He was 4th quickest in practice, qualified 12th but unfortunately something went wrong with the car after a pit stop. He went out and the car was smoking and he felt like something broke, he spun and hit the wall which put him out of the race, at that time he was running 16^th.   The Yontz team feel confident that he would have had a top 10 finish if problems hadn’t set in. They will be returning to Kentucky on July 13th.  He has been spending a lot of time in the race shop getting his car ready for Shenandoah.  This is a good track for Yontz and he should do well there.  Maybe he will follow up with a win there like he did last year. 

Johnny Gottsacker finished 9^th grade on May 25, 2007. He is a running back for his Highland Park, Dallas, Texas, high school football team and had his last Spring scrimmage. He will now return to Mooresville NC, where he lives during the summer months while he races his Legends Car, Limited late model Truck, and the UARA car. 

Todd Goble ran Hickory Saturday and came home with a 9^th place finish. Goble will be graduating from Clarion Area High School June 3^rd after a night of racing at Shenandoah.  Following graduation he will be moving to the Mooresville Area.  The UARA takes this time to congratulate Todd on his graduation and wish him success in life’s adventures. 

Josh Hale has been practicing at the Motormile track in Radford, Va. and at the newly re-opened Lonesome Pine Raceway at Coeburn, VA. He ran 5th in the race on 05-19-07 at LPIR and finished 6th in the Memorial Day race there.  In addition to working his part time job, he has also spent some time fishing and golfing. 

 Daniel Pope made his debut in the Craftsman Truck series coming home with a 29^th place finish.  He had a flat tire with approximately 50 laps to go but had a good day all in all.
After getting this experience and shaking down their cars, the show at Shenandoah should be very competitive.  None of the feature winners during this break have won on the UARA circuit so far this year but it is just a matter of time. 

 For more information go to www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833. 

Press Release by Wink Bodenhamer