I-96 Speedway to host the Only Michigan Appearance of 2011 for the World of Outlaws Sprints!
By Matt Prieur / Chris Fobbe – I-96 Speedway
Lake Odessa, Michigan (Thursday, December 30th, 2010): I-96 Speedway Owners / Promoters, Mike and Sarah Mouch are busy preparing for the upcoming 2011 racing season at the Lake Odessa, Michigan speed plant. The husband and wife team, now in their seventh season as Promoters of the facility, are aggressively working on an action packed 2011 schedule for the Most Exciting Dirt Track in the State of Michigan!
While the 2011 Schedule is very close to becoming finalized and will be released soon afterwards, one date on the calendar is confirmed and it’s one of the many highlights of the 2011 racing season and one of the biggest races in the state of Michigan as the highly touted World of Outlaws Sprints will make their Only appearance in the state of Michigan on Saturday, May 21st, 2011.
The Ultra Fast, Fire Breathing, Winged Warriors will challenge the lightning quick ½ (0.500) mile semi-banked dirt oval for the fifth season in a row and in their only appearance in the Great Lakes State in 2011! Legendary 20-time Series Champion Steve Kinser, and Defending Series Champion, and Two-Time Defending I-96 Race Winner, Jason Meyers headline the stellar field of the best Sprint Car Drivers in the World!
In addition, Four-Time Series Champion Donny Schatz, as well as Danny Lasoski, Joey Saldana, Jason Sides, Chad Kemenah, Kraig Kinser, Kerry Madsen, Tim Shaffer, Lucas Wolfe, Randy Hannigan, Paul McMahan, and the rest of the best Sprint Car drivers in the World are just some of the top Sprint Car drivers anywhere who’ll be making their one and only Michigan stop of the 2011 season at I-96.
In 2010, Defending Series Champion, Jason Meyers in his #14 GLR Investments machine scored his second consecutive win at I-96 in front of the biggest crowd in the tracks long history as the Clovis, California native took over the top spot after race long leader, Danny Lasoski lost a rear end while leading with just six laps to go. From their, Meyers withstood two more late restarts and held off late charges from Craig Dollansky and Jason Sides to score the win in the 30-lap Feature!
Earlier in the evening, Joey Saldana was one of four drivers to break the track record and he also became the first driver ever in I-96 Speedway history to break into the 14-second barrier as he toured around the ½ mile at a lap measured at a 14.834 which equals out to a wicked fast 121.343mph.
Joining the World of Outlaws Sprints will be a special UMP Modifieds event also on the ½ mile as the only Open-Wheeled division within the United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) sanctioned tracks’ Weekly Divisions will move up to the ½ mile for a night.
The World of Outlaws Sprints have made 10 career appearances with the first ever show back in 1995. Kinser leads the way with Four (4) career victories while Meyers has won the last two races held in Lake Odessa, Michigan. Picking up single wins over the years includes; Dollansky, Saldana, Sammy Swindell, and Stevie Smith.
The World of Outlaws are the premier sanctioning body for winged sprint car racing in the world, and are comprised of sprint car drivers from across the country and the world. The series was founded by the late Ted Johnson in 1978, giving winged sprint car racer’s somewhere to compete with uniform rules and guaranteed purse money.
For more information about the World of Outlaws Sprints, go to their website at: www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint
The 2010 I-96 Speedway Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday, February 19th, 2011 at the Steel Street Hall, located on 115 South Steel Street in Ionia, Michigan. More Details with regards to Ticket Prices, Times, and more will be Available very soon.
I-96 Speedway’s 2011 season will start off with Two Pre-Season Test and Tunes with the first one set for Saturday April 9th from 11:00a.m. – Dark on the 3/8s mile. The second and Final Test and Tune is on Saturday, April 16th from 11:00a.m.-5:00p.m., as cars will Practice on the 3/8s mile while the District 14 Flat Track Motorcycles will start their 2011 racing season with Practice on the ½ mile and then it’s Opening Night 2011 for the two-wheeled machines starting at 5:30p.m.
After taking the Easter Holiday Weekend off, Opening Night 2011, the 6th annual Ice Breaker is set for Saturday April 30th headlined by the UMP Late Models who’ll go for $1,200 to Win while the UMP Modifieds race for $800 to Win. The UMP Street Stocks will be racing for $300 to Win and Four-Cylinders will be fighting for $150 to Win. All Four Weekly Divisions will be taking on the fast 3/8s (0.375) mile semi-banked dirt oval and beginning each respective chase for their 2011 Track Championships.
Joining the I-96 Speedway staff for the 2011 racing season is the highly regarded announcing tandem of Matt Prieur and Chris Fobbe. Prieur (Pronounced Pre-Err), who at 36-years-old is already a 21-year veteran Public Address Announcer, started his career at just 15-years-old. Originally from Flint, Michigan, he calls Ovid, Michigan home.
Prieur comes to I-96 after spending his entire career on pavement tracks and various asphalt traveling series’, including the old ASA National Tour, the ICEMAN Super Car Series and the ASA Late Model Series. More recently, Prieur was the Voice of the Dixie Motor Speedway as well as Owosso Speedway along-with Fobbe.
Fobbe (Pronounced Foe-Bee) began his racing career in 2002 at just 12 years old and his announcing career started in 2009 as he joined Prieur at Dixie and Owosso. The 20-year-old Fobbe, who calls Holt, Michigan home, is widely regarded as a future star on the rise in the world of Short Track Racing Announcers.
Both Prieur and Fobbe will serve in the dual roles as Co-Director of Media / Public Relations and Co-P.A. Announcers as well as performing all of the tasks associated with keeping the I-96 Speedway Website constantly updated throughout the off-season as well as the upcoming 2011 racing season in all capacities.
The Complete 2011 Schedule for I-96 Speedway will be released very soon, For more information about the 2010 Awards Banquet as well as the 2011 racing season at I-96 Speedway, please call: 1 (616) 642-0555 or visit the soon to be new and improved website at: www.i96speedway.com
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
New Announcer at I-96 Speedway
Veteran track announcer Matt Prieur looks forward to new challenges at I-96 Speedway
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press
One of the most familiar voices in Michigan short-track racing will be coming to the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa next season.
I-96 promoter Mike Mouch said veteran track announcer Matt Prieur of Ovid will be joining the track’s staff in 2011. Prieur will serve as the track announcer and be responsible for I-96’s media and public relations.
Prieur has spent recent seasons working at Dixie Motor Speedway in Birch Run and Owosso Speedway before stepping down at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Prieur said he is looking forward to his next challenge at I-96, which offers three-eighths and half-mile dirt ovals.
“This will be my 22nd year in racing, but this will be my first year on dirt. All of my previous years have been on pavement,” Prieur said. “I think the entire realm of dirt-track racing presents a new challenge to me. The terminology and the learning of brand new drivers and teams and a totally different fan base than I’m used to is going to be a lot of fun.
“I’m excited about the new chapter in my career. Mike and (wife) Sarah (Mouch) have the premier dirt track in Michigan, and I want to help them keep that going.”
Prieur said that Chris Fobbe of Holt will be joining him at I-96. Fobbe, 20, and a student at Baker Community College in Owosso, worked with Prieur at Dixie and Owosso.
Prieur was a teenager when he got his first announcing gig back in the late 1980s. He has gone on to call the action at approximately 80 different tracks across the Midwest.
“I started as a track safety worker in 1989 (at Dixie) when I was 15 years old,” Prieur said. “The owner didn’t have anyone to announce the races over Labor Day Weekend, and I always wanted to be an announcer, so I stepped up and said I would do it. The first race I called was September 3, 1989, and it was a SOD Sprints Series race. Gary Fedewa won the first race I called.
“They ended up hiring me for the rest of the year. I announced at Dixie and Auto City (Speedway in Flint) in 1990.”
Prieur later worked at Toledo Speedway, covering the Iceman Super Series. He also worked with the ASA Late Model Challenge Series from 2004-2008, which gave him the opportunity to announce at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2007. It was the first race run on the track after it was resurfaced. Prieur worked at Dixie and Owosso the past two seasons.
I-96 continues to finalize its 2011 schedule. The World of Outlaws will return May 21.
“It is the only World of Outlaws date in Michigan next year,” Prieur said. “I-96 not only has weekly short-track racing, but they are bringing in a variety of racing action, and they have a few weekends where they will be hosting events like concerts, which makes it a multipurpose facility.”
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press
One of the most familiar voices in Michigan short-track racing will be coming to the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa next season.
I-96 promoter Mike Mouch said veteran track announcer Matt Prieur of Ovid will be joining the track’s staff in 2011. Prieur will serve as the track announcer and be responsible for I-96’s media and public relations.
Prieur has spent recent seasons working at Dixie Motor Speedway in Birch Run and Owosso Speedway before stepping down at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Prieur said he is looking forward to his next challenge at I-96, which offers three-eighths and half-mile dirt ovals.
“This will be my 22nd year in racing, but this will be my first year on dirt. All of my previous years have been on pavement,” Prieur said. “I think the entire realm of dirt-track racing presents a new challenge to me. The terminology and the learning of brand new drivers and teams and a totally different fan base than I’m used to is going to be a lot of fun.
“I’m excited about the new chapter in my career. Mike and (wife) Sarah (Mouch) have the premier dirt track in Michigan, and I want to help them keep that going.”
Prieur said that Chris Fobbe of Holt will be joining him at I-96. Fobbe, 20, and a student at Baker Community College in Owosso, worked with Prieur at Dixie and Owosso.
Prieur was a teenager when he got his first announcing gig back in the late 1980s. He has gone on to call the action at approximately 80 different tracks across the Midwest.
“I started as a track safety worker in 1989 (at Dixie) when I was 15 years old,” Prieur said. “The owner didn’t have anyone to announce the races over Labor Day Weekend, and I always wanted to be an announcer, so I stepped up and said I would do it. The first race I called was September 3, 1989, and it was a SOD Sprints Series race. Gary Fedewa won the first race I called.
“They ended up hiring me for the rest of the year. I announced at Dixie and Auto City (Speedway in Flint) in 1990.”
Prieur later worked at Toledo Speedway, covering the Iceman Super Series. He also worked with the ASA Late Model Challenge Series from 2004-2008, which gave him the opportunity to announce at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2007. It was the first race run on the track after it was resurfaced. Prieur worked at Dixie and Owosso the past two seasons.
I-96 continues to finalize its 2011 schedule. The World of Outlaws will return May 21.
“It is the only World of Outlaws date in Michigan next year,” Prieur said. “I-96 not only has weekly short-track racing, but they are bringing in a variety of racing action, and they have a few weekends where they will be hosting events like concerts, which makes it a multipurpose facility.”
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