Catchfence

CONCORD, N.C. (June 16, 2010) – A slower than expected economic recovery has caused the USARacing Pro Cup Series to make changes in its 2010 schedule in order to assist its teams in reducing costs, Series Director Jimmy Wilson said Wednesday.

The June 26 race at Lake Erie Speedway in Erie, Pa., and the July 10 event in Salem, Ind., have been removed from the USAR Pro Cup Series schedule.

“This is a decision we wrestled with for some time,” Wilson said. “We truly didn’t want to cancel these races. We were extremely excited about returning to these tracks and giving the fans the type of wonderful racing they have come to expect from the USAR Pro Cup Series. However, the expenditures our teams would have to make to compete in these two events is a paramount concern of ours. The nation’s economy hasn’t rebounded as quickly as we expected and, therefore, we are reluctantly having to make these changes.”

Wilson noted the series also was examining technical and procedural changes that would further reduce the teams’ costs.

“Basically, we’re looking at all options to enhance our teams’ ability to participate in our series in the most cost effective way possible,” Wilson said.

Recently, the USAR Pro Cup Series eliminated the need for each team to have a person score its car during an event. It was estimated that decision saved each team around $3,000. The series also eliminated USARacing support personnel in the scoring area.

The rest of the 2010 USAR Pro Cup Series schedule remains unchanged. The series returns to action July 17 at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., then moves to Iowa Speedway July 30 where it is the support race for the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. The rest of the schedule follows: Aug. 14, Langley Speedway, Hampton, Va.; Aug. 28 Concord Speedway, Concord, N.C.; Sept. 11, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.; Oct. 3, North Wilkesboro, N.C.; Oct. 23, Gresham Motorsports Park, Jefferson, Ga.; and Nov. 6, South Boston Speedway, South Boston, Va.

The USARacing Pro Cup Series, formerly Hooters Pro Cup, is owned by Interstate Investment Group and is based in Concord, N.C. For more information on the USARacing Pro Cup Series, go to www.usarprocup.com.

- USARacing Pro Cup Series Press Release