By Dick Jordan
Eight Wednesdays and a Thursday are targeted for USAC’s 2012 “Concord Super Series” at the Concord (N.C.) Speedway featuring the Eastern Ford Focus and Focus Young Guns racing series.
Debuting on Thursday night, May 17 as part of NASCAR All-Star Weekend, the series extends through Wednesday night, August 1, showcasing the stars of tomorrow on the track’s ultra-competitive quarter-mile paved oval.
“Concord Motor Speedway has become a staple of our Eastern competitors,” says USAC’s James Spink. “It has an extremely-competitive surface and configuration and this series should provide some fantastic entertainment for area race fans.”
Concord Motor Speedway has hosted 39 USAC races in the past six years and in 2006 the USAC National Midgets and Sprint competed on the big Concord half-mile.
In 1961 and 1963 USAC conducted 100-mile Stock car races on a half-mile dirt oval at Concord, with Don White and Bill Cheesbourg emerging as the winners.
“We’re truly excited about the opportunity to conduct this weekly series at Concord Speedway,” adds Spink. Nine races at Concord give sus a home base for the 2012 series. Future dates for the Eastern Ford Focus series will be announced in the coming months.”
During recent USAC competition at Concord, Nick Drake and Scott Hunter have posted five Ford Focus wins apiece, while Eric Coomes is next with four victories. In the Focus Young Guns, Jesse Little leads in terms of wins with four, while Jared Irvan, son of the great NASCAR driver Ernie Irvan, has three feature wins to his credit.
Following the May 17 opener, additional dates (all Wednesdays) are May 30, June 6, 13, 20 and 27, July 11 and 18 and August 1.