By Tyler Altmeyer
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (January 25, 2019) – Continuing a longstanding tradition, the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will kickstart the 2019 season in the Sunshine State, ready to invade a pair of Florida ovals for a combined five events between January 31 and February 7. Celebrating its fifth season under the ownership of three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart, the All Stars will visit Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala and Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville during their early season travels, competing for five consecutive $5,000 top prizes.
The All Stars will begin their Florida tour with a three-day stand at Bubba Raceway Park on Thursday, January 31 through Saturday, February 2, followed by two nights of DIRTcar Nationals competition at Volusia Speedway Park on Wednesday and Thursday, February 6 & 7. In addition, an open practice session will be conducted at each of the aforementioned facilities; Bubba Raceway Park on January 30 and Volusia Speedway Park on February 5.
Although the five Florida starts officially kick off the near year, action will not accumulate points toward the overall All Star Circuit of Champions title.
“We are excited to be venturing back to Florida. It’s tough to imagine a new year without a trip to Bubba Raceway Park and Volusia Speedway Park,” Tony Stewart said. “We’ve gone through some big changes over the last few months including the addition of a new title sponsor. We are thrilled to have Ollie’s Bargain Outlet join the All Star family. I’m confident this is going to be a year for the record books.”
Although a full-time All Star Circuit of Champions roster has yet to be finalized, many former full-timers will rejoin the Series in 2019 and kick off the year with the Florida road trip; defending Series champion and win leader, Aaron Reutzel, included. The Texas native earned nine victories on the road last year for Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports, also accumulating 30 top-ten finishes in 41 feature starts.
Other returning All Stars making the trip to northern Florida include West Virginia’s Cale Conley, the familiar Tom Buch entry driven by Nashville’s Paul McMahan, and former All Star champion and Ohio Sprint Speedweek champion, Chad Kemenah, who will drive a team car to former All Star full-timer, John Garvin.
A stout contingent of potentially new All Star faces will hit the highway and venture south for the early parts of February including a pair of Premier Motorsports entries driven by Brock Zearfoss and Spencer Bayston, as well as Rudeen Racing’s newest hired ace; Kingsburg, California’s Cory Eliason.
Western Pennsylvania’s George Hobaugh, one of the most recent drivers to verbally commit to the Series, will also join in on the action at Bubba Raceway Park and Volusia Speedway Park, as well as the Central Pennsylvania father/son duo of Jim and Mallie Schuster.
Although Donny Schatz, the eventual World of Outlaws champion in 2018, displayed absolute superiority during the 2018 DIRTcar Nationals by sweeping the All Star Circuit of Champions segment, the 2018 visit to Bubba Raceway Park resulted in three different winners, Alvada, Ohio’s Chad Kemenah being the first. Kemenah’s triumph, his first of two on the year with America’s Series, commenced from the inside of row nine.
The ‘Steel City Outlaw’ Tim Shaffer also earned a win in Ocala, as well as Wooster, Ohio’s Sheldon Haudenschild.
Drivers and teams should note that Bubba Raceway Park will open pit gates at 9 a.m. during the entire weekend program. A mandatory All Star Circuit of Champions drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, but pushed ahead to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hot laps are slated to begin at 6:45 p.m. each night. For those seeking more information, please visit Bubba Raceway Park live on the Web at www.bubbaracewaypark.com.
Volusia Speedway Park will open pit gates at 10 a.m. for the All Star Circuit of Champions segment of the DIRTcar Nationals. The mandatory All Star drivers meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. each night, followed by hot laps promptly at 6 p.m. Those seeking more information should visit the DIRTcar Nationals online at www.dirtcarnationals.com.
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. In 2019, MAVTV Motorsports Network will continue to be the official television home of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and will broadcast ten high-profile events.
About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet:
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc., founded in 1982, is one of America’s largest retailers of closeouts and excess inventory, offering real brands at real bargain prices. Famous for its signature catch-phrase Good Stuff Cheap, Ollie’s has a huge variety of famous brand-name merchandise in every department – food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring, seasonal items and so much more – at up to 70 percent off the fancy stores’ prices. You never know what you’ll find at one of Ollie’s 303 “semi-lovely” stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information, visit www.ollies.us. Like us on Facebook or find us on Twitter at @OlliesOutlet. Ollie’s is a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OLLI.
About Mobil 1:
The world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
For more information, visit mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1.
Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.