Fredericton, NB –   All the way from Tennessee to the Geary Woods!  Two Time Daytona 500 Champion Sterling Marlin has announced his intentions to enter the 9th Annual Peterbilt 250 at Speedway 660.  Marlin will join a strong list of Southern Stars who have competed in the Labour Day Classic.  Over the past several years fans have seen Johnny Benson, Terry & Justin Labonte and Ron Hornaday take battle against the best Pro Stock teams in the Northeast.

Marlin was and is a household name from his days behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car.  He is perhaps best known as only the third driver in Cup history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s, joining Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to earn that distinction after winning in 1994 and 1995.  “There is no doubt that my fondest memory is winning that first Daytona 500,” Sterling said.  Marlin has also added 8 other Sprint Cup victories (total of 10) to his resume, competed in 747 Cup races and has earned a whopping 38 Million dollars throughout his career.   Before his days in NASCAR Marlin won championships at Nashivlle Speedway.  Marlin is currently running a part time Sprint Cup schedule.

“I’m excited; these home grown short track events are what our sport was built on.   This is a huge race for the Atlantic region and I’m really looking forward to racing the best up there!”  said Sterling in a phone interview.

Auto Pride/Auto Value out of Fredericton, New Brunswick and Gatorade will be the co-primary sponsors on Marlin’s car.  In addition to the primary sponsors, Marlin will receive support for his venture from Peterbilt New Brunswick and Moosehead Breweries. Other sponsorship deals are still in the works.  “Man we are PUMPED.   This is a thrill of a lifetime for us at Auto Pride.  Sterling is an icon in this sport and we are pretty fired up to be a part of this deal.” said Randy McCoy of Auto Pride.  Ed Gulliver of Canex is also very excited about this opportunity, “This is an amazing deal for Gatorade, Canex and Griffins Pub to be involved with.  We cant wait for SPEEDWEEKEND!”

This news is also great for all involved with Speedway 660.  “This is something special.  There isn’t a NASCAR fan that hasn’t spent many a Sunday afternoon on the coach watching Sterling Marlin on TV.  To have him here, at our track, racing in front of our fans is a really cool deal.” said Speedway 660 co-owner Steve Burns.

Sterling’s car will be prepared by long time weekly Speedway 660 competitor Hal O’Neal and the OGC Racing Team.  “We are pretty excited.  We had some bad luck last year but the car has been completely rebuilt and its ready to go” said Hal O’Neal.   “We’ve been racing for a lot of years and we’ve really missed it this year so I think this is exactly what we need.  We can’t wait!”

Please contact Angela Coffey at Speedway 660 (506-455-3181 or [email protected]) for any questions.

Peterbilt 250
The 2009 Peterbilt 250 will take place on Sunday, September 6tht, 2009 and will be the highlight of the 8th Annual SPEEDWEEKEND. The event will showcase the Speedway 660 Irving Lubricants Pro Stocks against the best of the Eastern Canada and New England. The purse for 2009 will be over $70,000 with a guaranteed $15,000 to the event winner and possible winner’s cheque of $28,000. Six years ago, the late Scott Fraser took home a record $25,400 including lap money. Only nine years old, the event as grown in crowd, atmosphere, and car count every year since its inception. Over 8,000 people attended the 2008 event to break attendance records at Speedway 660.  Forty plus pro stock cars will be attempting to qualify for 28 spots on the starting grid.

SPEEDWEEKEND
Just like the Peterbilt 250, SPEEDWEEKEND continues to grow every year. Over 14,000 people attended last year’s four-day stock car fest that includes a corn boil on Friday night, O’Leary Pontiac Excitement Sportsman 150 race on Saturday night, the Peterbilt 250 on Sunday, and finishes up with an Enduro 200 on Monday. While the Peterbilt 250 is the highlight of the racing event, the weekend has developed into an event on its own with over 600 campers turning Speedway 660 into a small town over the weekend. It has become the destination of choice for the region’s stock car fans.

Speedway 660
Speedway 660 is WicKID Family Fun!  The 1/3 of a mile high-banked paved oval features three classes of racing on a weekly basis: Irving Lubricants Pro Stocks, Martin’s Home Heating, and Coast Tire Street Stocks. Over 70,000 people are expected to attend over 20 events during the 2009 season. Speedway 660 is located off Highway 7 on Route 660 in Geary, NB, and is within minutes of Saint John and Fredericton. Speedway 660 can be found online at www.speedway660.com.