Mars heads into this weekend’s action at State Fair Motor Speedway in Sedalia looking for his first win of the year 2000 campaign. Jimmy is currently on the verge of cracking into the top-ten of the national touring Hav-A-Tampa series championship standings and posted his best run on the circuit several weeks ago with a 2nd place finish in Fayetteville, NC.

This past weekend Mars spent the Mother’s Day holiday racing closer to home as the Hav-A-Tampa tour took a break in their 46-race long season. Jimmy competed at Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, WI on Friday night and then raced at Rice Lake (WI) Speedway on Saturday night. Mars walked away with top-5 finishes each evening.

"We wanted to stay close to the shop and the family during the off-weekend for Hav-A-Tampa," noted Mars. "It gave us a chance to work on some things with the cars and helped us get better prepared for the two-week stint in Missouri and then on to Bristol (TN) on the first weekend of June."

Mars and his fellow competitors on the cigar-sponsored series are looking forward to competing at Bristol Motor Speedway on June 2-3 in the nationally televised event. The anticipated race should see hundreds of the nation's dirt late model racers in action on the famed half-mile track, which has been covered with clay for an exciting week of dirt racing.

The Jimmy Mars Racing team kicked off the new millennium with a big win at ‘Speedweeks 2000’ at Volusia Speedway Park in Daytona and added a Pole Award at the annual ‘WinterNationals’ at Tampa, FL’s East Bay Raceway. Since that time Jimmy has racked up 8 top-ten runs in just 14 feature appearances for the team and their primary sponsor ParkerStores.

"We've built a real strong relationship with Parker Hannifin and the ParkerStores over the past several years," said Jimmy Mars. "It's exciting to be able to put together one of the best dirt programs in the country. There are major changes happening in dirt late model racing, and a lot of national companies are starting to see the potential. Parker was actually one of the first major companies to really get involved with the dirt cars. I think we have proven that we can be competitive on asphalt, as well as our dirt racing program. We still want to move up to the Busch and Winston Cup ranks, but the entire package has to be right for everyone involved."

The Mars brothers are concentrating their efforts on the Hav-A-Tampa series, as well as many other non-sanctioned events around the country, plus select events in the UMP SummerNational tour, and the STARS and WISSOTA sanctions. The Hav-A-Tampa series is considered to be the 'major league' of dirt late model racing.

Jimmy Mars Racing’s primary sponsorship support comes from ParkerStore Total Hose and Fitting Service, a subsidiary of the Cleveland, OH based Parker-Hannifin Corporation. "We have really been proud of our lasting relationship with the people at ParkerStore," commented Mars. "They are a great bunch of people who have proven products, widespread distribution and they have really helped us progress in our racing program."

Likewise, key personnel of the ParkerStore operation have been impressed with the results that Jimmy Mars Racing has delivered to the company's marketing efforts.

"The ParkerStores have really benefited from what Jimmy and Chris have accomplished in the dirt car," said Harry Waldron, Distributor Development Manager for Parker. "They are dedicated to their racing program, and we are proud to have them representing Parker."

Jimmy and Chris Mars have been competing in the ParkerStores sponsored dirt late models for the past four years, and have won several prestigious dirt events across the country. The list includes the 1997 '$100,000 Dream' at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH and the STARS Finale at East Bay Raceway during the 1999 Speedweeks events, in addition to Jimmy’s claim to the NASCAR RE/MAX Challenge Series Rookie of the Year award in last year’s asphalt racing venture.

"These guys have done a great job representing Parker and the ParkerStores, " said John Strand, Market Specialist, at Parker's Quick Coupling Division. "We're really excited to be part of their racing program. Jimmy and Chris have learned a lot about the racing business in the past few years and I think they are going to raise the bar for dirt late models throughout the season. This team has a very positive attitude and a lot to contribute to this sport."

With nearly $5 billion in annual sales, Parker Hannifin Corporation is the world’s leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies, providing systematic, precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of commercial, industrial and aerospace markets. For more information about Parker, the ParkerStores or Parker's racing program, visit the website at www.parker.com/racing .