ELK MOUND, WI (July 19, 2000) Jimmy Mars kept pace with the demand of the grinding Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series schedule to remain near the top of the national championship chase for dirt late model racing. He successfully gained entry into each of the four most recent feature events on the tour during the past several days. Mars recorded a 10th place run at Atomic Speedway in Knoxville, TN last Friday night, as the series moved from Tennessee then through North Georgia for the balance of the weekend, before competing near Akron, OH on Tuesday night.

The driver of the ParkerStore sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo is currently positioned in 10th place on the circuit’s season-long challenge for the title, with the next slated events coming up this weekend in three separate races. The continuing whirlwind tour kicks off this weekend near Cincinnati, OH in a double-header visit to Florence Speedway in Union, KY. The July 21-22 affair at the exciting ½ mile oval will consist of a Friday night 40 lapper which will pay the winner over $5,000 and a 60 lap Saturday night $10,000 to win main event. Jimmy Mars Racing will then travel overnight to Parkersburg, WV for Sunday’s (July 23) Hav-A-Tampa event at West Virginia Motor Speedway, which also pays $10,000 to the winner.

So far in the 2000 campaign, with 28 of the slated 46 sanctioned events on the tour completed, Jimmy Mars has continued to show consistency, including a pair of second-place finishes. In overall competition Mars has guided his ParkerStore backed machine to 1 win, with 8 top-five and 16 top-ten results. Mars returned to dirt late model action at the start of the 2000 season following his 1999 stint on America’s paved short tracks when he claimed the 1999 NASCAR RE/MAX Challenge Series 'Rookie of the Year' award.

(Ozzie Altman-Victory Lane Communications)
(Photo by Chris Burback)