Despite the growth, we remain committed to the our goals which is to build an inexpensive, safe and reliable race car for our customers to enjoy; and through INEX, provide a fun and safe racing environment for our customers.
Many tracks experienced record car counts while several 600 Racing Dealer markets saw increases in car sales and parts sales.
The Lowe's Motor Speedway Summer Shootout, here in North Carolina, along with Atlanta's Thursday Thunder and Texas's Stampede Series had banner years. Las Vegas Motor Speedway finally opened its quarter-mile on the frontstretch of the superspeedway, and the racers got to enjoy the perks of racing the NASCAR groups.
The RACEceiver Asphalt Nationals was one of the best in history with record car counts in the Thunder Roadster division. Casey Roderick and Clay Hair proved why they are consider the top stars of their divisions by repeating as Nationals champions. John Stancil capped off a stellar year in Semi-Pro with a victory, and a special mention to Zach Zimmerly, who put on quite a drive through the Semi-Pro C-and B-mains to lead the feature before contact with another car on the last lap cost him the victory. Michael Van Wingerden was the class of the huge Thunder Roadster field.
The RACEceiver Dirt Nationals at Lebanon,. Mo.'s Midway Speedway was a strong event with drivers from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin making the long tow. Eric Barth was the class of the Masters field while Jordan Paschal won the Pro race. Nathan Speten was the top Semi-Pro.
Finland was represented well at the World Finals at Infineon. With race day rain, the European contingent, which races regularly in the rain, was tough to beat. Finnish drivers Rory Penttinen (Pro) and Rasku Jussi (Masters) collected victories in their respective divisions while England's Glenn Burtenshaw (Semi-Pro) and youngster Steven Cantrell (Thunder Roadsters) were the top drivers in their classes.
The Bandolero Nationals were full of surprises. Bandit Kyle Benjanim finally beat Kyle Plott after finishing behind him in numerous races at the Summer Shootout. The winning trophy was taller than Benjanim. Chad Finchum was the best Young Gun, holding off Ronnie Bassett. Christopher McKinney derailed Kendall Sellers victory train with the Outlaws victory while Daniel Hemric used a brilliant last lap pass to claim the Young Lions trophy over Christian Pahud.
Casey Roderick (Asphalt Pro), Clay Hair (Asphalt Masters) and John Stancill (Semi-Pro Asphalt) also claimed INEX national point titles. Blake Brown topped the Young Lions Asphalt division for the year. Randy Kissinger (Masters Dirt) and Nathan Speten (Semi-Pro Dirt) collected their point championships while last year's Semi-Pro runner-up, Cam Schafer, proved he was just as strong in Pro, bringing home the championship.
The Bassett brothers were forces of nature in Bandolero competition. Both boys ran 70 races, and won a lot. Dillon collected his first championship in the Bandolero Bandits, keeping it in the family for the second straight year. Ronnie proved last year's Bandits title was no fluke with a convincing drive to capture the Young Guns title. Kendall Sellers annihilated the rest of the Outlaws competition.
Bobby Pugh took home the Pro Road Racing title with fellow Oklahoma driver Cody Poage collecting the Semi-Pro title. England's Peter Morton claimed his second straight Masters Road Racing title, and Steven Cantrell was the Young Lions titlist.
Justin Long was the class of Thunder Roadster Oval division while Robert Lamb repeated on the Thunder Roadster Road Racing side.
It has been a wonderful and competitive year for 600 Racing and INEX, and we want to thank each and every racer and customer for their support during the 2007. We hope 2008 is an even better year.
We have many new and exciting things in the works for the 2008 season including the grand opening of The 600 Racing Engine Shop at our Harrisburg facility; expanded King of the Ovals schedule and big plans for the Thunder Roadsters; the RACEceiver Asphalt Nationals at Elko Speedway in Minnesota and many more.
We would like to thank the following 600 Racing and INEX employees for all that they do to help with the continued success of the program.
The Parts/Purchasing Team - Jason Foxworthy, Kris Perry, Ashley Garrett and Rob Nall.
The Shipping Team - Mike Madorin, Jamie Campbell, Joe Smith, Gary Shue, Dave Madorin, Steve Madorin and Jamie Goddard.
The Manufacturing Team - Craig Bruce, Aaron Almond, Kevin Crenshaw, Ed Evans, Calvin Genenbact, Josh Hubbard, Jerry Lambert, Scott Mullis, Bobby Phillips and Walter Stillwell.
The Accounting/Finance Team - Lori Shue, Lisa Will, Lori Brooks and Erin Shue.
INEX - Darrel Krentz, Scott Reinhradt, Pat Davis and Haven Kerchner
The 600 Racing Engine Shop - GE Chapman, Chad Honeycutt, Chris Page, Terry Percy, Mike Strider and Paul Vanderlaar.
600 Racing Midwest - James Michael Spink and Tony Wachter.
600 Racing West - Joe Maylish and John Clute.
600 Racing Management - Richard Burke and Ken Ragan.
All Tech Inspectors, 600 Racing Dealers, track promoters and race officials who help us throughout the year.
A special thank you to our sponsors - RACEceiver, BFGoodrich, Optima, G-Force, Bilstein, Briggs & Stratton, Setrab, Cometic, Stock Car Steel, Intercomp, Dyno Cam, zMax, Wiseco and Safety Clean.
We especially want to thank H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler for his forethought in creating 600 Racing, and his continued support. A big thank you to O. Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. for believing in 600 Racing.
The biggest thanks goes to all of you - our customers, our racers and our friends. We wish a very happy holiday season, and tremendous success in the New Year.
We can't wait to see you in January when we fire our engines for the 2008 racing season.
Your friends at 600 Racing!