Posted by Martinsville Speedway on September 20, 2007, 9:22 pm
Board Administrator

Martinsville, VA ~ A record 123 race cars showed up at Martinsville Speedway Wednesday and 122 of them were in Philip Morris’ rearview mirror. The traditional open test day for the Bailey’s 300 Late Model Stock car race, scheduled for Sept. 30, drew an astounding number of entries to shake their cars down for the biggest NASCAR Late Model Stock race of the year. One-hundred and twenty-three cars were on hand and 113 drivers. Several teams had two cars for the test. But for the entire day-long session Morris, the defending NASCAR Whelen Weekly Racing Series national champion, posted the quickest speeds of the day. “We were pretty good,” said defending Bailey’s 300 winner Alex Yontz. “But Philip was by far the quickest.” Yontz’ sentiment was echoed by just about every other driver in the garage area on a day that the garage was packed with Late Model Stock cars from up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Close on Morris’ tail was Wayne Ramsey of Amherst, VA, the polesitter for last year’s race, Frank Deiny, a former Bailey’s 300 winner and 16-year-old Matt DiBenedetto, making his first laps around the difficult half-mile track. “We were OK. We learned a lot,” the Hickory NC, teenager said. “It’s a different race track, that’s for sure.” Deiny, making only his third or fourth Late Model start this season, was strong off the truck and didn’t even put in a full day’s work. “We were good,” said Deiny. “I’ve never quit up here at 1:30 before and I quit at 1:30 today. I quit before anybody figured out I was fast.” Timothy Peters, who won the Bailey’s 300 two years ago, broke out a new car for Wednesday’s test and wound up struggling a good portion of the day. “We’ve got the new-car blues,” said Peters. “We’re pretty happy, though, for it being a new car. Nothing real bad is wrong with the car. We’ve just got to find the sweet spot.” The Bailey’s 300 is scheduled for Sunday, September 30th, with practice and time trials the day before. Tickets for the Bailey’s 300 are $20 for adults, children 6-12 $5 and under 6 free. Tickets may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.racetickets.com online.