(Salem, IN) - Officials from Champion Racing Association (CRA) announced today their formation of a "South" Division for Super Late Models. The CRA South Super Late Models will run an eight to ten race schedule with a yearlong championship chase. The series champion and other top finishers in the season-long point standings will receive awards at a year-end ceremony.

Teams that support the new series will also earn point fund/bonus monies after each event. Top finishers will also be able to utilize provisional starting positions, if necessary, at special season-ending major events. The schedule will be announced at later date, but is expected to include tracks in the area of Georgia, north Florida, Alabama, and others.

Champion Racing Association was formed in 1997, and has sanctioned Super Late Model racing every year since. The Indiana based organization has sanctioned many of the top, nationally ranked Super Late Model events, such as the All American 400, the Winchester 400 and the traditional nation-wide season opener, SpeedFest. Through the years CRA has assisted other events such as the Snowball Derby, and will be providing support again this year to the 33rd Annual Rattler at South Alabama Speedway.

Besides promoting and sanctioning Super Late Model events, CRA was also a leader in developing what is now the national standard for short track stock car bodies, the ABC Body Program. They've also been leaders in developing the Sealed Engine program that allows traditional, professional-built open engine packages to be competitive with the performance based and cost-effective Sealed Engines.

The process of assisting others throughout the country and trying to bring people together, led to many calls for CRA to expand and sanction a series in the South. "This is something that people have talked to us about for the last five years," noted CRA founder R. J. Scott. "We've always said that PEOPLE are the key to any success, and we weren't going to venture southward until those people were in place…and now they are!"

38-year race official veteran Dan Spence was recently named the Series Director for CRA South. He is a veteran official with many tracks in the southeast, and served as a key official with both Bob Harmon's All-Pro Series and later the NASCAR All-Pro Series. Spence also served as the Race Director for the ASA National Tour from 1999-2004. Currently he is working as Race Director for Five Flags Speedway and Mobile International Speedway. He has flagged or Race Directed 33 of the 41 Snowball Derbies.

Serving in the role of Chief Technical Inspector will be another Five Flags/Derby veteran, Ricky Brooks. The Florida native has a reputation of being incredibly tough and equally fair in his role as Chief Technical Inspector. Many industry veterans have credited Brooks with being partially responsible for the resurgence of the Snowball Derby, and its rightful return to the title of the nation's top Super Late Model event.

"The CRA South will use the same rules, procedures and processes that the CRA Super Series of the North utilizes," commented CRA co-owner Glenn Luckett. "We've had a lot of success with how we do things, and we found a couple of great people to carry those principles forward in the South. We're working with Tim Bryant at Five Flags Speedway to not schedule on top of their Blizzard Series races. CRA has always been a company trying to work with other organizations, and we will respect the traditions of the Blizzard Series and the Derby."

Officials from CRA and the Snowball Derby/Five Flags Speedway are putting the finishing touches on a standardized set of technical rules to be known as U.S.R.A (United Super Late Model Rules Alliance), which the two groups will use for all of their Super Late Model events. The two organizations were already very close on rules, and wanted to put the common set of rules together to benefit the racers and series alike.

Series registration forms are currently available www.craracing.net. One registration will cover drivers for North and South Series events and will be the tool, which teams will use to secure a number for the upcoming season. Members also receive discounts on event entry fees. While CRA does not race with duplicate numbers, teams from the South will be allowed to carry a duplicate number to that of a team from the North with a simple letter "S" designation representing their South affiliation.

The CRA racing season will begin with "SpeedFest 2009" a special non-points event at Lanier National Speedway, January 24-25th. The 200 lap event could see one driver take home over $10,000 for the Super Late Model portion of the show, and if they race the Pro-Late Model as well, they could go home with over $23,000. The race will also mark the first chance for CRA South teams to carry that banner in the traditional North vs. South event.

Teams are encouraged to secure their numbers now for the upcoming season and to save money on their SpeedFest entry. As information and dates for CRA South are confirmed, details will be found at www.craracing.net.


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