by Bryan Wimberley

BATON ROUGE, La. (December 30) – The P&W Sales Southern United Professional Racing Series has spent the brief off-season, compiling a stacked calendar for the upcoming 2015 dirt late model racing year. The series will span four southern states, competing at eleven different tracks, for its 26th year of high-level regional racing, on the anticipated tour.

The last two seasons the SUPR Series has been title sponsored by the Kilgore, Tex.-headquartered business of P&W Sales -a manufacturers representative of drilling and oil field products, owned by Wayman and Kay McMillan. The series proudly announces that the multi-branch company will secure sponsorship for a third consecutive year, P&W Sales also has Texas locations in Fort Worth and Pleasanton (25 miles south of San Antonio) and a sister company called P&W Iron Works, LLC -next door to its main store.

The McMillan’s has long supported racing in our area and beyond, and the second-longest running, southern-based late model circuit -the Southern United Professional Racing Series- is pleased to unify for this racing family. Both live by the motto, “start them early, start them young and get involved”.

For the first time in seven years, the P&W Sales SUPR Series will open their season in a different setting than Texas Motor Speedway, when it returns to Boothill Speedway in early March.

The track that closely borders Louisiana and Texas, re-opened at mid-year and is led under the guidance of Travis Evans and 1997 SUPR Rookie of the Year, Jason Ingalls. It will be the second time in series history that the tour begins its racing season at Boothill Speedway (1995).

A total of six weekend doubleheaders encompasses the yearly slate, beginning in mid-March at SUPR’s hometrack of Baton Rouge Raceway, with a twin-bill. Two other speedways will host back-to-back nights for the tour, with Battleground posting dual April and August dates and I-30 Speedway having its summertime, July weekend.

One tripleheader appears on the schedule, beginning with a Thursday night affair at Gene Boyter’s ArkLaTex Speedway in Vivian, on July 2nd. The series returns to ‘The Land of Three-Wide’ for the first time since the instant classic battle between four-time SUPR champion, Rob Litton and Lee Davis, producing a photo finish in May 2008. From there, the series goes to Billy White’s Timberline Speedway in Corley, Tex., before wrapping up at the Hafertepe-owned, Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore.

Greenville Speedway in Mississippi continues to be a favorite mainstay track on the circuit, with two separate dates on tap -one in late April and one in August. The P&W Sales SUPR Series returns for the second consecutive year to Sabine Motor Speedway in Many, for a May date to combine with Lone Star.

The P&W Sales SUPR Dirt Late Models will invade a new place in 2015, taking to the dirt of East Texas Speedway in Petty -located 15 miles west of Paris, Texas.

The facility boasts a 3/8-mile, 85-foot wide oval and is promoted by Ray Griffis, SUPR takes to the ETS banks on April 18th.

The annual winter visit to Texas Motor Speedway’s Dirt Track has been changed to a spring date of May 16th.

April is the busiest month for the tour, having six total races in a 23-day period.

Holiday weekends include a doubleheader during Memorial Day (at Sabine and Lone Star), a two-state, triple during Independence Day (at ArkLaTex, Timberline and Lone Star), with Labor Day currently entertaining a single event (at Lone Star) and the series again concluding with the growing Turkey Nationals race (at Lone Star).

We soon begin our way to the crowning of a champion, just 69 days and counting before the roar of the engines and the smell of racing fuel brings us all together as one!

2014 EVENT SCHEDULE

March 7th – Boothill Speedway in Greenwood, Louisiana
March 13th – Baton Rouge Raceway in Baker, Louisiana
March 14th – Baton Rouge Raceway in Baker, Louisiana

April 3rd – Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas
April 4th – Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas
April 10th – Timberline Speedway in Corley, Texas
April 11th – I-30 Speedway in Bryant, Arkansas
April 18th – East Texas Speedway in Petty, Texas
April 25th – Greenville Speedway in Greenville, Mississippi

May 16th – Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track in Fort Worth, Texas
May 23rd – Sabine Motor Speedway in Many, Louisiana
May 24th – Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas

July 2nd – ArkLaTex Speedway in Vivian, Louisiana
July 3rd – Timberline Speedway in Corley, Texas
July 4th – Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas
July 17th – I-30 Speedway in Bryant, Arkansas
July 18th – I-30 Speedway in Bryant, Arkansas

August 7th – Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas
August 8th – Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas
August 22nd – Greenville Speedway in Greenville, Mississippi

September 5th – Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas

November 28th – Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas