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Jason Curd
GAFFNEY, S.C. (May 15) - The O'Reilly Southern All Star EAST Dirt Late Model Series will get back into action Saturday night, May 24th at the famed Cherokee Speedway. Drivers and fans alike are eager for a racing fix as Mother Nature has claimed a majority of race weekends throughout the Southeast the past 2 months.
Point leader Dennis 'Rambo' Franklin holds a slim lead over last year's 2007 Series Champion Casey Roberts. The action has been hot and heavy with Rambo Franklin edging Casey Roberts at the line to take the $4,000 win at Gordon Park Speedway last weekend. When asked about coming back to Cherokee Speedway Franklin stated, "It's nice to come back to my home track. I always look forward to putting on a show for my local fans. Cherokee is where I cut my teeth back when we were racing 4 cylinders. I think the fans are going to be in for a treat."
When asked about his O'Reilly EAST series plans Franklin stated "We're going after it! Right now we are in the points lead in both the EAST and Carolina Clash series. We'll run both of them for as long as the schedules will allow." If Rambo Franklin were to win them both, he would make history as the only driver to do so in the same year and he pocketing over $22,000 in championship money along the way.
O'Reilly EAST Series and Cherokee Speedway promoter Lennie Buff says the rivalry building between Rambo Franklin and Casey Roberts is good for his series and the fans. "Both drivers are a good representation of our series. They race hard and are a threat to win at any track. We've also got some heavy hitters sitting in the top 15 of our points. Jeff Smith, Johnny Pursley, Ricky Weeks, Jimmy Owens, Petey Ivey, Scott Bloomquist, Chris Madden and Shannon Babb are all right there together."
Saturday Night's 40 lap EAST main event will pay $4,000 to the winner. Support classes will include fan favorite Limited Sportsman, Super Stock and Street Stock 4, Renegade, and Young Guns series. The CITY Chevrolet CRATE series will have the night off.
Up next on the O'Reilly EAST Series calendar will be Fayetteville Speedway June 7th and Tuesday June 10th at Laurens Speedway for the 28th Annual Laurens Shrine Race. Cherokee Speedway will host the Lucas Oil National Late Model series Friday Night, June 20th for the running of the 9th Annual Grassy Smith Memorial.
Cherokee Super Speedway is located conveniently off of I-85 exit 96 in Gaffney, SC. Track phone is (864) 489-1969 and Cell (864) 505-9199. Email Contact: Lenny Buff at BuffRace@Bellsouth.net. More info can be found at www.southern-allstars.com and www.cherokee-speedway.com.
The O'Reilly EAST series would like to thank the following sponsors: O'Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier South Racing Tire, Universal/Nascar Technical Institute (www.uti.edu), Bearden Oil, Cruise of Champions, ASI Sportswear and Big A's Custom Graphics.
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