DESPAIN ENDS THE 2009 RACING SEASON WITH A 14^TH PLACE FINISH AT THE DTWC

Press Release #12 – November 3, 2009

Lexington, KY – Elliott Despain and Despain Motorsports closed out their 2009 racing campaign with a 14^th place finish in the Open Wheel Modified division of the Dirt Track World Championship which was held the weekend of October 16 and 17 at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, IN.

The 20-year old racer entered the weekend event having just completed one his best weekend performances of the 2009 racing season back on October 2 and 3, in which he posted two top 5’s at Ponderosa Speedway’s (KY) 19^th Annual Fall Classic.

On Friday night, “The Modern Day Leroy” took advantage of the low groove on a rough and rutty racing surface to score a runner-up finish after starting 8^th in the caution filled Modified main event. “We got up to and was catching the leader with five or so laps to go when the caution came back out”, stated Despain, “and then we just ran out of laps. This was our best finish here at “The Pond” this year and we look forward to tomorrow night to see if we can improve one more position up to a win”.

In Saturday night’s 25-lap $1,000 to win showdown, Mr. Despain started 6^th after running second in the 3^rd heat race. He quickly found himself in a race long battle with the #99 of Randy Turpin for the fourth position, but in the end just could not make the pass and settled for a 5^th place finish. “The track was totally different from last night and you could race just about anywhere you wanted”, replied the driver of the #75E Bandit Race Car. “While we were able to hold our position on the track, it was just so much tougher to make the pass as compared to last night. But, hey, we will take a 2^nd and a 5^th (place finishes) and go see if we can make some noise at The Dirt Track (World Championship) in two weeks”.

After heavy rains forced the scheduled 3-day Dirt Track World Championship into a 2-day affair, Elliott and his crew kicked off Saturday’s  festivities by posting the 10^th fastest qualifying lap (17.636) overall out of the 57-car field. But by virtue of having qualified in “groups”, the #75E pilot would start outside row #2 in the first of six heat races.

“This was our first time racing in the “group” qualifying format, so, while we were very happy with our time, we found it hard to adjust to starting fourth in our heat race because we had three guys in our group that qualified quicker than we did”, stated Despain.

Having followed the Dirt Late Model Series racers and the Sprint Car racing divisions who were also on the Saturday racing card, the Campbellsville, KY native found the track conditions a bit different from when the qualifying session was held. After taking the green flag for his heat race, Elliott quickly got in line in the fourth racing position and, after being unable to make a pass, settled in and took the checkered flag in the fourth spot.

“The track had “rubbered” up from all the racing in the other two divisions, so we knew we would have to get in line as quickly as we could and hopefully make the top three to make the transfer to the feature race on Sunday”, said Despain. “But we came up one spot short”.

Having finished fourth in the heat race, the Despain Motorsports team then would start on the front row of the first of three B-main events on Sunday. On the start of the 20-lap consolation event, the field got a bit impatient and as a result, the fourth place starter got into and pushed the right rear quarter panel of the #75E into the tire, causing the tire to go flat.

“I knew the tire was flat and they were telling me over the “receiver” that it was flat, but I didn’t have anything to lose at that point”, said the dejected Despain. “Our day was over and we were not going to make the race”.

Or, so they thought. After checking with race and track officials, Team Despain found out that there were two provisional starting positions for the two fastest qualifiers that did not make the race through their heat and/or consolation races and that they had definitely made the race based on their time. “Hey, our qualifying time came through for us and we’ve got a race to get ready for”, replied a now happy Despain.

Now starting 26^th in the 26-car field, Elliott just wanted to make a good showing and stay out of racing trouble. Then as the 30-lap race progressed, the Lucas Oil Product sponsored racer started to make some ground up through the field and all of a sudden was racing in the top 15 and working his was toward the top 10. “The car was working great for me on the bottom groove and I was able to make my way by some cars”, replied Despain. “But the track started to lock down again and I just held my line”. Elliott would go on to finish in the 14^th racing position in his first Dirt Track World Championship.

“Not bad for our first DTWC and especially after thinking that we weren’t going to even make the race. A lot of the top Modified drivers in this area of the country were in this race today and we were extremely happy to come out with a decent finish, but even more so, we were able represent and get our sponsors and supporters some very valuable and added exposure”, said Despain.

With the 2009 racing schedule completed, Elliott and his team will now focus on the 2010 racing season and also attend some local racing conventions and seminars to see and get information on new and existing racing products that might help in next years endeavors.