TOLEDO, Ohio (March 30, 2016) – The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards entry list for the Music City 200 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville is on the move, in large part because of a big push from Lira Motorsports, which is fielding five Ford Fusions for next Saturday’s race, April 9.
Wentzville, Missouri brothers Clayton and Kyle Weatherman will be teammates at Nashville under the Lira banner – Clayton in the No. 93 and Kyle in the No. 58. Kyle, the 2015 SCOTT Rookie of the Year and Short Track Challenge champion, opened the season with a third-place finish at Daytona.
Alpine, California’s Sheldon Creed (below) will be making his ARCA debut at Nashville for Lira Motorsports in the No. 38. Creed, a Speed Energy Formula Off-Road series champion driver in the Stadium Super Trucks, also has 25 career wins in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
“I am so excited to be joining the Lira Motorsports team,” said Creed. “These cars are way different than the Super Trucks, but after testing, I feel confident we have a good chance for a win or a top-five in my debut.”
Making his return to the ARCA Racing Series is High Point, North Carolina’s Travis Swaim in the No. 59 Lira Motorsports car. Swaim, in his one and only ARCA start in 2013, finished fifth at Salem Speedway. A veteran late model racer, Swaim is also a former Myrtle Beach 400 winner, UARA Late Model champion, North Carolina NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state champion, and a three-time Caraway Speedway Late Model Stock Car track champion.
Brandon Lynn, another full-time driver in the Lira camp, will be making his first Nashville start in the No. 36. Lynn finished on the lead lap in the Daytona ARCA season opener, coming home 16th.
Venturini Motorsports (VMS) is also loaded up with three entries, including veteran and five-time ARCA winner Tom Hessert in the No. 25 team flagship machine. VMS is also introducing two ARCA newcomers at Nashville – Cole Williams in the No. 55 and 15-year-old Christian Eckes in the No. 66. Both Williams and Eckes are making ARCA debuts at Nashville. Despite his ARCA debut, Williams is already the 2014 Pro Late Model track champion at Nashville.
Cunningham Motorsports is coming with two entries, both with rookie drivers. Mitchell, Indiana’s Chase Briscoe (finished fourth at Daytona) is entered in the No. 77 Ford with his teammate Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Cullman, Alabama) entered in the No. 22 Ford. Thomas finished seventh in the Daytona opener.
Mansfield, Pennsylvania’s Matt Kurzejewski is also entered in the No. 52 for Ken Schrader Racing. Two-time Daytona winner and NASCAR veteran driver John Wes Townley is entered in the No. 05 Chevrolet for Athenian Motorsports.
Other notable entrants include Josh Williams (Port Charlotte, Florida), Thomas Praytor (Mobile, Alabama), A.J. Fike (Galesburg, Illinois), Shane Lee (Newton, North Carolina), Dylan Martin (Lakeland, Florida), Brad Smith (Shelby Township, Michigan), Brian Finney (Merritt Island, Florida) and Alx Danielsson (Storvreta, Sweden).
ARCA championship team Mason Mitchell Motorsports and Bobby Gerhart Racing have also filed entries.
Tickets Information for the Music City ARCA 200 at Nashville:
Presale tickets, including discounted reserved seats for the Music City 200 ARCA race, are available for Rockin’ & Racin’ at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville. The two-day event, Friday and Saturday, April 8-9, will feature some of the best drivers across the nation in addition to a live Colt Ford concert with special guest Trent Tomlinson at the track as part of Friday’s event.
Friday’s general admission tickets for the Super Late Model doubleheader featuring the ARCA/CRA Super Series and the Southern Super Series plus the Colt Ford / Trent Tomlinson concert are available for just $20 for adults and $5 for kids ages 5-12.
For Saturday’s main event, a $5 discount is being offered for those wanting reserved seats for one of the top eight rows. Advance reserved seats for Saturday are just $25, the same price as general admission for the day. Reserved seats for kids are $15. General admission prices at the gate for the April 9 show are $25 for adults and $10 for kids.
For all ticket options, and/or to avoid the lines at the main gate, call Track Enterprises at 217.764-3200 or visittrackenterprises.com. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. Presale tickets will also be available at the track on Saturday, April 2, the day of Fairgrounds Speedway season opener. As always, tickets will also be available at the track on race days.
About Automobile Racing Club of America:
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards features 20 events at 18 tracks on its 2016 schedule. The series has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 racetracks in 28 states since its inception. The series tests the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, annually visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as left- and right-turn road courses.
