SPEEDWAY MOTORCYCLES RETURN TO PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY FOR THE TIME IN 13 YEARS!
(JUNE 28, 2009, PERRIS, CA) On Saturday, July 11th, Perris Auto Speedway will host Speedway Motorcycle Racing for the first time in 13 years. The event will be the California State Speedway Long Track Championship and it will be sanctioned by USA Speedway and the American Motorcycle Association. Joining the Speedway motorcycles on the night will be the 1000cc Speedway Sidecars. Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM. Practice will begin at 5:00 and the first race will bump off at 7:00.

In the late 1980s, Speedway Motorcycle racing was the first ever motorsports event held on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, which is now home to Perris Auto Speedway. Current USA Speedway official Ryan Evans won that race. 

From 1991 to 1993 Speedway Motorcycle racing was a regular Thursday event on the fairgrounds. However, the last time Speedway action took place on the fairgrounds was during the inaugural season of Perris Auto Speedway. In addition to the race on the 11th being the first Speedway race at The PAS since 1996, it will be the first Speedway Long Track race held in Southern California since a 1990 event at legendary Ascot Park in Gardena. 

“We are really looking forward to this event,” Perris Auto Speedway promoter Don Kazarian said from behind his desk. “Speedway has been a longtime staple of the motorsports industry in Southern California and the sport seems to be on an upswing right now. Costa Mesa Speedway is the most famous American Speedway track and they have been going strong for 40 years. A new track just opened in San Bernardino last week. The Grand in City of Industry races every Wednesday night and Steve Evans promotes at a variety of tracks. We are very excited to be part of this sport.”

The race will take place on The PAS quarter-mile track. The quarter-mile hosted Flat Track Motorcycle racing last year for the first time and the show was a tremendous success. Flat Track racing returned to the quarter-mile two weeks ago and provided lots of close racing. Fans should expect to see the same when the Speedway Motorcycles take over July 11th.

Kazarian and his staff are going all out for this event. With the help of how Howie Zechner and Steve Evans, he expects a great show. “Howie and Steve are doing a tremendous job putting this event together for us,” Kazarian said. “They are assembling a star-studded field of riders and doing much of the footwork to get this event off the ground. We cannot thank them enough for all the hard work they have done.”

In addition to Zechner and Evans, Costa Mesa Speedway promoter Brad Oxley will be preparing the track at The PAS. A few weeks ago when Kazarian was asked if he would like to have Oxley's help in preparing the surface, the longtime promoter lit up like a Christmas tree. “I think that would be great,” he said with a big smile. “Brad Oxley has been building Speedway tracks for a long, long time and he knows what he is doing. Not only has he built the track at Costa Mesa, but he also built the tracks at Long Beach Veterans Stadium and at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the 1982 World Speedway Championship. He prepared the track for us the last time we ran Speedway in 1996. Brad's involvement will make for a top notch track that will provide great racing for the fans and the riders.”

Billy “The Bullet” Hamill, the 1996 World Speedway Champion and a five time US National Champion, has been named Grand Marshal for the prestigious race. “Billy Hamill is one of the greatest riders in American Speedway history,” Kazarian said. “In his career, he was not only a great Speedway rider, but a great ambassador to the sport as well. His work with the younger riders over the years has been a tremendous help to American Speedway and we are honored to have him as Grand Marshal.”

Advance tickets for the California State Speedway Long Track Championship are available 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-595-4849. They can also be ordered on the Internet at tix.com or perrisautospeedway.com. 

For more information on this event you can call The PAS office at (951) 940-0134. Howie Zechner at (626) 449-1175 or Steve Evans at (310) 309-9418.

Perris Auto Speedway is on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds (home of the Southern California Fair), approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit on the Ramona Expressway and go two miles east to the fairgrounds.

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