Series PR

Hickory, N.C. — For CARS Pro Cup Series veteran A.J. Frank, Saturday’s Catawba Valley 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway will likely be more important than any other race on the 2012 schedule.

Why? Because last October Frank earned his first CARS Pro Cup Series victory at the historic .363-mile asphalt oval. The South Carolina native is bursting with confidence as he prepares to return to the site of his first series victory.

“I’m feeling really confident about it for sure,” Frank said. “I haven’t been in a race car at all since Rockingham last year. I’m very anxious to get behind the wheel again.”

Frank, driving the No. 6 for Abold Motorsports, lead the final 16 laps last October to win the Catawba County United Way 200. He’ll be returning to Hickory with the same team and the same race car that brought him to victory lane that night.

As far as competition goes for Saturday’s race, Frank said that he has his eyes on Texas native Tyler Young. The driver of the No. 02 Chevrolet dominated at Hickory last October, leading 98 laps after starting on the pole before engines issues sidelined him late in the event.

“I’d say Tyler will be tough,” Frank said. “I think Tyler was obviously the best car there last year. He had an awesome car, but you’ve got to run all 200 laps. We prevailed that night because of his issues. That’s why we race.

“I think he’ll be the car that we have to beat during the race, for sure,” Frank concluded.

Young, who just made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at North Carolina’s Rockingham Speedway last Sunday, expects to run near the front at Hickory Saturday evening.

“I’m really excited to get back to Hickory,” Young said. “I haven’t slept a lot since we lost that one. I felt like we had a great car there. We sat on the pole and lead almost 100 laps. I’m really looking forward to going back.”

Other drives that have filed entries for Saturday’s event include Palmetto State 250 winner J.P. Morgan, Bill Plemons, Jr., Jerrick Johnson, Lucas Ransone, Joe Shannon and Trey Mitchell.

Gates for Saturday’s Catawba Valley 250 open at 5 p.m. with qualifying scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. An on-track driver autograph session is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. The Catawba Valley 250, featuring 250 laps and live pit stops, will go green at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for Saturday’s race can be purchased online for $12 through Thursday by visiting www.carsprocup.com. Tickets can be purchased for $15 at the track on the day of the event. Kids under the age of 12 are free.

Entry List
1. #00 Lucas Ransone
2. #02 Tyler Young
3. #08 Dalton Hopkins
4. #2 Joe Shannon
5. #6 AJ Frank
6. #15 Bill Plemons Jr
7. #23 JP Morgan
8. #24 Mike Williams
9. #26 Nathan Russell
10. #33 Harrison Rhodes
11. #56 Trey Mitchell
12. #68 Allen Purkhiser
13. #73 Tom Finney
14. #76 Jerick Johnson