UARA Releases Diverse 2013 Schedule

Copper Hill, VA(December 15, 2012) — Almost like an early Christmas present, loyal followers of the UARA-STARS Series were treated to the early arrival of the series 2013 schedule.

It’s an early Christmas present because in past seasons, the UARA has been one of the last schedules to be released.  In past seasons, it could be well after early to mid-January series banquet before you’d even have an idea of where the series was going and on what dates.  However, this year the schedule release came a month early and delivered a nice diverse schedule for the 12^th year series.

The series will begin its normal 16-race schedule at a new venue this year.  The series which has traditionally opened at least in recent years at Hickory Motor Speedway will now kick start its schedule with the first of two stops in Kenly, NC.  Southern National Motorsports Park will be the site of the series opening race this season on March 9^th.

Hickory will find itself up next on the schedule on a date that many UARA competitors had hoped the series would have avoided.  March 23^rd.  The date was one that drivers and teams were hoping the series would avoid due to the decision by Myrtle Beach Speedway to postpone November’s Myrtle Beach 400 to the preceding Friday.

With the Myrtle Beach 400 now taking place on Friday, March 22^nd, the same day as the UARA is expecting to hold an open test for the March 23^rd event. This date for the series forces many of the series competitors who have already made the race at Myrtle Beach to choose whether to tough out the travel of going from Myrtle Beach, SC to Newton, NC overnight or to abandon one race for another.

A few teams that we reached out to for comment stated that they would be competing in Myrtle Beach on Friday night, then packing up and heading back to Newton, NC to be ready for the UARA race on Saturday.  The teams we spoke with put the blame squarely on Myrtle Beach Speedway management for postponing the race from one year to the next.

We reached out to UARA-STARS Series President, Kerry Bodenhamer who told us that the Hickory date has been in place for a long time. He also stated that, with the race at Myrtle Beach being on Friday and the Hickory race on Saturday, it isn’t a conflict.

Aside from that one hiccup, the remainder of the UARA schedule is strong with a total of 15 events already penciled in and only one TBA (To Be Announced) date.  Of the 15 races currently on the schedule, the series will visit nine different tracks with the TBA expected to add a tenth track to the schedule.  The TBA is widely anticipated as being a return trip to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time in several seasons.

The schedule features the first of two dates at Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC on April 13^th, which will be followed by the TBA date on April 27^th.  Single trips to Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC and Lonesome Pine Raceway follow the TBA on May 18^th and June 1^st respectively.  The series then makes the first of two stops at Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, SC and a second trip to Hickory on June 14^th and June 22^nd respectively.

The series makes a lone start at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, NC on July 12^th followed the first of two stops at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, NC on July 27^th. August sees the second of two trips to Southern National on the 10^th and the second of two trips to Anderson on the following Friday (16^th).  Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, TN has their lone race date on September 14th followed by the final trip to Caraway on the 21^st.  Newport Speedway in Newport, TN will have their only race date of the year on October 19^th.

The final race of the season will continue to take place at Rockingham Speedway as the UARA is part of The Classic 3 Championship as they finish their season on the same day as the Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.  Having three top tier short track series complete their season on the same day makes for great exposure for all three series and their drivers.

So not only did the UARA impress with a stout schedule, but they also impressed their loyal followers by getting the schedule out in a timely manner, something they haven’t done much of in past seasons.  Getting the schedule out and with some great dates at some premier facilities will certainly help the series to continue growing in this sluggish economy while many other series and tracks are struggling to maintain pace.

CLICK HERE to view the UARA-STARS Series 2013 schedule as well as the schedule of many of the other tracks and series competing in this region.