Phone: (519) 652-5068 Ext 201
E-mail: john@delawarespeedway.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2011

SHERIDAN COUNTING THE DAYS TO SEASON OPENER

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March 1, 2011
John Houghton
Announcer / PR

Four months on the job and the countdown to opening day is on for Delaware Speedway’s new Director of Racing Operations.  After completing the final round of pre-season driver’s meetings Sheridan took a few minutes between phone calls to talk about his experience so far and his plans for the future.

“I had a pretty good idea of how it was before,” said Sheridan about moving into the Delaware Speedway office.  “But what surprised me the most was the amount of work and work the track does in the off season.  I can’t believe how much preparation on the management side goes into getting ready for a race season.”

Sheridan, who after eighteen years behind the wheel was the 2010 NASCAR Late Model champion, has three goals which make up his strategy for the speedway’s race program.  The first of which is providing a fun and fair experience for all racers at the track.

“For me, this means treating the racers the way I would want to be treated and vice versa,” Sheridan explained.  “We’re all here to put on a good show for the fans and enjoy the experience.  I want to work with the racers to help make this happen.”

Sheridan’s second goal is to get management and tech staff working together more efficiently.

“When operating a race program, one thing that is important is that the race director and the tech staff are on the same page,” said Sheridan of this second goal.  “This means that we’re working together as one to promote a level playing field.”

Thirdly, Sheridan hopes to develop the overall speedway race program in a manner that promotes driver development and advancement through the divisions.  A strategy Sheridan hopes will avoid cost and speed escalations in the entry-level classes.

“I want to get the Demar Aggregates Truck division, for example, to be more of an entry level class, back to the way it started” Said Sheridan  “I don’t want people believing they can’t compete in a truck class because it’s too fast or too expensive.  Next to G.A.W. Recycling Enduro and Ultimate Chaos Cars, that’s our entry level division.  I want drivers to be able to progress up as they feel they are able if they’re looking for the increased speeds and new challenges with the vehicles.”

The first four months have been a fury of activity for Sheridan and his tech team of which the full-time crew made up of Leon Manning, Ken Kellistine, Doug Gonder, Darrell Timmermans.  The team set to work checking over, line by line, each section of Delaware Speedway’s rulebooks.  Sheridan also attended a NASCAR Summit in the United States for three days which dealt with on-track racing operations.

Another element of development for Sheridan since taking on his new role was to update the handicapping and lineup system.

“Before writing this up, I sat down with John [Houghton] and said that I wanted to come up with a simple and consistent system,” explained Sheridan.  “I’ve always said at the meetings, I’ve never understood the old system for the 18 years I raced here.  I wanted to make sure that everyone understood it.  In the past, the heat races didn’t matter, I wanted to make them mean something.  Competitors who do well in their heats will be rewarded with a better starting position.”

Sheridan is looking forward to opening night and seeing how everything comes together.

“I’ll be directing the race and helping the officials and making sure the show has gone as smoothly as it has in the past,” said Sheridan of his race night role.  “Delaware Speedway has run a very good program in the past.  I want to make sure the racing continues getting done at an efficient time and is a quality event.  I’m looking forward to seeing the good competitive racing that I know our drivers can do”.

Sheridan continues to take phone calls from competitors at the office at (519) 652-5068 Ext 203 and by e-mail at ronsheridan@delawarespeedway.com as the season approaches.

Drivers and fans also have a new way to keep up with the happenings at the Delaware Speedway office by monitoring the track’s updated twitter which is regularly updated by General Manager Joe Czernai, Operations Manager Paul Houghton, Director of Racing Operations Ron Sheridan, and Announcer / PR Director John Houghton.  The feed can be accessed by clicking the twitter link at the top left of the Delaware Speedway homepage.

Practice days are scheduled for April 16 & 23.  Track rentals can be arranged by contacting Ron Sheridan at the office.  The first race event of the year is the G.A.W. Recycling Enduro and Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos Cars on Saturday, April 30 at 2:00 pm.  Opening night for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is a week later on Friday, May 6 at 8:00 pm.