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Area tracks warming up for '09 racing

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By John Bombatch, Staff Writer From Wire Reports Updated 3:20 PM Thursday, March 26, 2009

With the weather finally warming up a bit and NASCAR racing series beginning to hit their stride, it won't be too long before the local racers will be enjoying their share of track time. The ARCA Re/MAX stock car series, fresh off its race in Daytona, Fla., will run a race at Indiana's Salem Speedway on April 5. NASCAR veteran Kenny Schrader and nine-time ARCA Re/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel are both expected to race that Sunday afternoon. Closer to home, Test & Tune sessions have begun at Tri-State Dragway and Kil-Kare Dragway. Tri-State will hold Saturday afternoon sessions starting March 21. They'll then switch to their regular spring format of Saturday Test & Tunes and Sunday race dates. Call (513) 863-0562 or visit tristatedragway.com for more details. Xenia's Kil-Kare begins its Test & Tune sessions on Saturday, March 21, on both the drag strip and the paved tri-oval. Kil-Kare's Web site is www.kilkare.com. The track information number is (937) 429-2961. It's late March. A sunny day in Butler County could be a cold, wet day up in Xenia. Call ahead. DARF 'Promoter Night' set Like the swallows of San Juan Capistrano or the turkeys of Hinckley, when the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club hosts its annual "Meet the Promoter Night," that's just one more sure sign of spring and warmer weather. This season's annual affair begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at The Flats meeting hall, at the corner of Rip Rap and Fishburg Roads in north Dayton. Maybe I'll see you there. Anyone who's a fan of auto racing is encouraged to attend. They have a Web site, too: www.darfnews.com. Reitenour diversifies NASCAR Driver for Diversity driver Megan Reitenour of Miamisburg was on hand for a meet-and-greet and autograph signing at the March 5 "Cruise the Burg" cruise-in in downtown Miamisburg. Reitenour attended a Drivers for Diversity luncheon during Daytona Speedweeks in February and watched the NASCAR Camping World Trucks race as a guest of Toledo driver Terry Cook and the Corrie Stott Racing team. Baja's bad boy Several weeks after NASCAR driver Robbie Gordon's second-place finish in the Baja 250 off-road race in Mexico, there's now speculation that Gordon may have shortened the race distance a bit in order to pass Trophy Truck competitor Ed Herbst during the race. Course workers have record of Gordon at the 132.5 checkpost, but did not see him again until four miles later. Gordon's Toyo tire tracks were found going off the course just past the 132.5 post, down a cliffside and then back onto the course four miles later. Tsk tsk. Theys retires Veteran endurance racing driver Didier Theys, who once co-drove the Lebanon-based Doran Lista Dallara-Judd race car to victory in the 2002 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona auto race, has retired as a professional race driver. Theys, 52, also co-drove the MOMO Ferrari to a Rolex 24-Hour win in 1998. He will remain in the sport as a team consultant and driving coach. Got a racing story? Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.

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