Design Engineering Inc. (DEI) has announced its sponsorship of Circle Track’s inaugural 2015 Great American Racing Series (G.A.R.S.). The races are being billed as an affordable, high purse oval track race series for cars that are essentially street stocks. Drivers will compete for a purse of $30,000 per race with the winner receiving $5,000. The champion will win $10,000 and a one-day test session of a full-bodied NASCAR style stock car at Daytona International Speedway.
Developed with a mix of paved and dirt oval tracks in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, the G.A.R.S. series kicks off May 9 at the Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana. Two dirt races and four paved races are planned with the final event scheduled for Oct. 4 at the Memphis International Raceway. The top 15 finishers of each qualifying race will compete in the feature race, which is expected to be 75 laps for tracks greater than 1/2 mile and 100 laps for 1/2 mile and under tracks.
Design Engineering is one of 10 financial sponsors for G.A.R.S and a strong proponent of grassroots motorsports. In addition, DEI provides a product sponsorship program for avid racers and project builders under the company’s Team DEI program.
DEI’s Tom Miller, says, “When we were approached by Circle Track Magazine, the entire team at DEI was on-board with the decision to be on the ground floor of this exciting new series. Stock car racing and the performance enthusiasts that follow this form of racing dovetails with our customer base. We look forward to the season and the response from the fans.”
Rob Fisher, Circle Track Magazine editor-in-chief, said, ”Most higher-level division racers got their start in this division. This will be an exciting series with all the tracks in close proximity to each other. With a significant portion of our readership running in, or supporting this class of oval track racing, it was a natural for Circle Track to develop this series. We couldn’t launch this, however, without the support of DEI and other performance companies that believe in the need for this series.”