Loves Park, IL- The roster of drivers looking to capture the Loves Park Motorsports 108 lap feature this Saturday night October 3 during the 44th annual National Short Track Championships (NSTC) continues to grow. Included in the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet list are three drivers with seven Rockford Speedway Championships each, three current track champions and rising stars alike.

John Knaus will be piloting the same machine Ryan Carlson drove to victory this July during Big 8 Series action at Golden Sands Speedway. Carlson suffered a back injury the night after his victory while competing at Rockford, he has hand selected Knaus, a seven time Rockford Champion to compete this weekend. Joining Knaus will be joined by fellow seven time titlists Ricky Bilderback and Bobby Wilberg. The last time all three drivers were in the same race, it was Knaus besting the field and claiming the Weekly Warrior Late Model feature win at NSTC.

Current Track Champions throwing their hat in the ring of contenders includes a pair of two time defending kings. Rockford champion Jerry Gille has collected two titles since his last Big 8 Series start in 2007 while Madison International Speedway champion Jeremy Miller has collected the past two Big 8 crowns. Chris Blawat secured the Slinger Super Speedway Late Model Championship this season and will be making his second straight appearance in Big 8 Series competition Saturday night at NSTC.

As impressive as those drivers accomplishments are, perhaps the three drivers everyone will be watching are current Big 8 point leader Ross Kenseth, Kyle Jarlsburg who captured a Big 8 feature victory two weeks ago at Jefferson Speedway and ‘Driver X’ Jon Reynolds, Jr. Kenseth has three series wins to his credit heading into NSTC weekend, was victorious in July during ASA Late Model Series North action at Rockford and was recently crowned Wisconsin State Champion at Jefferson Speedway. Jarlsburg has impressed during his two previous visits to Rockford in 2009 with third and second place finishes to his credit. With six feature triumphs on the season and a heroic slide for the win in last year’s Big 8 NSTC event, Jon Reynolds, Jr. comes into Saturdays main event as one of the top contenders.

‘One Great Racing Weekend’ officially kicks off on Friday night at 7:07pm. Racing will begin at 5:05pm Saturday night with action getting underway Sunday afternoon at 12:30pm. Eleven divisions will be in competition including forty six Super Late Models, BRP Big 8 Series, Mid-American Stock Cars, Sportsman, RoadRunners and American Short Trackers. For more information including entry forms, tickets and a complete schedule visit www.rockfordspeedway.com or call the Speedway Box Office at 815-633-1500.

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3-Oct-09
44th annual National Short Track Championships
Rockford Speedway
Big 8 Series Expected Entries

Car No. Driver Name
2 Michael Bilderback
5 Dave Edwards
5 Jeremy Miller
11 Tim Sargent
12 Kyle Lapier
16 Tyler Peterson
18 Brady Liddle
21 Mike Lloyd
25 Andrew Kulka
25 Ross Kenseth
26 Chris Blawat
28 Bobby Wilberg
36 Kyle Shear
44 Wayne Freimund
50 Joe Darnell
52 Steve Dobbratz
54 Rich Schumann, Jr
55 John Knaus
86 Rich Hinerichsen
87 Kyle Jarlsburg
88 Kevin Seidler
91 Matt Berger
95.3 Jake Gille
97 James Swan
97 Scott Broughton
99 Jerry Gille
1330 Mark Hartline
I Bob Kahler
O1 Ed Szelagowski, Jr
O2 Ricky Bilderback
X Jon Reynolds, Jr