By Jordan Kuehne

LOVES PARK, Ill. (Friday, October 2nd, 2009) -- Mother Nature got the best of the historic Rockford Speedway today, forcing the postponement of the opening night of the 44th annual National Short Track Championships. A steady cell of precipitation that was expected to continue throughout the evening pushed the decision. There were over 160 cars in the pits when the rains came, moving the program back one night. Tonight’s scheduled Hornet/Bandit Challenge will be rescheduled for tomorrow with a full night of action on tap. The 44-lap RoadRunners feature will be ran in addition to Sunday’s line up and the Weekly Warrior Late Models and the All-American Sportsman events will not be contested. Any Hornet, Bandit or RoadRunner that wasn't already entered in this evening's events are still welcome to join in on this weekend's fun. All tickets purchased for tonight’s events can be brought to the speedway and redeemed for a voucher that can be used towards future events including the rest of this weekend’s racing action.

‘One Great Racing Weekend’ will get off to a fast start tomorrow afternoon with Nason’s Landscaping ‘Faster Than A Speeding Bullet’ Qualifying. The Super Late Models will set fast time for their Budweiser 200 as qualifying gets underway at 2:15pm. Racing gets underway at 5:05pm sharp tomorrow with a full slate of events on the docket. On tap for tomorrow night includes the headlining BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet Loves Park Motorsports 108 with over 30 cars entered, the Super Late Models preliminary events, the Area Sportsman Classic Limousine 50, the American Short Trackers Gilley’s Heating & Cooling 44, the Hobby Stox Marden Tire 44 and the addition of the Hornet/Bandit Challenge 25-lap event. Spectator gates open at 2pm and adult admission costs just $18 while kids ages 6-11 are $9 and children 5 and under are FREE.

Sunday’s jam-packed lineup will feature the Super Late Model main event, the Budweiser 200, which has 46 entrants already. The Mid-American Stock Car Series will be on hand as well for their Mtn Dew 75 and now the RoadRunners will have their O’Reilly Auto Parts 44 added to the schedule. Gates open at 10am Sunday morning with the green flag waving on the legendary event at 12:30pm.

For more information on the 44th annual National Short Track Championships, including ticket packages and a full schedule of events, call the Speedway Box Office at (815) 633-1500 or visit the track website at www.rockfordspeedway.com.