Tony Stewart Racing, McMahan Ready For Runs In Texas, Mississippi

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In a region of the country where racing is a staple of professional sports, one thing is for certain: Southerners know how to turn a race into a party.

It may have been almost two years since Paul McMahan and the No. 20 Tony Stewart Racing/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team has competed at Houston Raceway Park (HRP) and Pike County Speedway (PCS), but some things never change. And as they head below the Mason-Dixon Line this weekend for a double-dip in World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series competition, they’re looking forward to some genuine southern hospitality.

“We love heading down south to race, plain and simple, ” said McMahan. “The people are just great; they really take care of us in that part of the country. We don’t get to race many times a year in the southern states, and we know that NASCAR is extremely popular in this area. We hope that by putting on a great show we might be able to convert some of those fans to winged sprint car fans as well. I think it’s great exposure for the series as well as our sponsors, Bass Pro Shops, and Chevrolet. ”

McMahan will hit the newly reconfigured “Big” quarter-mile track at Houston Raceway Park on Friday night looking to better his results from the series’ last outing at the Baytown, Texas, facility. Having earned an eighth-place finish at HRP in March of 2005, this Friday’s event will also mark McMahan’s first shot at the facility behind the wheel of the No. 20 Tony Stewart Racing/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle.

With a new track configuration facing him, McMahan is ready to return to the racy quarter-mile oval.

“Houston Raceway Park is just an awesome facility, ” McMahan said. “The track was fantastic to race on, even before they reconfigured it. It’s going to be interesting going back there, to go from almost a half-mile to a bigger quarter-mile will definitely be a change. I think it will make for a great show for the fans; the traffic and dicey action that a quarter-mile provides really turn up the energy of a race. ”

Driving East to Magnolia, Miss., for Saturday night’s WoO Sprint Series event, McMahan and the No. 20 Tony Stewart Racing/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team are looking forward to making their only stop of the year in Mississippi a productive one. The team has moved into the Top-10 in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings and McMahan this weekend will be looking to better the 14th-place finish he earned at the three-eighths-mile facility in March of 2005.

“Pike County Speedway is a pretty neat racetrack, ” McMahan said. “I’ve only raced there three or four times in the past but what I remember the most about the track is the fans’ enthusiasm. They make a day of it; they’re there in the morning tailgating and having fun all day long. The atmosphere is great; the fans really seem to love the whole event and the track itself is racy and allows us to put on a great show. ”

As McMahan has learned, not only do southerners know how to make you feel welcome but they’re none too shy about asking for parts of a racecar to add to their collections.

“At Pike County in the past, I’ve been asked several times by fans if they can have the side panels off of my car, ” McMahan said. “That’s not a request we get everyday; it seems to be more of a trend in the south. Unfortunately, we can’t always accommodate that one. If we could, I would imagine there would be a lot of Bass Pro Shops decals hanging in garages around the country. ”


 
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