MR. GASKET ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE HURST CUP & THE MALLORY CUP
Indianapolis, IN - Mr. Gasket Performance Group announced the winners of the 2002 Hurst Cup and the 2002 Mallory Cup at the PRI Show in Indianapolis. Ray Sveeggen, a circle track racer from Bersford, SD, won the first-ever Hurst Cup, and Jacob Rutledge, a drag racer from Braselton, GA, won the first-ever Mallory Cup. Both programs are part of Mr. Gasket’s continuing commitment to grassroots racers nationwide.
Each winner received a check for $5,000, plus a sponsorship program for 2003 valued at $3,000—but Sveeggen and Rutledge weren’t the only lucky winners. The Hurst Cup and Mallory Cup are part of a larger Contingency Connection sponsorship program, whereby the champion at each of the 60 participating race tracks (20 drag strips and 40 circle tracks) has won substantial cash and product awards and qualified for the industry’s first grassroots “Factory Racing Team” support program. The program includes:
• a substantial Mr. Gasket product account
• a championship jacket
• Factory Racing Team pit crew uniforms
• Factory Racing Team graphics for the race car andtrailer
• pit apparel (T-shirts and/or hats)
• access to a special tech support hotline only forHurst Cup and Mallory Cup champions and a special Factory Racing Team Website
• access to special tech tips
• a Hurst Cup or Mallory Cup trophy
The product account can be used to purchase products from all seven Mr. Gasket brands: ACCEL performance ignition products (including ACCEL/DFI engine management systems), Erson Cams, Hays Clutches, Hurst Shifters, Lakewood Industries suspension and safety products, Mallory Ignition products and Mr. Gasket performance and styling products. Plus, once Factory Racing Teams have spent their product allowance, they may continue to purchase parts at special race team prices.
“We are thrilled to be able to provide the kind of sponsorship opportunities to weekly, grassroots racers that typically only are available to high-buck racers,” said Mr. Gasket President and CEO Bob Romanelli. “Our company is full of racers and performance enthusiasts, and we make products specifically for racers and performance enthusiasts. Now, we’ve taken it a step further and put our money where our mouth is: We’re providing up to $150,000 in cash and sponsorship packages to grassroots racers across the country. The Hurst Cup and the Mallory Cup are new for 2002, but this is no one-time deal. We’ve committed to the Factory Racing Team programs so that we can help racers keep racing and keep winning on dirt and asphalt circle tracks, and on eighth-mile and quarter-mile drag strips nationwide.”
Each of the 40 circle track champions was entered in a public drawing to determine the Top 5 finalists for the Hurst Cup, while the 20 drag strip champions were entered in a drawing to determine the Top 5 finalists for the Mallory Cup. The Top 5 winners for each series received cash awards totaling $10,000—including the $5,000 checks presented to Ray Sveeggen and Jacob Rutledge today at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
“We would have loved to hold a race to determine the Hurst Cup and Mallory Cup winners,” said Romanelli. “Unfortunately, some of the circle track racers compete on dirt, some on asphalt, some in sprint cars, some in street stocks and so on. A race would have been ugly. As for the drag racers, some of their cars are set up to run eighth-mile and some are set up for quarter-mile, some are fast cars, some are slower bracket cars. Plus, we couldn’t determine a winner by a straight points race because some tracks have more races than others. In the end, a drawing seemed the most equitable approach.”
While luck played a part in choosing the winners of the Hurst Cup and the Mallory Cup, it certainly hasn’t diminished the excitement experienced by Sveeggen and Rutledge.
The Hurst Cup Winner
“The national recognition is just ... wow! For a small-town guy from the upper Midwest, it’s just unbelievable,” said Ray Sveeggen (pronounced SWAY ghin), winner of the 2002 Hurst Cup for circle track racing. The 33-year-old racer campaigned a Street Stock car at his home track, Sturdevant’s I-90 Speedway, a 3/8-mile high-banked dirt oval in Tea, SD (near Sioux Falls).
The car features a 2002 Monte Carlo body atop a 2002 Ultra-Lite chassis built by Mike Cooper of North Sioux City. It’s powered by a Schwanke Race Engines 355-cubic-inch Chevy hooked to a home-built Powerglide transmission. Sveeggen’s sponsors include Al’s Concrete, Titze’s Auto Repair, Jet Truck Plaza, Dad’s Repair, Printing Plus, Pedersen Machine/Polaris, Sturdevant Auto Supply, D&R Welding—and now Mr. Gasket.
To qualify for the Hurst Cup at Sturdevant’s I-90 Speedway, racers had to run every show during the season, as well as all of the post-season races, and they had to participate in the Contingency Connection program. Everybody that raced at Sturdevant’s I-90 Speedway then received a ballot to select a winner. Sveeggen and one other racer received the same number of votes, so track officials deemed Sveeggen the winner because he had more feature wins. (He finished second in the points for Street Stock in 2002, with five wins and two second-place finishes.)
“You could have tipped me over with a feather when they told me I was the track contingency winner,” said Sveeggen. “And you could have tipped me over with less than a feather when I found out I was the national winner. I was just completely speechless. A lot of the guys said that was amazing in and of itself.”
Sveeggen clearly is thrilled to have won the $5,000 cash, as well as the Factory Racing Team support package. “All the guys on my crew, they’re very dedicated,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to matter if we win, lose, draw or get crashed, they’re going to do whatever they can do to keep the guy out there, and that made a big difference with how we finished at the end of the year. ... I might just keep that money ... and try to pay for everybody’s way into the pits [in 2003]. ... These guys actually pay their own way in to work on my car. ... There’s generally eight to nine of us every week. If you’ve got eight of them at 20 bucks, that’s 160 bucks to get in, and the most you can win is $350, so it’s pretty tough to make ends meet if you’re doing that every week.”
Needless to say, the Mr. Gasket product account also will make it easier for Sveeggen to race on a tight budget. He’s planning to put a new body on his Ultra-Lite chassis for 2003, and also freshen the motor. He sees an Erson cam in his future, as well as a complete set of Mr. Gasket engine gaskets and Mallory ignition components.
“Hopefully, something like this will open some doors for me,” said Sveeggen, who just completed his 14th season of racing. “I’ve always wanted to get into ASA [American Speed Association] and try that. I like the way they run their program. ... It’s the next step.”
The Mallory Cup Winner
Jacob “Lucky” Rutledge, winner of the 2002 Mallory Cup for drag racing, also has big plans now that he’s a Mr. Gasket champion. Rutledge was track champion in the Sportsman bracket class (also known as Pro Footbrake) at Atlanta Dragway, a quarter-mile drag strip in Atlanta, GA. The 29-year-old campaigns a 1979 Mercury Capri with a Ford 302-cubic-inch engine and C4 automatic transmission, which has run a best of 11.75 at 113 mph. It’s sponsored by Clay’s Automotive Supply—and now Mr. Gasket.
Rutledge finished 110 points ahead of the next best racer in the series, with 720 points, five wins and three runner-ups in 2002. “That’s my second track championship in a row in that car,” said Rutledge, “and I actually ran two cars all year long. I finished 10th place in Super Pro in another car, and I was named the Racer of the Year for 2002 for Atlanta Dragway.”
Nonetheless, Rutledge didn’t automatically receive his track’s chance to qualify for the Mallory Cup. He had to battle Atlanta Dragway track champions in the Street and Super Pro classes. Each made one pass down the quarter-mile, and Rutledge won again, this time with the best combination of reaction time and proximity to his dial-in.
Rutledge has big plans for the $5,000 cash and the Mr. Gasket product account. “I’m actually in the process of trying to build a [1990 Mustang] Stock Eliminator car to run some NHRA divisional and national events with,” he said, and he’s building a ’67 Camaro for his wife to race in the same class. The Mustang will be fuel injected, so Rutledge has his eye on an ACCEL/DFI fuel injection system. He also plans to install a Hurst shifter in his Capri, and use some of the cash for travel money, so he can run several of the higher-dollar bracket races in the Southeast.
Rutledge met his wife at the race track. “She was racing her Camaro and I was racing my [Capri],” he said. “With a start like that, I knew it couldn’t be too bad. We’ve been married almost two years now. Both years we’ve been married, I’ve won the track championship, so she’s brought me very good luck.”
Rutledge plans to use his Mallory Cup championship to good advantage. “I’m looking forward to having the uniforms [in 2003],” he said, “and the big stickers for the car and trailer will be pretty neat—and maybe a little bit intimidating, depending on where you’re racing.” Intimidating the competition can be key in bracket racing, where strategy and mind games often play as large a role as reaction times.
The Mallory Cup cash and prizes also may help Rutledge achieve his lifelong goals. “I’d like to see my car on the cover of National Dragster at some point,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to compete at a national level, if nothing else for the competition and the recognition you receive for winning those races. That and the fact that I’ve been runner-up three times for a Wally. My wife has one, and I haven’t got one yet.”
For more information on the 2003 Mr. Gasket “Factory Racing Team” support programs, please contact Mr. Gasket Performance Group, 10601 Memphis Ave. #12, Cleveland, OH 44144, 216-688-8300, fax: 216-688-8305, or visit www.mrgasket.com.
About The Contingency Connection
Contingency Connection is a nationwide contingency program for weekly circle track, drag racing, import/sport compact and motorcycle racers. For 2003, the program will include 40 participating circle tracks and 20 participating drag strips hosting 1,200 events. Each track will have nearly $100,000 in posted contingencies. Racers at these tracks who win, who run participating manufacturers’ products and who display those manufacturers’ decals on their vehicles receive contingency sponsorships in the form of cash, products or product gift certificates. The Contingency Connection also worked with Mr. Gasket to create the Hurst Cup and Mallory Cup programs, which pay out substantial prizes to each track champion at the end of the season. For more information, contact JRB Marketing Inc., 21585 Campground Rd., Bristol, VA 24202, 276-466-1001, fax: 276-466-2002, www.contingencyconnection.com.
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