FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Nov. 15, 2002) - The first ever banquet for the USRA was held at the Clarion Inn in Fayetteville, Ark., this past Saturday, Nov. 9.

All track champions were honored and all drivers picked up their checks from USRA president Todd Staley.

USRA, which was established in 2002 sanctioned only one track in 2002 and that was the Thunder Valley Speedway in Fayetteville, Ark. USRA, based in Webster City, Iowa, is a weekly sanctioning body that will sanction all classes of cars.

This past season was very tough on the USRA and we did not know what to expect after sending out more than 500 letters to tracks all throughout the US. We had several calls at the beginning of the season and most tracks said they wanted to see USRA do everything they said and we will talk at the end of the season.

Well so far we have signed on four more tracks and have several that we are meeting with in the next three weeks.

The banquet began with Mike Baker track promoter giving out several awards before Todd Staley explained how the USRA would work for 2003. Staley would start with the Factory Stocks and Mitch Lawson would pick up the $500 check for winning the Factory Stock track championship. Next up would be the B-mod class. Lyndell Duncan would take the top honors in this class and take the $700 check home with him. In the Super Stock Class Marvin Forrest would also pick up a $700 check for the win.

The final class of the night was the modified class and David Marez would pick up a check for $1,000.

Each winner picked up a trophy and a USRA jacket. Mike and Linda Baker each picked up a USRA jacket and were thanked for taking the chance on the USRA. USRA will hold its 1st ever USRA Nationals at the Thunder Valley Speedway in 2003.

USRA will be back at the Thunder Valley Speedway in 2003, Baker announced.

The final award of the night was to honor the first ever USRA National Champion. USRA said that beings we only had one track that we would take each class and put together and the champion would receive a check for $1,000.

Mitch Lawson picked up the championship that was based on nights, wins, top fives, top tens, and car count.

For the night Mitch Lawson took home more than $1,500.

USRA has already signed on three more tracks in Arkansas and also another track in Minnesota. The future sounds very exciting for the USRA as more tracks are calling each day.

For more information on the USRA call 515-832-6000.