LEXINGTON, KY  (4/4/07) - With local weather forecasts predicting lows near the teens for the upcoming weekend, O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass Series officials, in conjunction with Florence Speedway, have pushed back the 2007 season-opening weekend at Florence Speedway one week to Friday and Saturday, April 13th and 14th.

The highly-anticipated season opener set for the King Family's Florence Speedway will be Friday night, April 13th as the O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass Series invades the Union, KY 1/2-mile, high-banked clay oval for the Spring 50 Tune-Up.  A complete racing program is planned with Time Trials, Qualifying Heats, B-Mains, and the 30-lap A-Main paying $3000 to win.  Ticket prices for this event are only $15 for General Admission and just $28 for the Pits.  Pit gates are slated to open at 4pm with the main gates opening at 5pm.  Qualifying will hit the track promptly at 7pm with racing beginning at 8pm.

The purse for Friday night's Spring 50 Tune-Up is as follows:  1. $3000, 2. $1500, 3. $1000, 4. $800, 5. $750, 6. $700, 7. $650, 8. $600, 9. $550, 10. $500, 11. $450, 12. $400, 13. $350, 14. $350, 15. $325, 16. $325, 17. $300, 18. $300, 19. $300, 20. $300, 21. $300, 22. $300

Saturday night, April 14th, the nation's most competitive regional racing series is back at Florence for the 31st Annual Spring 50.  Another complete program for the O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass Series is on tap with Time Trials, Qualifying Heats, B-Mains, and a 50-lap A-Main paying $5000 to win.  General Admission seating for Saturday night is only $17 while a pit pass is just $30.  The pit gates will once again open at 4pm with the general admission gates opening at 5pm.  The on-track action starts a half-hour earlier on Saturday with Qualifying at 6:30pm and Racing at 7:30pm.

The purse for Saturday night's 31st Annual Spring 50 is as follows:  1. $5000, 2. $3000, 3. $2000, 4. $1500, 5. $1000, 6. $800, 7. $750, 8. $700, 9. $650, 10. $600, 11. $550, 12. $500, 13. $450, 14. $450, 15. $425, 16. $425, 17. $400, 18. $400, 19. $350, 20. $350, 21. $300, 22. $300

Last year, the back-to-back, season-opening events for the O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass Series presented by Arizona Sport Shirts at the Florence Speedway drew an outstanding field of cars and a full house in the grandstands.  The 2006 Spring 50 Tune-Up saw 58 entries sign into the pits with Martinsville, IN's Don O'Neal besting Dan Schlieper and Brian Birkhofer to pick up the win.  "The Real Deal" backed that up on Saturday night by cashing the $5000 first-place paycheck in the 30th Annual Spring 50 over Dan Schlieper and early race leader Roger Williams.  Scott Bloomquist, Dan Schlieper, Darrell Lanigan, Steve Casebolt, and the late Jack Boggs among others are all previous winners of the Spring 50.

Florence Speedway is a 1/2-mile; high-banked clay oval located on US 42 just south of Union, KY and is owned and operated by Jerry, Mona, and Josh King.  The office phone number for Florence Speedway is (859) 493-0034 and the track phone number on race day is (859) 485-7591.  For more information, please visit www.florencespeedway.com.

The O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass Series presented by Arizona Sport Shirts sanctions regional dirt track Late Model racing in and around the state of Kentucky.  For more information on the nation's most competitive regional racing series, please visit our website at www.battleofthebluegrass.com or call our office at (859) 433-5707.

O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass Series Upcoming Schedule

April 13 - Florence Speedway/$3000

April 14 - Florence Speedway/$5000

April 20 - Twin Cities Raceway Park/$3000

April 21 - Brownstown Speedway/$4000

April 27 - Ponderosa Speedway/$3000

April 28 - Bluegrass Speedway/$3000

May 12 - Tazewell Speedway/$4000