Brett Hudson Seeking Presence In Windy City

Topics:  Brett Hudson, Chicagoland ARCA 200

Chris Knight
Brett Hudson Motorsports
September 3, 2008

Joliet, ILLINOIS (September 3, 2008) - In his final speedway start of the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series season, Owensboro, Kentucky native Brett Hudson is looking to notch his second top-10 finish of the season in Saturday afternoon’s Chicagoland ARCA 200 at Chicagoland Speedway.

The 20-year old driver returns to the ultra-fast 1.5-mile speedway looking to notch his second straight top-10 finish in the Windy City and third top-10 finish on a speedway in the last four races.

Not only has the avid late model competitor finishes been strong on the bigger tracks but it was last year’s Chicagoland ARCA 200 where Hudson stormed into the spotlight by putting his Brett Hudson Motorsports (BHM) team third on the starting grid last September.

With his first top-five speedway qualifying effort on the map, Hudson wasn’t able to back his effort up with a top-five finish but overcame several late race obstacles to collect a solid eighth place finish, one of his four top-10 finishes in 2007.

“Obviously, we are thrilled to be going back to Chicagoland,” offered Hudson . “Our first trip to Chicagoland Speedway was a memorable one. We’re coming back a year later looking to make some more memories.”

“We’re going to try and back up our qualifying run from one year ago. It’s going to be tough, but this team is tough. I think we shocked a lot of people with the run, but we weren’t shocked. Our motors are great and this former Bill Davis Racing Dodge really plants it’s nose on the ground. If we can put our car in the top-five on Friday afternoon, I’ll do back flips,” Hudson joked.

Hudson knows that returning to the Joliet , Illinois based track, the bar has been raised and his all-volunteer Brett Hudson Motorsports team we’ll have to be on top of their game from the moment their Dodge Charger unloads Friday morning.

“We missed it a little bit at Kentucky ,” explained Hudson referring to his most recent ARCA start in July. “We were hoping to make it back-to-back top-10 finishes at our hometown track, but our last race was spoiled with some handicaps. Nonetheless, we’ve spent the time from Kentucky to now making our Dodge better and back in tip-top shape.”

For the second straight event, BHM has aligned themselves with Hixson Motorsports and will carry the No. 29 for the 17th race of the 2008 season while serving as a teammate to Donny Kelly in the No. 23 entry. “Hixson Motorsports have been incredibly helpful to us,” added Hudson . “Their love and compassion for racing is much like ours, so to put two organizations like that together under one banner makes us feel like one big family.”

When asked if you can compare Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway together, Hudson offered, “The tracks look very similar but they are night and day from each other. No track is exactly a like. They all have their similar characteristics but also have their own trademarks. Chicagoland is smooth while Kentucky has some rough spots. Chicagoland also seems to be more seductive to weather changes. You can’t use the exact setup that you have Kentucky , but you can definitely combine the setups and find a package that you can run with. We’ll put in last year setups and roll from there.”

A quick glance at the entry list for Saturday’s Chicagoland ARCA 200, Hudson knows that he’s up against some fresh stiff competition with extremely high budgets, but he’s hoping the word dedication will pay off for his family owned team.

“People would be amazed with what we have to work with,” Hudson admitted. “It may take us a little longer to get the job done in our shop but we’re still able to come out and play with the big boys and big teams of the ARCA RE/MAX Series and that’s all a part to my dedicated volunteer crew. Because of them we’re able to come to the track and put ourselves right in the mix.”

The BHM team will host Hudson Machine Shop, G&A Trucking and Fannon & Rice Cable as sponsors this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

“G&A Trucking and Fannon & Rice Cable have done a great deal for our team this year and for that I’m extremely grateful,” Hudson noted. “Without G&A Trucking, we would not be heading to Chicago . Jimmy Rice from Fannon & Rice Cable continues to believe in my racing dream and his involvement with the team is certainly recognizable.”

Hudson went on to say, “sponsorship is tough right now but Brett Hudson Motorsports is extremely grateful to all of our sponsors who have signed onboard this weekend. We’re looking for our second top-10 finish of the year at Chicagoland Speedway. Hopefully with a little luck we’ll accomplish that.”

Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available for this weekend’s activities. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Lisa Hudson of Brett Hudson Motorsports at 270.929.2160 or hudson00@adelphia.net.

The Chicagoland ARCA 200 (200 miles/134 laps) is the 17th of 21 events on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The eighth ARCA race at Chicagoland Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday September 5 with a two hour practice session planned from 1:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. The field will take the green flag on Saturday September 6 shortly after 5:00 p.m. The race will be next day taped-delay on SPEED (Sunday September 6 at 4:00 p.m.) with additional race coverage including live timing and scoring available online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

Brett Hudson, Brett Hudson Motorsports, Chicagoland Speedway

Notes of Interest:

· Brett Hudson is scheduled to make his second career ARCA start at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday afternoon. Last September, Hudson finished eighth after qualifying a stout third.

· Brett Hudson will attempt to make his 18th career ARCA RE/MAX Series start Saturday night. In his previous 17 races, Hudson has produced two top-fives and eight top-10 finishes.

· Brett Hudson Motorsports (BHM) will roll out their Dodge Charger model this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. BHM will fluctuate between their Dodge Charger model on the speedways before returning to the Chevrolet bowtie on the short tracks. This is the same piece the team utilized in last year’s Chicagoland ARCA 200.

· Following Chicagoland Speedway, Hudson is scheduled to make his final start of the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series season at Salem Speedway for the running of the Eddie Gilstrap Motors 200 by Advance Auto Parts on September 13.

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