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Hard Corr Effort For Empire Racing At Salem Speedway

Topics: Sean Corr, Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200

Hard Corr Effort For Empire Racing At Salem Speedway

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Empire Racing
May 3, 2011

SALEM, Indiana (May 3, 2011) - - Without hesitation, Sean Corr and his Empire Racing team earned an “A” for effort when the rookie ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards team tackled the demanding Salem (Ind.) Speedway for Sunday’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200.

Corr, the Goshen, New York native made his short track ARCA Racing Series debut. Maneuvering close to 300 laps throughout the entire weekend, the team, despite being collected in a late-race incident would claim a 14th place finish.

The team led by crew chief Howard Bixman and team manager John Bellesfield spent the entire hour and a half practice session getting their pilot up to speed around Salem’s high banks. As the session pressed on, Corr’s comfort level with the track improved significantly thus spiking the No. 82 Empire Racing / BoomText Ford Fusion up the speed charts to claim 16th overall.

With some adjustments made for qualifying, the team was looking for a top-20 starting position. Corr’s lap of 18.622 seconds or 107.292 miles per hour landed the team 18th on the starting grid for the third race of the season.

Mother Nature drenched the track Sunday morning forcing ARCA officials to tediously dry the race track right up until race time. The field would rev their engines at 2:15 p.m. and assist in the track drying process by running 20 green flag laps at caution speed.

By lap 21 the field was under racing conditions with Corr quickly moving into the top-15. While holding steady in the top-15 under race conditions the leaders set a torrid pace and had caught Corr by lap 50 and took the No. 82 off the lead circuit.

Thankfully, the yellow flag waived on lap 52 with Corr sitting in the “lucky dog” position allowing the Empire Racing team to re-obtain their lead lap status. Starting shot gun on the field, Corr would patiently work his way through the field again and found himself knocking on the outside of the top-10 when the caution flag waived again on lap 69.

Utilizing pit strategy, Bixman kept his protégé on the race track moving Corr to sixth. On the restart, Corr on older tires would begin backtracking but held a spot safely in the top-15 under a long-green flag run.

With the leaders continuing a torrid pace, Corr would again fall off the lead lap but continued cheerleading from spotter Freddie Dunlop and his team, Corr would continue to give 100 percent from the cockpit.

Just after halfway, Corr was running his own race, continuing to log laps and learn in his short track debut. However, on lap 108 another competitor made contract with the rear of the No. 82 going into turn three which sent both cars hard into the outside wall.

While Corr was able to re-fire his machine and leave the scene under his own power, the team would quickly go into damage control. Tackling the driver’s side of the No. 82 Ford Fusion, the team would use the necessary resources available to piece their automobile back together.

With their “never give up attitude”, Corr would return to the race track with a mangled race car but still competitive for their situation. Victory was now out of reach but the team’s agenda still remained clear to complete as many laps as possible and solider to the best finish possible.

Negotiating other lap traffic, Corr would slowly inch his way back up into the top-15 in the running order and had climbed into the 14th position and had sights set on 12th but when the No. 34 and No. 12 tangled in turn four with 15 laps remaining, the cars slid into the path of Corr leaving the No. 82 no way out of disaster.

Corr once again was able to leave the scene of the incident but the damage was too severe to continue thus calling an early end to the team’s Salem debut.

“While I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to finish the race, I’m content with our performance,” offered Corr, who completed 170 of the race’s 206 laps. “We knew that this weekend was going to be a challenge, my first short track race and all. But, this team never gave up on me or themselves and we were still able to leave the track with a respectable finishing position. I wish our Empire Racing / BoomText Ford was in a little better condition, but we’ll take this finish in stride, learn from it and come back and have a better showing in September.”

He added, “I want to thank Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Performance and of course BoomText and all those who support our racing endeavors a continued thanks. We have a great team and we will get the finishes we deserve here soon.”

Corr maintains eighth in the championship standings entering the Menards 200 at Toledo (Oh.) Speedway, the fourth of 19 races on the 2011 schedule set for Sunday, May 15th. The half-mile short track will be another track of “firsts” for Corr and the Empire Racing team.

Recently, Empire Racing and BoomText officially announced the “Hard Corr Fans” program powered by BoomText, a mobile marketing campaign which allows fans to pledge towards becoming an official member of the Empire Racing team – not to mention helping three of Corr’s personal charities. To join the campaign, fans just simply have to text the word “CORR” to 411247 where they will receive an automated safe-secured link to join the “Hard Corr Fans” team. The activation of the project continues this weekend at Salem.

For more on Sean Corr, Empire Racing and marketing partnership opportunities for the 2011 racing season, please visit empireracingllc.com.

For additional input on BoomText, please visit BoomText.com.

Connect with Sean Corr and Empire Racing through Facebook by clicking here.

Tweet with Sean Corr through Twitter @EmpireRacingLLC.

About Empire Racing:

Established in 2009, Empire Racing LLC. (empireracingllc.com) is a two-tier professional Motorsports organization consisting of dirt and asphalt competition. Sean Corr, a 26-year old hailing from Goshen, New York pilots the team’s automobiles in the DIRTcar Series and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). In 2011, the team will attempt to run for a championship in the ARCA Racing Series with aspirations of moving into the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The team is headquartered in Goshen, New York with an additional operation in Mooresville, North Carolina.

TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com / knight849@aol.com