Ford Powers Dan Schlieper to DART Winternationals Championship!

(SULLIVAN, WISCONSIN) Dan Schlieper and the Dan Schlieper Racing team have recently wrapped up their version of “Speedweeks 2007” in Georgia and Florida and are off to one of the hottest starts in recent memory. Coming out of “Speedweeks 2007,” Dan finds himself leading the O’Reilly Southern Allstars Series point standings, second in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points, and second in the 360 OTC World of Outlaws Late Model Series standings. In addition, he was able to capture the $12,000 top prize in the ‘Super Bowl of Racing III’ at the Golden Isles (GA) Speedway!

Dan unloaded his Miller Bros. Construction / Hawkeye Trucking / Uncle Buck #9 Rayburn / Pro Power Ford Fusion for eleven Dirt Late Model events at the Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Georgia, the East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida, and the Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida. In all, Dan was able to accumulate one victory, six Top Five performances, and nine Top Ten efforts in the eleven shows that he entered down south, while racking up an astonishing nine heat race wins!

The Sullivan, Wisconsin native notched his first victory of the season and his first win since making the switch to Ford powerplants on Saturday evening, February 3 at the Golden Isles (GA) Speedway. Dan started from the outside of the front row for the $12,000 to win A-Main and pressured polesitter and race leader Scott Bloomquist throughout the race. With only twelve laps remaining, Dan went to the high side vying for the lead while Bloomquist and the lapped car of Damon Eller battled and eventually spun each other out on the inside of the 5/8-mile, ultra-fast oval. The driver known across the Dirt Late Model community as the “Wisconsin Wildman” led the final twelve circuits and beat Chris Madden, Clint Smith, Earl Pearson, Jr., and Donnie Moran to the checkered flag.

Following the action at GIS, the #9 team headed south to the East Bay (FL) Raceway Park from February 5-10. Dan qualified well every night and won all six of his heat races at the Tampa area oval. By virtue of his two Top Five runs and five Top Ten finishes in the A-Mains at East Bay, Dan was anointed the DART Machinery Winternationals Point Champion ahead of Terry English, Matt Miller, Steve Francis, and Don O’Neal.

The busy three-week stretch of racing action concluded for the Dan Schlieper Racing team at the Volusia (FL) Speedway Park. After skipping the first event at VSP on Monday, February 12 and sitting through two rain-outs, Dan tackled the 1/2-mile, D-shaped oval on three different occasions. Like at Golden Isles and East Bay in previous weeks, Dan’s new Pro Power Ford engine performed flawlessly and led him to a pair of Top Five efforts at Volusia, including a runner-up finish to Josh Richards in the $10,000 to win 360 OTC World of Outlaws Late Model Series show on Saturday, February 17.

“We had a great couple of weeks down south and our car was very consistent each night out,” commented Schlieper in a recent telephone conversation. “The new Pro Power Ford motor was just awesome and it supplied me with all the power I needed. I had a couple of opportunities to maybe win some more races, but I am really excited about how the car performed at three different tracks. I have to thank all of my sponsors, my new crew chief Jason, and also DART Machinery for sponsoring the Winternationals point fund at East Bay. It takes a lot of money to run these cars for three weeks straight and sponsors like DART Machinery really help the sport of Dirt Late Model racing!”

“SPEEDWEEKS 2007” QUICK RESULTS:
February 1 | Golden Isles (GA) Speedway, OSAS-East, $4,000 to win (Rained Out)
February 2 | Golden Isles (GA) Speedway, OSAS, $10,000 to win (Finished 4th, Started 12th)
February 3 | Golden Isles (GA) Speedway, OSAS, $12,000 to win (Finished 1ST, Started 2nd)
February 5 | East Bay (FL) Raceway Park, Lucas Oil, $5,000 to win (Finished 2nd, Started 4th)
February 6 | East Bay (FL) Raceway Park, Lucas Oil, $5,000 to win (Finished 6th, Started 5th)
February 7 | East Bay (FL) Raceway Park, Lucas Oil, $5,000 to win (Finished 18th, Started 8th)
February 8 | East Bay (FL) Raceway Park, Lucas Oil, $7,000 to win (Finished 3rd, Started 4th)
February 9 | East Bay (FL) Raceway Park, Lucas Oil, $10,000 to win (Finished 10th, Started 4th)
February 10 | East Bay (FL) Raceway Park, Lucas Oil, $12,000 to win (Finished 10th, Started 5th)
February 12 | Volusia (FL) Speedway Park, UMP, $5,000 to win (Did Not Race)
February 13 | Volusia (FL) Speedway Park, UMP, $5,000 to win (Rained Out)
February 14 | Volusia (FL) Speedway Park, UMP, $5,000 to win (Finished 3rd, Started 1st)
February 15 | Volusia (FL) Speedway Park, WoO, $10,000 to win (Rained Out)
February 16 | Volusia (FL) Speedway Park, UMP, $10,000 to win (Did Not Start A-Main)
February 17 | Volusia (FL) Speedway Park, WoO, $10,000 to win (Finished 2nd, Started 6th)

Dan would like to thank all of his sponsors including: Miller Bros. Construction, Hawkeye Trucking, Pro Power Racing Engines, CJ Rayburn Race Cars, Uncle Buck, Hoosier Tires, Five Star Bodies, Integra Shocks & Springs, K-B Carburetors, VP Racing Fuels, Mr. Moto Products, Out-Pace Racing Products, Sweet Mfg., Crower, DART Machinery, Manley, JE Pistons, Scott Performance Wire, Stiles Headers, Wulff Pumps, Delph Communications, T&D Machine, DH Competition Decals by HIP, and Champ Pans.

The most up-to-date news and information concerning Dan Schlieper Racing can now be found at www.danschlieper.com.

Media Contact: Ryan Delph - Delph Communications
www.delphcommunications.com