Lee Spencer is senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. She also is a correspondent for “Around the Track” on FOX Sports Net.

When considering NASCAR’s up-and-coming drivers in the Nationwide Series, Justin Allgaier is one of several with the potential to graduate to the Sprint Cup level in the near future.

Allgaier, 24, has had the luxury of developing his skills under the Penske Racing banner. Current teammate Brad Keselowski joined the fold at the end of last season and currently leads the point standings.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series has boasted 11 winners this season – but only one is a full-time Nationwide-only driver. Who is it? Take a look at the 2010 Nationwide race winners here.
Under the direction of Penske’s development program, Allgaier has excelled. He finished sixth in the point standings during his first full season on the Nationwide tour. He won his first NNS race at Bristol in March and is currently fourth in points.

Despite making measurable gains over his rookie year, Allgaier’s plans to drive the No. 12 Verizon Dodge in 2011 aren‘t clear. With Verizon’s NASCAR commitment questionable for next year, Allgaier’s option has not been picked up.

“Everything at Penske Racing has been great,” Allgaier said. “They’ve gone out of their way and gone above and beyond to do everything I could have ever asked. For me, my first choice is to be here next year and to be racing.

“Obviously, right now, we’re somewhat unsure about what Verizon is going to do. But this sport is all about sponsorship and having sponsorship to go and race. We’re hopeful something will happen and we can go forward.”

Although Allgaier readily admits there is plenty of room to pick up, he’s reached many of the personal goals he set for the season. While he’s currently improved two positions in the point standings, Allgaier has doubled his number of top fives (six), led 44 more laps in 10 fewer races and increased his average finishing position from 16.5 to 12.6.

“So far, it’s been good,” Allgaier said. “I won’t say it’s been great because obviously we could be in victory lane more and we could have done a lot of things better. But we have almost doubled every stat we had last year — top fives and top tens. So that’s good. I feel like we have come a long way both in my abilities [and] the way that I race and the way I race everybody else. It’s been a learning experience.

“The most important lesson I’ve gained is to take a bad day and make it better — like last weekend at Montreal,” Allgaier said. “We were having a tough time and we turned it into a ninth-place finish rather than finishing 25th. In the past, if I didn’t feel I was exactly where I needed to be I would push it really, really hard and try to make up for it while making mistakes along the way.”

Allgaier feels that he’s at a critical juncture in his career. While he feels another season of Nationwide experience would be beneficial before making the transition to Cup, he’s keeping his options open.

Last spring, when Allgaier tested a Penske Racing Cup car at Charlotte, he immediately felt comfortable with the heavier cars and additional horsepower.

“I think you have to crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run,” Allgaier said. “The Nationwide Series has helped me learn that. The biggest difference is that the Nationwide car drives so much differently than the Cup car. I’m sure that will get somewhat closer next year with the new Nationwide car. But you still have an engine package that makes a huge difference. I’ve come from having lots of horsepower in everything I’ve ever driven. Even in ARCA we had Cup engines that were unrestricted. When I got to do the Charlotte test, I felt comfortable right away and I loved that. I felt good about the test.

“For me, obviously, I want to make it to the Cup level. My only concern is as much as I love running Nationwide — and I am having a good time — I don’t want to learn any bad habits of learning to drive these cars that will ruin my opportunity of running at the Cup level. At the same time, the experience of going to all these race tracks has been great. It’s been the right thing to do. I know Penske Racing is doing everything they can to find sponsorship so we can continue but, as everyone knows, nothing in this sport is ever guaranteed.”

Eric is the son of Irish and Sheila Saunders, friends of Hoosier Tire Midwest and www.racetires.com. Irish is the Contract Sales manager for HOOSIER Racing Tire, Inc.

Currently Eric has no feeling from his belly button down. Friends of Eric will be selling t-shirts, stickers, and wrist bands this weekend at RedBud’s open ride on September 6th. There will also be a Suzuki RM125 for sale with all proceeds going to help the Saunders family. Anybody who is not able to buy a shirt at an event can do so through multiple websites:

www.newtonpark.org

www.ericsaunders.net

www.hoosiertire.com

Irish, Eric, and the whole Saunders family would like to thank everyone for all of their support. The racing industry is a huge industry. However, it is great to see that the racing community is very close, supportive, and giving.

Eric is alert and in good spirits. He has no doubt in his mind that he can beat this and that this will only be a set back. Eric is determined to prove that he is not a quitter and that this injury will not change him. Oddly enough the accident and subsequent injuries that Eric sustained took place on his 18th birthday…….

www.ericsaunders.net will be the official source for updates on Eric Saunders recovery. There will be daily updates to let people know of Eric’s progress. A guest book is also being established so that Eric can read all of your comments.

Anyone interested in donating money please make checks payable to :
Newton Park
65465 U.S. 31
Lakeville, IN 46536

For purchasing t-shirts please use our online order form.

Hoosier Racing Tire – (574)784-3152

Newton Park – (574)784-5644

Prodigy Marketing – (574)274-4333

Thank you for your help and support!

Springfield, IL. (August 31, 2010) — In an effort to offer our valued customers more tire size
options, Hoosier Racing Tire will be introducing two new R80 and R100 radial slick size for racers
competing in SCCA EP, FP, HP, GT3 and GTL classes.

Testing has proven these radial slicks to improve every aspect of vehicle dynamics from more grip,
better cornering speeds, less rolling resistance and faster lap times. Compared to our bias ply
cantilevers, the total width of the radial slick is narrower to improve aerodynamics and will offer less
“fall off” of lap times.

Both tire sizes will be offered in the R80 and R100 compounds for FWD and RWD vehicles. The R80 will
be used on all four corners for RWD vehicles, while the R100 will be used on the front and R80 on the
rear of FWD vehicles. Both radial sizes and compounds are in stock and available to purchase.

Contact Terry Gilvin direct at (574) 936-8344 to place your order;

Item * Tread Width * OD *Circ. *Rec. Rim *Measured Rim *Section Width * Weight *MSRP
43557 – 215/580R15 – 8.6” – 22.9” – 71.8” – 7 – 9” – 7.0” – 9.7” – 18 lbs. – $250.00
43567 – 245/580R15 – 9.4” – 22.9” – 72.0” – 7 – 10” – 7.0” – 10.0” – 19 lbs. – $260.00

Kovski was a top 5 car all day and had been running in second place when the field took the green flag designating just 2 laps to go. Unfortunately, the caution came out and on the restart Kelly was shuffled back a few postions in the closing laps. Only competing twice a year as a driver, Kovski ended the day at Springfield with a 6th place finish. Robb Brent in the Allgaier Motorsports mount also scored a strong top 10 finish ending the day in 8th place.

While the Brent entry will compete this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, Kovski will work on preparing his ride for the Southern 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

All of the staff of Hoosier Tire Midwest congratulate Kelly on his hard work and determination and his top 10 finish at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and wish him success at DuQuoin as well as wishing Robb Brent and the Allgaier Motorsports team continued success.

Sizes include a 5.0/10.5-6 front, 6.0/11.0-6 rear, and 6.5/11.0-6 rear. This comprehensive tire
line provides the 4-cycle sprint classes with an option of running the most suitable tire
combination for their chassis setup on a given track configuration.

The 4-cycle sprint tires will be released in the R45 compound. This compound was carefully
selected to provide high traction on multiple track surfaces, offer consistent and repeatable
results throughout the life of the tire, and possess superior wear characteristics. The new R45’s
will not only excel in open competition venues, but they are also a wise choice for any series or
track seeking a spec tire.

The tire specifications for each size are listed below.
Item Number – Tire Size – Compound
22500 5.0/10.5-6 Slick R45
22600 6.0/11.0-6 Slick R45
22650 6.5/11.0-6 Slick R45
The R45 will have a cold durometer measure of 53-55. These tires are expected to be in stock
by August 27, 2010.
Contact Tim Baker at (217) 522-1955 or your local Hoosier dealer for price and availability questions or more information.

New Formula Vee Construction……
Cat. #43336 R45B 21.0/5.0X15 R45B C3000
Cat. #43336 R55A 21.0/5.0X15 R55A C3000
Cat. #43341 R45B 21.5/5.5X15 R45B C3000
Cat. #43341 R55A 21.5/5.5X15 R55A C3000
Cat. #43352 R45B 22.5/5.5X15 R45B C3000
Cat. #43352 R55A 22.5/5.5X15 R55A C3000

New option for the 15″ cantilever slicks……
Cat. #43557 R80 215/580R15 R80
Cat. #43557 R100 215/580R15 R100
Cat. #43567 R80 245/580R15 R80
Cat. #43567 R100 245/580R15 R100

For further information on these products as well as the existing line of race proven championship tires, or to pre-order tires for the event, contact Terry Gilvin, Road Race Product Manager at (574) 936-8344.

Track promoter Dave Rudisell has seen the value of the DT3 product as most of his racers utilized the tire this season and have succesfully used it over the years at a number of other Indiana sprint car facilities.

Hoosier Tire Midwest General Manager Terry Young along with the Indiana Sprint Car Open Wheel Product management team of John Summers and Tony Burghardt welcome the addition of the Lawrenceburg facility as they join fellow DT3 tire rule tracks such as Kokomo, Indiana, Gas City I-69 Speedway, Lincoln Park Speedway, Bloomington Speedway and the HOOSIER Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series as well as the United States Auto Club Sprint Car Division.

The new DT3 only sprint car tire rule will be in effect beginning with the August 21st event.

Brent was driving the Allgaier Motorsports entry owned by Hoosier Tire Midwest proprietors Mike and Dorothy Allgaier. The same team won the 2008 ARCA Championship with driver Justin Allgaier who now races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

This was the second visit to Pocono this season for the ARCA Series. The first race was an 80-lap race with Saturday’s race just a 50-lapper.

The race featured four different leaders including; Frank Kimmel 1-20 (20 laps), Mikey Kile 21-32 (12 laps), Craig Goess 33-35 (3 laps) and Robb Brent 36-50 (15 laps).

The race, which took just over 57 minutes to complete, had just three caution flags for 12 laps.

After starting 11th, Robb Brent crossed the finish line 2.844 seconds ahead of Dakoda Armstrong who had started back in 13th.

“I am just thrilled to death. Everyone kept winning and I was like ‘When’s it my turn?’,” commented Brent after the race.

Brent added, “The car was so good, especially on the long runs. I knew we would have time.”

Craig Goess finished in third place followed by Tom Hessert and Justin Marks.

Patrick Sheltra finished in sixth place followed by Frank Kimmel, Mikey Kile, Bryan Silas and Brandon McReynolds in seventh through tenth, respectively.

After his fifth place finish, Justin Marks maintains the lead in the driver standings with 2675 points followed closely by Craig Goess with 2645 points. Goess chipped 20 points off Marks’ lead after his third place finish. Frank Kimmel is not far behind the pair with 2605 points.

For more information about the ARCA Series visit www.arcaracing.com.

Hoosier Racing Tire (“Hoosier Tire”) won a victory in the antitrust case brought by Specialty Tires of America/ Race Tires of America, (“STA”) concerning exclusive contracts for the supply of racing tires.

On July 23, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that single-tire or “spec tire” rules in dirt oval track racing were legal under the antitrust laws, and that Hoosier Tire had not violated the law in contracting to supply such spec tires. The Court affirmed the dismissal of all claims against it and co-defendant Dirt Motor Sports. The case is Race Tires of America, Inc., et al. v. Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., et al.

The Court ruled that sanctioning bodies should have the discretion to determine their own rules of the game, including specifying a single-supplier’s products be used in the race, and created a bright-line rule: Sanctioning bodies can legally enter exclusive contracts where they have in good faith “freely adopted their own equipment rules and then freely entered into exclusive contracts with the respective suppliers.” It also noted that in this case, the evidence supported the sanctioning bodies’ good faith belief that single-tire rules benefit racers and motorsports in general, including by promoting parity among racers, increasing safety, and controlling overall costs of so-called “tire wars.”

The Court explained that a clear rule was needed because sanctioning bodies have ultimately won antitrust challenges to their specification rules in the past, but only after incurring considerable legal expenses. “Motorsports sanctioning bodies, as well as similar organizations in other sports, deserve a bright-line rule to follow so they can avoid potential antitrust liability as well as time consuming and expensive antitrust litigation… Contrary to the pro-competitive purposes of antitrust law, this expense may have real anti-competitive effect, especially on the smaller sanctioning bodies….”

This ruling should have applicability to sanctioning bodies in other sports as well. As the Court noted, “the importance of this case goes far beyond” the parties, and that the “result and reasoning could have an effect beyond the world of dirt oval track racing (or even motorsports in general).” Other racing sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR, IMCA and USAC, had filed a brief in support of Hoosier Tire’s position.

Dennis Sherman, Hoosier’s Vice President of Sales, was very pleased with the result. “This ruling is a win not just for Hoosier,” he said, “but is also a win for motorsports generally. Sanctioning bodies can now choose the rules they believe will be best for their sport without the concern of having to defend an antitrust suit at every turn.”

For additional information, contact Hoosier Racing Tire – Craig Benninghoff, Vice President of Operations at (574) 784-3152 cbenninghoff@hoosiertire.com

The RD35 has a cold durometer of 52-54 and is designed for dry tracks that are dusty, sandy, loose and lack grip. The D40A will have a cold durometer between 55-57 and is designed for medium hard tracks that have little moisture and begin to form a groove.