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New Lou Blaney "Shirt Out" promotion part of 10th annual "Lou Blaney Memorial" July 7 at Sharon to award $1000 to a lucky fan with proceeds to benefit

By Mike Leone

May 18, 2018

(Hartford, OH)…Sharon Speedway will welcome in Tony Stewart's Arctic All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars presented by Mobile 1 and The Modified Tour for the 10th annual "Lou Blaney Memorial" presented by Ollie's Bargain Outlet on Saturday, July 7. The event benefits the Alzheimer's Association as annually thousands of dollars are sent to the organization through the Chinese auction, raffles, apparel sales, etc.

With this year's event being the 10th annual affair, the Blaney Family is thrilled to launch a new promotion. The Lou Blaney "Shirt Out" presented by Colonial Metal Products and Carpenter's Towing will award one lucky fan $1,000! Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite Lou Blaney or Lou Blaney Memorial t-shirts. Fans will also have the opportunity to purchase a shirt the day of the event. Each fan that has on a Lou Blaney shirt will go to a pre-determined area where they'll receive 10 tickets. Those wearing Lou Blaney shirts will also have the ability to purchase tickets as well. Later in the evening, a drawing will take place where one lucky fan will win $1,000! The remaining proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer's Association.

"The way the fans turn out and support this event annually never ceases to amaze me," stated Kate Blaney. "The thousands we give to the Alzheimer's Association annually is because of the fans. With this being the 10th annual event, we wanted to do something different. Fans love their Lou Blaney gear and always turn out in full force anyways. Now we're giving them even additional incentive. We came up with the name 'Shirt Out' and it's only fitting that we give fans 10 tickets for wearing a shirt and award a lucky fan $1,000. This is just another way we can raise additional dollars for the Alzheimer's Association."

In addition, a silent auction of many varied baskets will be available for everyone to bid on, and then a live auction of race memorabilia and sports related items will be sold off to the highest bidders. Friends of Lou Blaney will again attend the Memorial event to help celebrate the life and accomplishments of the Hall of Fame driver, who won more than 600 feature victories during a five-decade career. The legend has at least 121 Modified wins and another 11 documented in a Sprint Car at Sharon alone. Blaney passed away in 2009 after battling Alzheimer’s.

On the racing side, the All Star Sprints will be making their third and final appearance of the 2018 season for the "Lou Blaney Memorial". It'll be the fourth straight year that the All Stars have sanctioned the event. Amazingly there has yet to be a repeat winner; will there be a 10th different winner in 2018!? Past winners include Tony Stewart, Mike Lutz, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Brad Sweet, Jack Sodeman, Jr., Dave Blaney, Sheldon Haudenschild, Danny Holtgraver, and Christopher Bell.

The Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Big-Block Modifieds will compete in a Modified Tour event with $2,000 on the line. It took until the eighth annual event to get a repeat Modified winner with Jim Rasey doing the honors. Other winners include Jack Johnson, Rob Kristyak., Kevin Bolland, Dave Murdick, Rex King, Jr., Jim Weller, Jr., and Jeremiah Shingledecker.

Reserved tickets are on sale for the event by going to SharonSpeedway.com, clicking on the 'Buy Tickets' at the top left of the homepage, and selecting the "Lou Blaney Memorial" event. Tickets are $25 for grandstand admission, $30 for a patio seat or $45 for a fan suite.

Sharon Speedway is owned by the Blaney, Weller, and Kirila Families and is a 3/8-mile dirt track located on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio near the intersection of Routes 7 & 305. For more information, check out the website at www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481. Become a fan of Sharon Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharonspeedway and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sharonspdwy.

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