SOUTH GEORGIA MOTORSPORTS PARK NEWS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE: January 22, 2005
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Shad Dean, 229-300-0842
Cecil, GA South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) officials announced that veteran auto racing promoter Craig Armstrong will take the helm at the newly constructed motorsports facility on Interstate 75 north of Valdosta.
Armstrong, who has operated the NHRA’s Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia for the past three years, will join SGMP’s management team on February 1st and will concentrate initially on developing programs for the venue’s nearly completed half-mile paved oval.
Larry Dean, founder of Standard Contractors in Valdosta, and developer of the combined oval track and dragstrip facility, was enthusiastic in announcing Armstrong’s hiring.
“We have been looking for someone with experience, vision and a high standard of ethics,” Dean stated. “We found all of that in Craig Armstrong. I believe that we now have a very strong organization, and I look for great things to happen at South Georgia Motorsports Park!”
Prior to his stint with Atlanta Dragway, Armstrong was the promoter and co-owner of Portland Speedway in the Pacific Northwest for fifteen years. The historic Oregon oval track was originally constructed in 1925 and, with the exception of World War II, operated continuously for 77 years before final closure in 2002.
“Since most of my professional experience has been with an aging racetrack, I am thrilled to have a brand-new, state-of-the-art oval to promote,” Armstrong said. “There just aren’t a lot of new racetracks in the United States, so I am very grateful to the Dean family for this tremendous opportunity, and I will do everything I can to make SGMP’s speedway the premier short track of the southeast.”
Together with SGMP’s Dragway and Operations Manager, Shad Dean, Armstrong is predicting a very successful debut for the oval track.
“Our first event on the oval will be a USAR Hooters Pro Cup event on Saturday, March the 12th,” Armstrong noted. “This nationally televised series is extremely popular with race fans, so we expect to be jam-packed that night. We’re even looking into renting additional bleachers to accommodate everyone who wants to be a part of our speedway’s Grand Opening.”
Located just 32 miles north of the Florida state line in Georgia’s Cook County, SGMP has attracted racers and fans from all across South Georgia, as well as the Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Florida areas, for its NHRA drag racing events since the facility’s dragstrip opened in April of 2004. Information about current SGMP operations and racing schedules may be obtained on the track’s official website, www.sgmpracing.com.
