PARTS HISTORY (taken from the official PARTS website)

In February of 1997, PARTS (Professional Association of Race Trucks) and the people of Lanier National Raceway of Gainesville, Ga. decided to institute a truck series to be founded on the principle of keeping a level of professional racing affordable.

The PARTS Pro Truck Series began 1997 with a field of three trucks in March, and then succeeded in growing over 50 times in an eleven-month period.

PARTS enlisted Wolverine Radiator as the series sponsor for the inaugural season. In attendance at every race was Murray Bishop, of Wolverine, who complimented PARTS in every aspect of the series.

The first PARTS national race was held at Lanier in June, and fielded 20 trucks before a capacity crowd. The PARTS Pro Truck Series then traveled to Montgomery, Ala. in July with a field of 22 trucks in front of the largest crowd of the year, which gained PARTS an invitation to return on a regular basis.

The third race of the year was held at Anderson Motor Speedway in Anderson, S.C. The truck field grew to 23 trucks, and attracted the largest crowd in years at the track, according to the owners.

The fourth stop of the year saw a 25 truck field enter the St. Augustine Speedway, in St. Augustine, Fla. The race drew more fans than the Goody's Dash race which was run there a couple of weeks prior.

The final national race of the season brought a full field back to Lanier National Raceway. In addition to the national races, PARTS also sanctioned and ran 14 regional races at Lanier.

At the PARTS banquet in Atlanta, Ricky Wilson was crowned the 1997 Points Champion, and Tina Brown captured the coveted Hoosier Rookie of the Year award. In the meantime, PARTS began positioning for a successful 1 998 campaign.

The 1998 season stands to be a turning point in the development and growth of the series. Eight of the 10 races on the 1998 schedule will be televised nationwide on SPEEDVISION, with the remaining two races to be announced at a later date.

Circle Track magazine will publish a three issue series on the PARTS Pro Truck Series.

Remax International and Haulmark Trailers, the official trailer of the PARTS Pro Truck Series, have signed on as corporate sponsors, with Peterson Publishing also considering.

Many product sponsors are already on board, including Griffin Radiator, SPAL Performance Fans, Hoosier Tire, Sunoco Fuels, ARP Bodies, Davis Unified Distributors and Fuel Safe.

PARTS is also a subscriber of the Joyce Jullius and Associates Sponsors Report.