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Amp Energy 100 Kicks Off Blizard Season

The road to Five Flags Speedway's 42nd Annual Snowball Derby beginsFriday night as the Pensacola, Fla., racetrack kicks off the 2009 SuperLate Model Blizzard Series with the Amp Energy 100.The race will also be the first event of the newly formed Sunoco RacingFuel Gulf Coast Championship.  The Gulf Coast Championship is acombination of the Blizzard series with Mobile International Speedway'sMiller Lite series.  The two series will still crown their ownchampions, but will also be used to determine the Gulf Coast champion.One driver intending to compete for the inaugural Gulf Coastchampionship is Panama City, Fla., driver Ryan Crane.  Crane has hadsuccess at Five Flags in the past.  In 2007 he tied Scott Carlson in thefinal Blizzard series standings, but the tie breaker - determined bywhich driver had the most wins - gave the championship to Carlson.Crane bounced back later that year by winning the Snowflake 100.The recent Florida State Graduate didn't fare so well at Five Flags in2008.  He was never a factor in the Blizzard championship race, as a DNFin the opening race put him in a hole that he couldn't climb out of.But Crane was able to finish the year strong by winning the series'final race.  Crane is confident he can carry the momentum into thisweek's race, but acknowledges that the he will be up against many of theSouth's top drivers."The Blizzard series is already some of the toughest competition outthere," Crane said.  "But now that they have come up with the new pointsfund and the Gulf Coast series championship along with Mobile, it willbe even tougher. With that said, I know we are just as capable ofwinning the championship as anyone else.  The key is to be the guy whofinishes every race. Those are the guys that you usually see have a shotat winning the championship."Another driver hoping to be a factor in the Amp Energy 100, as well asthe Blizzard series championship, is hometown driver Johanna Long.Long, the 2008 Five Flags Speedway Pro Late Model champion, competed injust two series races last year, scoring 13th and 16th place finishes.But the 16-year-old driver is off to a strong start to 2009 and isoptimistic about her chances in the Blizzard series."We're definitely planning on running the whole Blizzard series andtrying to win the championship, said Long.  "I've got a lot moreexperience this year, so I'm more confident that I can run well.  It'simportant to have a good run at the first race.  There are so many goodcars that run this series that you really can't afford to have any badfinishes.  So hopefully we can have a good run in this race and thenkeep it going through the whole season."The Blizzard Series carries added importance as it determines the twoprovisional starters for the Snowball Derby in December.  Knowing thathe was locked into last year's Derby, 2008 Blizzard champion Josh Hamnerwas able to have a relaxed approach on qualifying night for the Derby.Hamner won the Blizzard series opener last year and recorded three moretop-five finishes on his way to winning the championship.  He will beback at Five Flags on Friday to begin his attempt to win back-to-backseries championships."We're definitely going to try to defend the title," Hamner said.Having the guaranteed provisional took off a lot of pressure on Fridaynight at the Derby, which helped a lot.  This first race is reallyimportant.  It helps to get ahead in the points early like we did lastyear.  Then having consistent top-five finishes makes it hard for anyoneto catch you.  Hopefully we can start off just like we did last year."The list of other notable drivers also expected to compete in Friday'srace include 2007 champion Scott Carlson, two-time defending SnowballDerby winner Augie Grill, Five Flags veteran Eddie Mercer and manyothers.Qualifying for the Amp Energy 100 will begin at 6:45 p.m. on Friday,with racing following at 8.  The Super Stock, Sportsmen, and Bomberdivisions will also compete.   Five Flags Speedway is located off ofPine Forest Road, just south of Interstate 10 in Pensacola, Fla.  Formore information about Five Flags Speedway or the Amp Energy 100, pleasevisit www.5flagsspeedway.com.

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