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Chico's Abouzeid ready to defend Modified Championship Friday

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Photo by Steven Cox[/caption]

CHICO, CA (4-29-10) - Drivers and fans alike are geared up with anticipation for the long awaited start of the 2010 Silver Dollar Speedway season Friday night. One such driver that is ready to get back to action is Chico's own Mark Abouzeid who is ready to begin defense of his 2009 Silver Dollar Speedway Dirt Modified Championship.

Abouzeid and the Dirt Modified division is just one of four venues that will take the green flag tomorrow night for the opening round of the weekly championship season presented by Feather Falls Casino in conjunction with Hoosier Racing Tires, Riebes Auto Parts, Coors Light and Pepsi Cola. The fire breathing 410 sprint cars will return to action for the first time since last fall along with the popular street stock division and the visiting Dirt Solutions Late Models will complete the action packed program

"It's about time we get this season started," said Abouzeid. "I'm thinking we are going to have a good car count this year. I would be really surprised if we didn't see at least 16 or 17 cars for this opener or more. There's a lot of pent up anticipation out there to get racing."

In 2009, Abouzeid celebrated one of the most decorated seasons of his racing career at Silver Dollar Speedway. Starting all eight of the season championship events, Abouzeid dominated victory lane with six feature wins during the year and top five finishes in all of the events. Only two other drivers were feature winners during the season. The father son duo of Randy and Ryan McDaniel each won a feature event.

At the end of his competitive season, Abouzeid celebrated his first Silver Dollar Speedway Championship title by a 23-point margin over Chico's Darin Ruley. Jeff Olshowka of Chico finished third, 59-points out of the lead. In all 32 different drivers competed in the dirt modified season at Silver Dollar Speedway in 2009. Abouzeid, who owns and operates the nearby Chico Volkswagon dealership, is ready for a competitive season ahead at the quarter-mile track on the one and only Silver Dollar Speedway.

"We are ready to rock this year," said Abouzeid. "We're very excited to be coming back to defend our 2009 championship. It should be a fun season. I've also built a street stock to bring out and a couple my guys are going to drive it throughout the year."

The last time the dirt modifieds competed at Silver Dollar Speedway was back in March for the annual Silver Cup event. An impressive 48 cars turned out for the event, many of which are expected to return to the speedway throughout the coming season. Eric Turner took home in the win in that pre-season event.

Look for Abouzeid's #27 Chico Volkswagon dirt modified to take the green flag Friday night with some of the best dirt modified racer's in Northern California. Abouzeid's street stock will be driven by Magalia's Kevin Lesch who will compete in his first ever race.

Silver Dollar Speedway has been home to auto racing on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico since 1962. The track is located at 2357 Fair Street in Chico, California, 95928, approximately one half mile southwest from Highway 99.

On Friday night the gates to Silver Dollar Speedway will open at 6 p.m. with racing beginning at 7 p.m. Adult tickets will be $12.00, juniors and seniors $10.00 and Children will be $5. Silver Dollar Speedway is a great source of entertainment for all ages. This Friday night, join the family and the fun. For complete information on all of the racing action on Friday night visit the track's official website at www.silverdollarspeedway.com. Race fans can also receive news updates via twitter by signing up at www.twitter.com/sdspeedway.

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