New Richmond, WI (June 30, 2016): The FANSFund voting leader board, and potential USA Nationals drivers list, has been shaken up with the recent announcement by the World Racing Group that Brandon Sheppard, Gregg Satterlee, Jimmy Owens, Ricky Thornton (3rd in FANSFund voting), and Scott Bloomquist have been suspended from all DIRTcar sanctioned events, including World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series competition. The suspensions are due to tire samples not meeting established benchmarks from samples taken during Dream weekend at Eldora Speedway. The suspensions were appealed by all 5 drivers but the World Racing Group Commission announced on June 29th that the penalties were upheld and the suspensions will conclude on September 11, 2016. Due to the suspensions, these drivers are no longer eligible to complete in the USA Nationals which is a World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series sanctioned event. These 5 drivers are also no longer eligible to receive votes for the FANSFund which has a requirement that drivers must register and compete in the USA Nationals to be eligible for the FANSFund. The drivers can request a final appeal with the World Racing Group but unless a final appeal is heard and overturned, the drivers will not be eligible to compete in the USA Nationals.

In another recent development Austin Hubbard, who was 8th in voting, will not be able to make this year’s USA Nationals due to an injury he sustained in a nasty rollover at the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA last weekend. The injury to Austin’s ankle will require surgery and he will be out of action for at least 6 weeks. We wish Austin a speedy recovery!

Fans that had previously voted for Ricky Thornton, Austin Hubbard, or Scott Bloomquist will be allowed to recast their votes. If you would like to revote, send an email to clsfansfund@yahoo.com with your name, who you originally voted for with the number of votes, and who you would like your votes to be changed to. We will cross reference this information with our records and make appropriate changes as requested.

With two and a half weeks to go until voting ends, Brian Shirley of Chatham, IL has jumped back into the vote lead; Jon Henry of Ada, OH sits 2nd; Jason Papich from Arroyo Grande, CA moved up to 3rd; Chris Madden of Gray Court, SC is in 4th; with Tyler Bruening of Decorah, IA rounding out the top 5. For the full breakdown of driver voting checkout the diver voting link on our website. You can also checkout the drivers that have shown interest in participating in this year’s FANSFund by going to the drivers interested list on the site.

Fans can go online to donate and vote at www.FANSFund.com/donations/ or by clicking on the Donate tab from the home page. For every $5.00 donated fans receive 1 vote. For a $30.00 donation fans are eligible to attend the FANSFund Luncheon where they’ll receive a FANSFund T-shirt, be able to meet the FANSFund drivers and get their autographs, receive a nice lunch, and be eligible for other raffle prizes. The Luncheon will be held Saturday August 6th at 12:30 PM in the Cedar Lake Arena. Voting ends at midnight July 17, 2016 but donations will be accepted through August 4, 2016. After July 17th, donors will no longer be able to vote, or be eligible for the luncheon or T-shirt.

The FANSFund team will be back out in force doing 50/50 and taking fan donations and driver votes on Friday July 8th and Saturday July 9th when the very popular World of Outlaw Sprint Cars come to Cedar Lake Speedway for 2 big nights of high flying action. This is another great event that you won’t want to miss!

A huge thank you to the following sponsors that have come on board to support the FANSFund this year: Bernicks Pepsi, McFarland Pain Clinic, Badger Storage and Excavating, Johnson Motor Sales, Casey Farms, Willow River Saloon, Skoglund Oil, GRP Motorsports, JT Auto Sales, LaMoine Ventures, Champs Sports Bar and Grill, Joe Provo Racewear, and DirtOnDirt.com. Without these great sponsors we wouldn’t be able to invite the number of drivers that we do! Make sure to check out our Contributors page at www.fansfund.com/contributors/ for more information on these great sponsors and if you have the chance stop by their businesses to patronize and thank them for their support!

Checkout the FANSFund website at www.FANSFund.com for more information. There are a number of links on the right sidebar of the website with more information about the event.

The 29th running of the USA Nationals is slated for August 4th through August 6th. Order your tickets now at “Wisconsin’s Fastest Piece of Real Estate.” Go online to order your tickets and/or campsite today at www.CedarLakeSpeedway.com.

Thank you for your support of the FANSFund once again in 2016, we’re looking forward to another great year!

Tom Emerson, FANS Fund Coordinator