35TH ANNUAL TWIN STATE AUTO RACING CLUB SHOW MARCH 12-15TH

35TH ANNUAL TWIN STATE AUTO RACING CLUB SHOW MARCH 12-15TH

by Jim Balentine

The oldest regional car show for stock and drag cars only, the 35TH ANNUAL TWIN STATE AUTO RACING CLUB STOCK CAR SHOW will be held from THURS MARCH 12TH UNTIL SUNDAY MARCH 15TH at the Shenango Valley Mall, off of RT 18 and RT 62 in Hermitage, Pa. This will be the 3rd year in a row that the mall has held the event.

"it's amazing that this car show has been around this long," says Jim Balentine newsletter editor of the club. "My mother Sue and Sandy Cahalin began this in the winter of 1972-1973 by calling all the local drivers who raced at Canfield or Expo Speedways to enter their cars in a mall show. The Southern Park Mall in Boardman, Ohio was so filled with people that the local police had to barricade all the entrances to the mall to let people out and let more in and with over 70 cars inside the mall the support could not have been better from the local racers."

Brett McCall has been the show's coordinator for the past several years and has worked tirelessly to make the show happen. "In the old days there was a committee of 3 to 4 members to take care of various things that take place before, during and after the show" says Balentine, " but now Brett is a man standing by himself and has done a masterful job with every show he has put on."

The club based out of Youngstown Ohio has a membership base of around 750 members which covers Ohio and Pennsylvania tracks. They have a booth set up during the show for members to renew their memberships or to renew relationships after a long winter. The membership entitles a person to attend over 15 different tracks one time a year for free as well as attend club picnics and an annual christmas party.

The car show is the club biggest event of the year.The most populated nights are the weekends but alot of people come out for the traditional "pushing in of the cars". Balentine states "you will get a ton of people in the mall on the weekend, but the night that the cars go in is special as well as the parking lot looks like a tracks pit area with all the cars and people huddling around and the non race fans are curious about what is going on in the lot. We normally can get 40 cars into the mall in about 20 minutes and then in about and hour all the cars are in their spots and the show is on!"

If you are interested in a mall space please contact BRETT MCCALL at 330-759-9696 after 6 PM for more info. Any car that was in the show last year will get 1st option to apply. Applications are also available on the clubs website www.twinstateracing.org