4001 Windy Road

Concord, NC 28027

Phone:/Fax 704-721-0011

info@andybelmont.com

(Concord, NC) April 14, 2008 --  After an eight-week hiatus, ARCA racing got back under way this weekend at Salem Speedway.  The Andy Belmont Racing team was in full anticipation, having spent the last two months preparing quality race machines for the next attacks on the Salem, Iowa, Kansas and the inaugural Rockingham race events.

     “We rolled into Salem with a better car than we brought to the test last week,” said Andy Belmont.  And that was evident as Tom Hessert III piloted the #1 MAACO/Boudreaux’s Buttpaste Ford to a 4^th place starting slot, a mere 2/10’s off the pole speed set by NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader.  Battling rain showers through the morning, the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 finally got underway after a three hour rain delay.

     Hessert kept pace in the third slot for the first 29 circuits until lapped cars in front blocked the field.  With nowhere to go, Hessert was hit from behind and knocked into the outside retaining wall, forcing the #1 MAACO Ford to pit road for repairs.  The Andy Belmont Racing crew went to work on the car, expediting the repair process to get the MAACO Ford back on track to gain some championship points. Their efforts salvaged a 15^th place finish for Tom Hessert and the #1 MAACO Ford and kept the team’s 5^th place standings in the championship hunt.

     “This was just short track racing,” said Belmont. “Our guys got lots of practice on pit road and had great pit stops.  You are going to have days like this and our guys just never gave up- they displayed great teamwork.”

“Our car was awesome today,” said Tom Hessert.  “We were very good and just trying to race hard and patient and we got turned around on the backstretch but the guys in the pits did a phenomenal job of getting the car back together again so we could go back out and make a bad day better. “

     The Andy Belmont Racing team heads to Kentucky today to test for the Drive Smart Buckle Up 150 before motoring on to Iowa Speedway for this weekend’s Prairie Meadows 250.