Loves Park, IL- Defending Rockford Speedway Champion Jerry Gille challenged his distant competitors from neighboring tracks, stating that “Rockford has the best drivers.” following his feature triumph earlier this month. This did not fall on deaf ears however, causing the rivalry between the two tracks to intensify after Gille’s comments were made known at Jefferson Speedway’s drivers meeting one week later. As the 2009 running of the Goodyear Stateline Challenge approaches, both fans and drivers of the two Midwest ovals are preparing for a short track showdown.

Round One of this year’s Goodyear Stateline Challenge will take place on Saturday night July 4 at Rockford Speedway with the running of the Star Spangled 76 which Gille won in 2008. Last year’s Stateline Overall Champion Mike Beyer and the rest of the Team Rockford drivers will then travel to Jefferson just one week later for the Championship Round on Saturday July 11 to battle 2008 Jefferson Stateline winner John Ovadahl, Jr and the best Wisconsin’s Action Track has to offer in the Badger Pride 50. The Sportsman divisions will also crown a Stateline Champion of their own at the conclusion of these events.

The finishes of the top five contenders from each track will be totaled to determine the winning team with ‘Sammy’, the concrete pig traveling trophy being awarded to the team with the fewest points. She, along with her piglets currently reside at Jefferson Speedway who scored 81 points to Rockford’s 115. Boasting fields of track champions, rising stars and feature victors in fantastic short track racing excitement, race fans will want to mark their calendars for these two mid-summer showdowns which are only weeks away. A total of 45 late model drivers earned points during the first Stateline Challenge. For additional information visit www.jeffersonspeedway.com or www.rockfordspeedway.com.