By: Kevin Ramsell
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 (Loves Park, IL) – Rockford Speedway officials have confirmed that seven-time track champion, Bobby Wilberg, will return to this weekend's 42nd Annual Chicago International Trucks National Short Track Championship and compete in six divisions over the three days.

Wilberg will be driving Jon Reynolds Sr.'s late model and his Barracuda this weekend. "Heck, I don't know what year that car is," Wilberg stated when asked about the 'Cuda. "All I know is that Jon asked me to drive it and I said why not."

He will be driving both cars on Friday night in the Weekly Warrior Late Model and All-American Sportsman division. On Saturday night, he will compete in the Big 8 Series Twin 58-lap feature the Area Sportsman feature, and qualify for the National Short Track Super Late Models. Finally on Sunday afternoon, he will compete in the Big 8/Local Short Track Feature Winners Invitational and the National Short Track Super Late Model 200-lap feature.

"It would be nice to see 'Short Track' get back to where it is," Wilberg recently stated. "It was a big deal back then and it still should be today."

Wilberg has been impressed with the progress of the Big 8 Series. Surprisingly, he has yet to visit victory lane. "Big 8 is a fun series to race," Wilberg stated. "It's a series where you don't need to have the big money, yet you can still be competitive because the tire dictates the race, not the money. In fact, the tires they use will last a long time that we plan on running used tires all weekend. Tires dictate the horsepower in this series."

He still feels he can get the .29167 mile oval better than other competitors but he realizes that the style of racing has changed. Wilberg's last victory at Rockford came on July 16, 2005 when he won a Saturday night feature event. His last NSTC win came in 2004 when he won the ASA Late Model Series 100-lap feature event, an event where he led all 100 laps.

Wilberg feels confident that he will add his name to the list of feature winners in the Big 8 Series, "I have been second a lot and have came close to winning races, but we have ran into problems," Wilberg recalled.

He also sees a lot of the Big 8 Series competitors running on Friday night and Sunday as well, "There is a good variety of drivers in this Series; some will come just to run on Saturday, some will come and race on Friday and Saturday. For me, I looked at the price of a two-day pit pass versus a three-day and said why not race all three."

Wilberg recently picked up two more track championships this season at Madison International Speedway, his 15th and 16th overall in his career. In his career, he has seven Rockford Speedway championships (1991, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000), two Super Late Model championships at MIS (2002, 05), three Madison Late Model championships (2005, 06, 07), three Modified championship at MIS (1995, 97, 98) and one Limited Late Model championship at MIS (2007).

While he is not racing, he is the shop foreman at Lefthander Chassis in Rockton, IL.

A total of 12 divisions will be competing over the three days of September 28-30th. For more information and a schedule for the weekend, please visit the track's website at www.rockfordspeedway.com or call the track office at (815) 633-1500. Overnight parking is allowed and fans are encouraged to stay after on Friday and Saturday
night for post-race parties in the Budweiser Pavilion.

Make your plans now to be a part of the 42nd Annual Chicago International Trucks National Short Track Championships. It's "One Great Racing Weekend!!!"