Loves Park, IL- It is now official, the battle that has kept the Chicagoland short track racing community on the edge of their seats will now be played out on the high banks for Rockford Speedway during this weekend’s 45th annual National Short Track Championships. Chicagoland Champions Brett Sontag and Eddie Hoffman have both filed entries for the Super Late Model portion of ‘One Great Racing Weekend’.

Both drivers return to Rockford after what could be called disappointing showings last fall. Hoffman fell just short of his fourth career NSTC triumph, settling for third in a hard fought battle that saw Hoffman fight his way from the back of the field following an early race mishap. Sontag had the attention of the grandstand and his fellow competitors as he methodically worked his way into the top five from deep in the field during the opening half before a suspension failure sent him sailing into the Rockford concrete, ending his bid for the win.

Neither driver has slowed down this season with Sontag securing his fifth Grundy Championship, collecting eight wins along the way including the Frank Welch Memorial. Hoffman, the 2009 ASA Late Model Series North titlist and current point leader visited victory lane during Illiana Motor Speedway’s Molenaar Classic and twice in tour competition. As exciting as ‘Fast Eddie’ and ‘Brett the Jet’ are, one should not count out defending NSTC winner, Josh Nelms. Nelms behind the wheel of a TK Racing entry muscled his way into the lead during the late stages of the 200 lap affair last October and into the history books. Always in contention, Nelms recorded two feature wins and the Rookie of the Year Award at Rockford in 2006 before heading back into the Chicagoland short track world.

Nine Chicagoland Super Late Models teams have filed entries for the 45th annual National Short Track Championships. Other Chicagoland teams include Steve Campbell, Jack Kalwasinski, Erik Pierce, Jeremy Spoonmore, Trevor Tichy and Billy Knippenberg, Jr. The weekend features 12 divisions of racing action with Late Model feature events all three days, Oct 1, 2 and 3. For more information visit www.rockfordspeedway.com or call 815-633-1500.

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Super Late Model Entries
45th annual National Short Track Championships
October 2-3, 2010
Rockford Speedway
Car # Driver Name
0 Josh Nelms
2 Eddie May
2 Lowell Bennett
2 Michael Bilderback
3 Jeff Weinfurter
4 Trevor Tichy
5 Brett Sontag
7 Chris Purdy
8 Eddie Hoffman
9 Tommy Pecaro
14 Randy Rodgers
16 Steve Apel
18 Robert Maynor
19 Brian Johnson, Jr
21 Dave Tomczak
22 Jeremy Spoonmore
40 Jeremy Lepak
40 Tom Gille
44 Wayne Freimund
45 Rich Bickle
52 Chris Wimmer
52 Steve Dobbratz
54 Erik Pierce
55 Ryan Carlson
61 Steve Rubeck
87 Nathan Haseleu
89 Brad Mueller
93 Dave Feiler
94 Steve Campbell
95 Billy Knippenberg, Jr
99 Chris Weinkauf
99 Jack Kalwasinski
99 Jerry Gille
119 Dalton Zehr
140 Curt Tillman
X Jon Reynolds, Jr

36 As of 9/27/10