HURRICANE IKE FORCES RACE CANCELLATIONS   
Orange, TX (F2) and Tempe, AZ (F1) Races Postponed

CHARLOTTE, NC-September 16, 2008: World class powerboat racers and its organizers suffered a significant blow from Hurricane Ike as it devastated a massive area of South Texas, the home to many powerboat racers, organizers and rescue personnel.

John Schubert, President of SPORT, the organizer of several Sport/Champ2 Texas events, including one scheduled for this weekend in Orange, TX stated, “Our family came out ok from the storm, but most of South Texas was hit hard and still without power forcing us to cancel the Orange, TX race. We hope to reschedule it for later this season, but if that doesn’t work out we’ll have to wait until 2009”.

Sport/ChampBoat Chief of Rescue, Mike Gibbs suffered significant damage to his home forcing his family to stay with friends. “Our side of Houston (Eastern) was hit exceptionally hard and there are still tens of thousands without power, so the last thing on our minds right now is boat racing”. 

As a result, the ChampBoat Series also was forced to cancel the Tempe Grand Prix scheduled for Sept 27-28 with the loss of crew, rescue and many race teams. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all our friends in Texas. When disasters hit, it puts the sport of powerboat racing into perspective. It’s a shame however as we have worked so hard the past two years on Tempe, so we’ll really be looking forward to rescheduling the Tempe event for 2009 which will quickly become one of our highest profile events”.

ChampBoat Series now directs its focus on the F1 ChampBoat and Champ2 season finale at the inaugural Grand Prix of Naples on Nov. 1-2. “Our new partners and I will use this extra time to develop our new and improved series plan for the 2009 season”.

Speedway Group, the Charlotte based parent company of ChampBoat, recently announced a restructuring with NASCAR affiliated partners and will be announcing a new details for the 2009 F1 ChampBoat season which will include increased award benefits and an exciting new Team Sponsorship Assistance program at the annual business meeting in Naples, if not sooner.
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