New Egypt, NJ (March 15, 2005) -- In an attempt to present a tighter, more entertaining racing program in a fan-friendly time span, New Egypt Speedway management will be trying out a radical new qualifying

format in all divisions for the 2005 season.

The Ocean County dirt track plans to eliminate traditional qualifying heat races in favor of timed "dashes" for each class, with cars running in groups of 10 at a time on the speedway for three laps. The track's AMB computerized timing and scoring system will display lap times, with the fastest 14 cars from each division advancing into the night's feature events. The top 14 will be handicapped for the feature races based on money earned the past three weeks, as always, with the biggest breadwinners starting in the rear. Cars that do not qualify through time will get a second chance to make the "money" race by competing in a B Main, lining heads-up in the order they timed in the early session. Car counts will determine how many BMains are scheduled in each division and the number of cars to qualify from each.

"We keep hearing that, at five hours, the show is too long. But we're getting twice the number of race cars at the track now than we did in 1998 -- many nights, over 160 cars are in competition! We needed to

figure out a way to give every driver a fair chance to qualify and race, while cutting down the length of the program to attract and keep more fans. So we had to think outside the box," said promoter Jim Swanson, who spent the better part of a year researching options. "With the computerized technology we have, it'll be easy to time groups of cars and complete all qualifying in an hour or less. We're going to try the new format for the first three weeks of the season; hopefully, we can work out any bugs and make it happen."

Track owner Rick Grosso Sr. has confidence in the new system. "We've never been afraid to try new things and implement new ideas at New Egypt," he said. "Some of our ideas may have been considered novel at the time, but were later embraced by other speedways."

All divisions will still run hot laps at the beginning of the night, followed by the Rookie Sportsman series feature (for the first 12 weeks of the season). For the timed "dashes," cars in each division will be placed in groups of 10 based on past performance (i.e., 1-10 in the point standings, 11-20, etc.). Each group will enter the speedway from the pit area and will have one pace lap to space themselves out before receiving the green flag. After three fast laps, cars will retire to the infield and proceed to the scales for weighing. As cars are weighed, the next group will be timed.

"It will definitely give us a tighter, better show, and will eliminate all the meaningless and time-consuming accidents that took place in the heat races," Swanson continued. "These cars are too expensive to be wrecking, week after week. And the fans have clearly expressed that they do not want to sit through endless qualifying events, halted by caution after caution. They want to see the great wheel-to-wheel action in the feature races.

"We live in a fast-paced world with a short attention span," Swanson went on to point out. "We have instant messaging and overnight deliveries and microwave popcorn. A three-hour movie is one hour too

long!  We can never forget that we're in the entertainment business, competing against a multitude of other activities people can choose to do on Saturday nights, and we need to shorten the show, get families out at a reasonable hour, to keep them coming back."

New Egypt's new qualifying format will make its trial run on Saturday, April 2, with the season-opening Alpine Inn Spring Lidlifter, featuring a five-division card of Modifieds, Sportsman, Super Stocks, Haldeman Ford SS Sprints and the Advantage Financial/Cradle Rock Developers Rookies. Gates will open at 2 pm with qualifying beginning at 5 pm.

The week prior, on Saturday, March 26, the speedway will hold a free-to-the-public practice session which is open to all divisions. Gates will open at 9 am with tech inspection from 9 to noon and practice from 12 to 5 pm. A Rookie orientation class with three-time track champ Billy Pauch is scheduled for 10 am.

For further details about New Egypt Speedway's upcoming season, call the track office at (609) 758-1900 or log on to www.newegyptspeedway.net