Story by: Mason Dunn ~ mason@RACE22.com

Richmond, VA(April 28, 2010) -- When most people think about charity races hosted by NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers the first one that comes to mind is always the Prelude to the Dream hosted by Tony Stewart out at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. Well a new name is being forged and gaining a lot of momentum and attention and that is the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown which will run its third edition this Thursday.

This year's edition will be a bit different than years past. First big change is the departure from the Limited Sportsman rulebook used weekly at Southside Speedway in favor of
 

the NASCAR Late Model Stock rulebook. Also, the most noticeable difference will be the presence of more and more NASCAR drivers with new names joining in on the fun this year.

The faces from last year will be back, those being Hamlin himself as well as two-time event winner Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano and Curtis Markham. New recognizable faces joining the fray will be last weeks winner at Talladega Kevin Harvick, Virginia natives Elliott and Hermie Sadler, Bobby Labonte, Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola and surprise entrant, Martinsville Track President Clay Campbell.

What will be interesting is how these NASCAR guys will be able to compete with some of the best Late Model Stock drivers and teams from the Mid-Atlantic region. Championships will be represented with defending and multiple-time Motor Mile Speedway track champion Philip Morris will be in attendance as well as defending Langley Speedway track champion C.E. Falk and defending and only two-time UARA series champion Matt McCall. Also former UARA champion and 2009 Bailey's 300 winner Jake Crum is on the entry list.

The two tracks that will be the best represented by volume of drivers will be Southside Speedway itself, which is surprising seeing as how the rule package is not that of Southside's weekly division, and the neighbor to the east, Langley Speedway. Southside will be represented by drivers like Lin O'Neill, Shannon Marano, Eddie Johnson and Shayne Lockhart. Johnson is probably one of the most decorated drivers in this race with championships at Southside and Langley as well as some big wins as recently as the Late Model Stock Car portion of the 2009 Mason Dixon 500 at South Boston Speedway. Former Southside standout Marc Davis will also be making a rare Late Model Stock appearance for the race.

Representing Langley Speedway alongside defending track champion Falk will be a strong contingent of drivers including two pairs of brothers in Dean and Jeff Shiflett, who each have made starts this year at both Langley and South Boston, as well as the Waltz brothers Kyle and Matt who will be sporting brand new chassis for the first time in 2010. Also representing Langley will be long-time Late Model driver Terry Carroll and two-time Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion Mark Wertz in his Bel-Air look-a-like Chevrolet.

Motor Mile and South Boston will also have representation at Southside of course with Philip Morris coming into town as well as Tommy Lemons Jr., Nick Smith and Rodney Cook. The UARA-STARS series is well represented with series champions Crum and McCall as well as Scott Turlington, Brandon McReynolds, who is fresh off two ARCA starts and Darrell Wallace Jr, taking a break from his duties with Revolution Racing. Former NASCAR K&N East Series driver, Stephen Berry is also on the entry list as well as Late Model Stock Car racing veteran, Bugs Hairfield.

With 39 cars on the entry list and 30 slated to take the green flag for 250 laps at the very rough and tumble bullring known as Southside this will definitely be one of the most interesting Late Model Stock races of the season pitting some of NASCAR's best against some of the best weekly short track guys. Who will take home the win? Will it be a veteran like Johnson, Morris or Hairfield? Or will it be a young gun like McReynolds, Falk or Wallace Jr.? Or will one of the NASCAR guys be able to knock Kyle Busch off his win streak? Or will Kyle Busch be able to claim three in a row for McCray Motorsports?

But personally, I think one of the most intriguing questions that is always asked before any big Late Model Stock race, who will be leaving the tech shed a bit unhappier then when they went in there with Langley Speedway tech director, Shayne Laws running the show? With recent changes in the NASCAR Late Model Stock rule book don't be surprised if tech inspection is along similar lines as the big races at Martinsville and Myrtle Beach.

Event Schedule
4:00 pm Front Gate Opens
4:15 pm Qualifying Begins (Top Twenty Locked-In)
6:50pm 30 Lap Last Chance Race #1 (top 5 transfer to feature)
7:15pm 30 Lap Last Chance Race #2 (top 5 transfer to feature)
7:45pm Driver Introductions
7:55pm Invocation/National Anthem/Grand Marshal
8:00pm LMSC 250 Lap Feature begins

DH Showdown Entry List
01 Jeff Shiflett
04 Bugs Hairfield
06 Dean Shiflett
07 Chris Hopkins
07 Richard Storm
1va Lin O'Neill
1 Jake Crum
1 Kyle Waltz
2 Matt Waltz
4 Curtis Markham
6 Shannon Marano
7 Scott Marshall
9 Stephen Berry
11 Denny Hamlin
12 Nick Smith
14 Tony Stewart
15 Aric Almirola
19 Elliott Sadler
20 Joey Logano
23 Matt McCall
25 Hermie Sadler
26 Philip Morris
27 Tommy Lemons Jr.
28 Brandon McReynolds
29 Kevin Harvick
36 Marc Davis
40 C.E. Falk
44 Bobby Labonte
47 Marcos Ambrose
48 Scott Turlington
51 Kyle Busch
55 Mark Wertz
55 Clay Campbell
57 Eddie Johnson
74 Rodney Cook
76 Darrell Wallace Jr.
77 Clint Mills
90 Terry Carroll
95 Shayne Lockhart