Story by: Tony Stevens/Contributor to RACE22.com

Charlotte, NC (December 4, 2009) -- While the stock car racing season is winding down this weekend with the Snowball Derby, a number of racing superstars are still taking it to the track in Charlotte, NC, during the 12 Hours of VLK at Victory Lane Karting. Among those on the entry list for the December 5-6 event are two teams from the United States Formula 1 organization, 2009 UARA-STARS Champion Matt McCall and a team sponsored by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Joey Logano.

Indoor kart racing has become more popular throughout the decade as an affordable way for hometown racers to fill their competitive urges. Within the past couple of years, the sport has quickly risen in popularity and competition. In 2008, VLK hosted the first 24 Hours of Charlotte and local kart racing specialists Team Endurance Karting came home the victor. Six months later, in the inaugural 12-hour event, teams came from as far away as Michigan to compete for top honors.

The 2009 12 Hours of Charlotte has an all-star entry list and for anyone wanting his/her late-night fix of racing, this is the event to watch. Aside from a rumored appearance by the two yet-to-be-named US F1 drivers(one on each team) and UARA Champion McCall, the list of names is a who's-who of racing. Sons of NASCAR greats(and
 

UARA/NASCAR competitors in their own right) such as Coleman Pressley, Kyle Grissom, Corey Lajoie and Brandon McReynolds will be entered on the team sponsored by NASCAR Sprint Cup star Joey Logano. Additional entrants include 2009 Lonesome Pine Raceway Track Champion and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Nate Monteith, 2009 PASS Truck Series Champion Grant Davidson and UARA-STARS competitor Garrett Campbell.

For those who more closely follow indoor karting, the list of stars is also lengthy. 24 Hours of Charlotte Champions Hans Soneson, Michael Ibach, DJ Osmond, Robbie Freeman and Joe Sansone are scheduled to compete as well as indoor karting specialists Dan Burke, Kevin Bligan and Johan Schwartz from Team Endurance Karting. Also attending the event but not competing will be the fifth-ranked indoor karter in the world, VLK's own Jordan Pembleton.

"This year's event will be one you don't want to miss, that's for sure," said Start-n-Parkers Team Captain Tony Stevens who finished third with Team Finish Line Race Gear in this event last year. "The usual suspects will be up front but each event keeps getting more and more competitive. Even if we finish last, this will probably be the most fun I've ever had at one of these events because it's not every day you get to race against so many top talents from various types of racing."

"The Field Fillers are going for the trophy this year," said Coleman Pressley who finished fifth in this event last season with the same teammates he will be running with this year. "Everyone else may be good, but we're going to be better."

"Team Stacked had its own identity," said Hans Soneson in reference to the winning team he drove for in the 24 Hour race in May. "This race we will have Team ETW, and it's a little different, but we should be just as good. There's no stopping us."

The 12 Hours of VLK is a continuously run endurance event in identically prepared and randomly assigned Sodi RX7 race karts beefed up for indoor competition. Teams will stint drivers at a maximum interval of every 45 minutes with "fuel stops" as needed where teams will swap karts from a line of waiting machines. Physical and mental endurance, pit strategy, driver lineup, consistency and luck will all play a part in winning the winter endurance classic in Charlotte. The event is presented by NOS Energy Drink and a number of other product and prize sponsors.

Spectator admission is free for this weekend's event. The event's drivers meeting kicks off at 7:30pm ET with "official" practice beginning at 8pm ET on Saturday night with a fifteen minute qualifying session at 9:15pm ET. The race goes green promptly at 10pm ET with the checkered flag falling at 10am ET on Sunday morning. Photos, award and prize presentations begin at approximately 10:15am ET following the event.

For more information on the 12 Hours of VLK and on Victory Lane Karting, visit www.victorylanekarting.com. Victory Lane Karting is also the home of RaceCastLive.com's "Kickin' Asphalt" radio show, broadcast every Tuesday from 6-8pm ET in the facility's lobby.