GENERAL TIRE 200 AT TALLADEGA SPEEDWAY: Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile, Alabama crew are continuing their long standing relationship with the Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind (AIDB) this weekend at Talladega. Jeffrey Oliver, a student at AIDB will become a pit crew member this weekend for the General Tire 200. “We always enjoy having students come over from AIDB and having Jeffrey come back to help us out is really cool.” Speaking of special guest, fresh off a Gold Medal Performance at the Special Olympics, Reese McGagahin, the Moose’s ride along buddy from Mobile International Speedway a few weeks ago will be with the team this weekend at Talladega. Its Dega all the stars come out! “Talladega is so much fun for us, so many people hanging out. I wish we had 2 Talladega’s, one without the race where we can just have fun with everyone that supports us and one where we race”, said Praytor. “Talladega is circled on our calendar, it’s Alabama and everyone know how much I like restrictor plate racing. We’ve proved we have really good plate stuff and with Tab Boyd on the roof we expect to be in contention.”
SPOTTER: At the races that are companion events with the Sprint Cup Series, Praytor will continue to utilize Pensacola native Tab Boyd. When he is not moonlighting for Praytor, Boyd is William Byron’s new spotter in the Monster Cup Series.
The General Tire 200 is a 2 day event starting with technical inspection Thursday. The gates open bright and early at 7 am Friday morning for an incredible day of events, starting with practice at 8:30. We will then roll into General Tire qualifying at 2:30 pm, and the green flag will drop at 5PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Also, please follow us on Twitter (@DKLOKRacing), Instagram (Thomas Praytor), and Facebook (Dk-Lok Racing) for live trackside updates from our PR team.
PRIMARY SPONSOR: Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) aidb.org
DK-LOK Fittings & Valves www.dklokusa.com.
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: G-Force, Nudraulix, Rettigs Auto Body, APS Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, MAECO Fabrication, John Thompson & Associates, Judy’s Place, Ainsworth Racing, Greer’s Food Market, Wade Distributing, VFW Post 80, Golden Flake, Mobile County Sheriff’s Department, Praytor Properties
CAR: MF002 The team has been working on this chassis for the last 5 seasons for exclusive use at Daytona and Talladega. It’s paid off with the car and Praytor drafting to their way into the top 5 in the last 5 plate races. Expect more bold moves at Talladega.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: The name of the game this week will go something like the Toy Story theme song “You’ve got A Friend in Me”. This week is all about strategy and partnership. Starting with group qualifying, either your group finds a friend in one another or… you’ll be in the dust. Same goes for the race, you have to find that right draft group that will stick with you until the end. The fans will be in for a ride to see who finds their “Friend until the End” or will be stuck solo. Oh and last thing.. STAY OUT OF THE BIG ONE!
Talladega Speedway:
2.66 Miles
ALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR DEAF AND BLIND: The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deaf-blind and multidisabled. Founded in 1858 by a young medical doctor who wanted to educate his deaf brother, AIDB now serves more than 22,500 infants, toddlers, children, adults and seniors with hearing and vision loss throughout Alabama each year. WWW.AIDB.OR
DK-LOK USA: Founded in 1986, DK-LOK Fittings and Valves supply industrial applications from analytical and process instrumentation, gas, power generation, petrochemical processing, ship building to semiconductor manufacturing. DK-LOK tube fittings, instrument pipe & weld fittings, and valves are manufactured to stringent industry standards. With the use of only the highest grade raw material and 1/1000″ tolerance control on each and every part, DK-LOK assures a leak-tight seal in all process, power, and instrumentation applications. DK-LOK USA is a Mobile, Alabama based firm operating nationally and internationally.
THOMAS “MOOSE” PRAYTOR: In 2017 Thomas “Moose” Praytor became the ARCA Ironman or IronMoose by achieving more consecutive starts than any other active ARCA Driver. By the end of the 2017 season Praytor had extended his streak to 101 consecutive starts. In addition to having the most consecutive starts, IronMoose is the only active driver to finish in the top ten in the ARCA Championship Standings for the last five seasons. For more on the Moose- www.thomaspraytor.com.
MAX FORCE RACING: Max Force Racing is based out of Mobile, Alabama and is fielding cars in its 21st season of competition.
Picture: Praytor with DeKendrick Graves & Jeffrey Oliver, AIDB Students in 2017.