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Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and Miley Motorsports honored their 2012 Track Champions at the annual awards banquet held Saturday, March 9th at the Lafayette Room in Imperial, PA.

www.ppms.com.

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The 2013 racing season is rapidly approaching so stay tuned as Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway prepares for another action packed racing season

Additional information is also available on the speedway website:

Third generation driver Michael Norris claimed his first ever Super Late Model title. The Sarver, PA driver who is just 20 years old captured three feature wins to claim the top spot over veteran Alex Ferree by a mere five points. "I want to thank my parents and grandparents as well as my sister Mindy and my girlfriend Kandess for all of their support," stated Norris. Lady racer Kari Gasser came home in the third spot with Ben Miley and Daryl Charlier rounding out the top five.

Second-generation racer Colton Flinner of Allison Park, PA scored his second consecutive track championship in the FASTRAK/Pro-Late Model Division. The 18 year old driver claimed one feature win in 2012 but consistent top five finishes throughout the season enabled him to garner the title over runner-up Kyle Lukon. Flinner was unable to attend the event as he was competing with the FASTRAK Series in Lavonia, GA and his sister Dominique accepted the award on his behalf. Like Norris, Flinner thanked his parents and sister for their support of his racing career and the sacrifices they make so he is able to 'follow his dream of racing full time.' It was also announced that he will compete for the FASTRAK Northeast Series Title in 2013 and will not be defending his PPMS title. Beau Glemba, Justin Lamb and Mark Moats completed the top five in the final Pro-Late standings.

Teenager Logan Crewl battled 2011 Young Guns titlist Todd Weldon for the entire 2012 season en-route to scoring his first ever title in the division. The Carnegie, PA resident is not sure of his plans for the upcoming season but was quick to thank Mike Johnson Racing and Buck Johnson for their dedication and support during the two and a half years he has competed in the division. Weldon, who led the division with nine feature wins, came home in the second spot followed by Bernie Blair, Jr., Adam Carson and Christian Schneider.

Joe Podolinsky of nearby Oakdale, PA picked up his first ever Hobby Stock title in 2012. Podolinsky scored seven victories but almost lost the title when mechanical failure hit the team with just a few shows remaining; had it not been for fellow competitor Chase Evans loaning the team a driveshaft the top two spots may have been reversed. "I want to thank my parents, my wife, Tony Capo and my Uncle Dave for their dedication to this team. I also want to thank Chase Evans and his team for their sportsmanship and assistance during the final weeks of the season." Evans, who claimed three feature wins in 2012 held on for the runner-up spot of over Cal U student Hannah Ramsey, Gary Smith and Ed Wiser.

Jake Simmons continued his domination of the Late Model Sportsman Division as he scored his third consecutive and fourth overall title in 2012. The McKees Rock, PA driver, scored 14 wins in 2012 to claim the top spot over Nick Kocuba, Pat Weldon, Wayne Carbo and Jared Westover. Simmons also revealed that he sold his car to Joe Anthony and is building another car but it may not be ready until later in the 2013 season.

All of the titlists received a black onyx ring, a Hoosier Racing jacket and a trophy in recognition of their championship.

Veteran Late Model Sportsman competitor Vince Laboon of Brentwood, PA captured the prestigious "Sportsman of the Year" Award." The award is presented to an individual who exemplifies the meaning of true "sportsmanship" and Laboon is certainly worthy of the award. Laboon attended his first race at the age of four when he accompanied his father and Ben Miley to an event at Motordrome Speedway. He began his driving career in the E-Mods and when it was announced that the division would not be returning to PPMS in 2012 he decided to continue his career behind the wheel of a Late Model Sportsman car; unfortunately Vince also lost his most ardent supporter, his father Ed, in August, 2012 and a mere ten days later had collected more than $4,000.00 to present to the competitors in the inaugural Ed Laboon Memorial event. The second annual event will be held Saturday, June 1st and Vince has already secured more than $2,000.00 in prize money and contingency sponsorship awards thus far

Late Model veteran Keith Barbara was recognized that the 2012 UFo Champion and was also the recipient of the Awesome Signs and Graphics Hard Charger Award. Late Model competitors were awarded points for each position that they advanced in the feature events held during 2012; Barbara picked up the weekly award on three occasions and will receive a complete decal job courtesy of Awesome Signs and Graphics, which is owned by Ricky Byers.

The following drivers were named "Rookies of the Year in their respective divisions: FASTRAK/Pro-Lates: Brian Goebel; Late Model Sportsman: Vince Laboon; Hobby Stocks: Gary Smith and Young Guns: Roman O'Neill.

The 2013 season at "Dirt's Monster Half Mile" is just a few days away as a Test and Tune Session will be held on Saturday, March 30th. The session is open to all divisions and will be held from 2:00PM to 5:00PM. Pit and Grandstand Admission Gates will open at 1:00PM. Grandstand Admission is Free with Pit Admission priced at $25.00.

The official racing action gets underway just one week later on Saturday, April 6th, with the 2013 Blastoff event featuring the Diehl of Robinson Super Late Models, Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro-Late Models, Sunoco Race Fuels Late Model Sportsman, Miley BP Carwash Hobby Stocks and the Imperial Heights Garage Young Guns. The gates for the Blastoff Event will open at noon with the racing scheduled to begin promptly at 2:00PM

Fans are encouraged to sign up for free race day text messages to get the latest information on weather or traffic delays that may impact the racing action by clicking on the "Rained Out" logo on the speedway website,

This article posted by Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway . Click here for more track information.