(Winston-Salem, NC) December 25, 2014 – Ernie Irvan, rated “one of the top 50 greatest NASCAR drivers in of all time” and his sixteen year old son, rising star, Jared Irvan, will headline the Stateline Speedway Driver Awards Banquet on January 17th at the Ambassador Hotel in Erie. On January 18th, the younger Irvan will be the keynote speaker at the Stateline Speedway Kart Track Driver Awards Banquet, which will be in Sugar Grove, PA.
Ernie Irvan won a total of fifteen NASCAR Winston Cup events during his 13-year NASCAR Winston Cup career, earning a Daytona 500 victory in 1991 driving the famous #4 Kodak Chevrolet for Morgan McClure Motorsports. Irvan proved through his career that he could “get it done” on any type of track, winning races on Super Speedways, Intermediate Tracks, Short Tracks, and Road Courses. If NASCAR raced on dirt, Irvan would likely have been right up front there too.
In 1994, Irvan, quite possibly the only man to intimidate “The Intimidator”, and Earnhardt were tangled in a dog fight atop the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings, with Irvan leading Earnhardt for 13 out of the first 20 events, trailing him by 20 points going into the GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 at Michigan in August. Irvan’s championship hopes ended that Friday during a practice session as a cut tire sent him into the turn-2 wall at Michigan at over 170 miles per hour. Having sustained severe head and lung injuries, Irvan was given a 10% chance of survival his first night after the accident. Irvan recovered enough by December to attend the NASCAR Award Banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and receive the “True Value Hard Charger” award, despite missing the final 11 races of the 1994 season.
October 1, 1995, after nearly a year of rehabilitation and recovery, Irvan returned to NASCAR Winston Cup racing, finishing 6th in his debut at North Wilkesboro and 7th at Atlanta during the season finale. It was at Louden Speedway in New Hampshire in 1996 that Irvan reached the top of the mountain again, winning for the first time since nearly losing his life just two years prior. In 1997, driving the #28 Robert Yates Racing Ford, Irvan captured his 15th and final NASCAR Winston Cup victory at Michigan Speedway, the track that nearly claimed his life.
Finally, on August 20th, exactly five years to the date of his near fatal crash there, Irvan crashed at Michigan while driving his own No. 84 Federated Auto Parts sponsored NASCAR Busch Series car. Irvan once again sustained both a head and lung injury, which prompted his retirement on September 3, 1999.
Since retiring from NASCAR racing as a driver, Irvan has focused his attention on his family, spending time with his wife Kim, daughter Jordan and son Jared – who is making a name for himself in the rising ranks of professional stock car racing in the South East.
Jared Irvan, at the age of 16, has been behind the wheel of a race car for the past eleven years. Jared began driving go-karts on the family dirt track in Mooresville, NC, when he was four years old, often driving with and racing against his dad. “Jared was so small then that we had to make special pedals so that he could reach them, but loved driving and seemed to have really good instincts for getting around the track,” Ernie recalled.
At the age of 6, Jared began racing and winning in the Quarter Midgets at North Carolina Quarter Midget Association (NCQMA) Speedway in Salisbury, NC. In 2011, Jared moved into the USAC Ford Focus Midget Eastern Young Guns Series; Jared won the series championship with three wins and eight top five finishes. In the beginning of 2012 Jared jumped into the Eastern-Ignite Midget Series. Jared racked up much success and ended the season with a championship in his first year racing in the series.
In the fall of 2012, piloting the famous black and red #28, Jared made the jump into Super Late Models, competing in select PASS South races, making his first start at Hickory Motor Speedway where he finished seventh in a field of 28 cars. Continuing his year, Jared finished 3rd at Caraway Speedway, and also finished a close second to Ross Kenseth at South Boston Speedway.
The 2014 season was filled with success for the younger Irvan, placing 3rd in the Pro All Stars Series South Super Late Model tour points. Irvan posted 4 “top 5’s” and 10 “top 10’s” in 14 starts, including two pole awards – his last being the season ending Mason Dixon Meltdown 200 at Southern National Speedway.
“Ernie Irvan represents the fight that we all need to have when times get tough or when we feel doomed. Ernie fought back, not only to live his life, but to win a total of three more NASCAR Winston Cup races after a near fatal accident, that is impressive and hopefully is an inspiration to all of us that no matter what the obstacle, we need to find the fight, get up on the wheel and make it happen”, stated Bill Catania, CEO of Short Track Management.
Stateline Kart Track drivers are equally excited to hear from Jared Irvan, who will keynote the Kart Driver Awards Banquet the following day in Sugar Grove, PA. “Many of our Kart drivers are very young, many of which fall into the 5 year old to 16 year old range, and I feel that Jared’s message of what it takes to be successful in racing, even if your dad is one of the 50 NASCAR greats, will be a good message for them to hear.”, stated Catania.
The Stateline Speedway Driver Awards Banquet will be held at the Ambassador Banquet and Conference Center on Saturday January 17th, 2015 at 6:00 PM. The evening will begin at 6PM with cocktails and will include Dinner, Awards for Top-10 Drivers, Keynote address by Ernie Irvan, Special Awards and Entertainment. Tickets can be purchased for $35 in advance of $50 at the door. Fans that are not affiliated with a team or are not a crew member can purchase tickets for $45 in advance and $60 at the door. Learn more or purchase tickets online at www.racestateline.com.
