MHE2 Motorsports Wins National Baby Grand Championship

 

FRANKLIN, Tenn., August 16, 2004 – MHE2 Motorsports, of Franklin, Tenn., locked-up the 2004 Miniature Motorsports Racing Association (MMRA) Pro National Championship in its typical, dominating fashion. The culmination of the season came at Lake Erie Speedway (North East, Penn.) where MHE2 driver Bill Christie, Shelbyville, Tenn., won the pole and the race in the No. 3 RV Services/ KSE/ East Tennessee Trailers “Baby Grand” entry owned by Mark Hyjek. The title is the second Baby Grand championship for the duo that first combined to win the 2001 National Baby Grand Road Racing Championship. It is Christie’s third Baby Grand championship having also won the 2000 Baby Grand Stock Car Association title.

 

While MHE2 set the mark at every event it entered this season, it was not an easy year for the team who returned fulltime to the series for the first time since ’01. As the leading title contender, those hoping to be the ‘faster gun’ challenged at each track along the way. Even the title-clinching race proved a challenge for the team who, do to the inversion of the qualifying field for the main event, had to start in eighth-place on the grid. Christie, one of the hottest, up-and-coming drivers in motorsports, battled his way into the lead on lap six and, despite multiple challenges, never gave up the top spot the remainder of the event. Several cautions would bunch the field throughout the race making the No. 3 Baby Grand “Monte Carlo” an easy target for the second and third-place running cars. However, Christie was able to fight off his attackers each time taking the checkered flag and the 2004 title.

 

Bill Christie: “Racing in the MMRA series this year has been all I had hoped for. Winning the National Championship for a second time couldn’t have been possible without the dedicated help from my friend and car owner Mark Hyjek with MHE2 Motorsports and my crew chief Dwight Laxton.  I also want to thank my friends and family that donated their time, support and sometimes money to make this season a success. Also a special thanks to Rod Thurley at RV Services for supporting us throughout the season and providing us with a new East TN Trailer to transport our Number 3 Monte Carlo from track to track. I only hope that my continued success and my past accomplishments will grab the attention of someone in a higher racing division who would allow me to keep proving my true racing ability.”

 

Mark Hyjek, team owner/ manager: “I'm very proud of Bill and the team. I’m also very appreciative of our sponsors, supporters and fans for all of their commitment in our championship season. The team’s goal was to ensure a consistent, top-quality vehicle to match Bill's equally consistent driving style. Both were integral parts to our success. We not only met that goal but took a championship home as well. Bill's attention to car setup was enhanced by his synergistic relationship with our crew chief Dwight Laxton [the former owner of Carl Edwards’ championship-winning Baby Grand]. Everyone worked together very well and it paid off with our second championship.”

 

Since its last serious run at the Baby Grand title, MHE2 has been competing, and winning, in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Truck series at the former Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee now known as the Nashville Motorplex. While Christie, when not in an MHE2 machine, has taken turns behind the wheel of late model stock cars, racing trucks, USAC midgets and Silver Crown cars and more.

 

To learn more about MHE2 Motorsports, please visit www.mhe2.com.

Digital images and bios available upon request.

Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web sites.  Thank you.

 

contact: Tom Moore, MHE2 Motorsports Media Relations,

615-778-1614 (office), 404-229-3703 (cell), Tom@DarkhorseCom.com