Lehigh Valley Grand Prix, the regions premiere indoor karting venue has been granted the unique opportunity to host the Media Launch event for Pocono Raceway’s IndyCar 400 race on July 7th.  IndyCar has selected Marco Andretti as the driver promoting the event.  The driver selection makes complete sense due to the fact that Marco resides in Nazareth, Pa.

The Media Launch event will take place on May 8th at 1:30 pm.  Marco will be racing and interviewing with the media until approximately 3:30pm.  At 3:30pm he will be available for pictures and autographs with fans.

The IndyCar 400 is the first IndyCar race held at Pocono Raceway since 1989.  The raceway has undertaken major changes in the past two years after the passing of the famous Doc Mattioli.  Doc’s grandson’s Brandon and Nick Igdalsky have taken the reins and have been aggressive with renovating the track and adding races to the 2 famous NASCAR events.  The tri oval was resurfaced in 2012 leading the way for hosting this major IndyCar event.

Get ready to rock out for the final NASCAR race of the season at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix!  Pocono Raceway, WZZO, Archery Addictions and Octane-adrenaline bar are going teaming up to deliver a crazy event!!  Octane-adrenaline bar located at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix will be hosting the event, showing the NASCAR Race on it’s 5-42″ televisions and broadcasting the race over the sound system.

Unless, you are sitting in the stands there will be no better place to watch the race!!

The event is FREE to attend!!  The sponors will be giving away all kinds of great stuff including, T-SHIRTS, POCONO RACEWAY RACE TICKETS, CONCERT TICKETS & MORE!!!  Oh yea, did we mention?….Pocono is bringing their PACE CAR!

The track at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix will be open all day for racing.  Bring your friends & family out for a great day to celebrate the final race of the NASCAR season!

Party starts at 1pm on Nov 18th and goes until the checkered flag!!

It would take a lot more than a little rainout to stop the fun at the LVGP500 and Pocono Raceway Viewing Party!!

As the teams rolled in for the sold out event at 7am to prepare for the first ever LVGP500 you could feel that it was going to be a great competition.  The field held 13 teams, 4 teams in the pro class and 9 teams in the amateur field.

To qualify for the race the teams participated in a 5 minute qualifier.  The results.  1. Runt & Jianni 2.  Speed Dudes 3.  Octane  4.  Boneheads  5.  333  6.  Racer X  7.  Indo Pratama  8.  The Bitches  9.  Speed Shop  10.  Rib Breaker  11.  Pocono Raceway  12.  Sibum Auto Part  13.  Wheel2Wheel.

The start of the race was chaos.  On the first start a kart didn’t make it to the green flag so there had a to be a restart.  On the restart the top qualifier pulled in to make a kart swap giving up the lead on the first lap!  Speed Dudes quickly followed for a stop and go in the pits.  Team 333 also did a kart swap to start the race.  After two laps team Octane was in the lead!  That lead wouldn’t last long as Team 333 charged up the field and made the pass.

Team 333 would run a near flawless race to take a victory in the Pro class with a 3 lap lead. Team Speed Dudes who had won the previous 5 enduros would finish in the second position, while Runt & Jianni would fight back after some poor decision making early on to secure the final podium spot.

The Amatuer class provided some good racing as well as some comic relief in the pit area.  Team Indo Pratama fielded a team from the Northern Virginia area and had very little experience on the LVGP track.  This team of experienced drivers would eventually figure out the line and make a 3 lap comeback to beat out Octane for the amateur victory!  Octane finished the race a 1/4 lap behind Indo Pratama with “The B’s” finishing in 3rd place.

After the race the awards ceremony held in the main lobby  was packed wall to wall with people attending the race as well as the Pocono Raceway Viewing party, provided some great recognition for the participants.

Following the awards Kevin Haney from Pocono Raceway started up the Viewing Party.  With great anticipation for the Daytona 500 it was disappointing to have the rainout but Kevin made the most of it.  The crowd latest for a few hours while Pocono gave away race tickets, signed racing memorabilia and gear.  Overall, it was a great event even though the NASCAR race never got going.

Overall LVGP500 Results

Pro Class

1.  Team 333- 500 laps

2.  Speed Dudes- 497 laps

3.  Runt(.)(.)Jianni- 494 laps

4.  Boneheads- 489 laps

Amatuer Class

1.  Indo Pratama- 479 laps

2.  Octane- 479 laps

3.  The B’s- 472 laps

4.  Sibum Auto Part- 467 laps

5. Speed Shop- 466 laps

6.  Racer X- 464 laps

7.  Pocono Raceway- 455 laps

8.  Rib Breaker- 454 laps

9.  Wheel2Wheel- 448 laps

Looking back upon 2011 it is amazing to think it was only 12 months!  We gave witness to Tony Stewart win a Cup Championship and bring life back to NASCAR while on the other end of the spectrum we witnessed Dan Wheldon’s life taken.  LVGP inked a deal with Indy Car driver, Marco Andretti and found tremendous growth.  It was a year of excitement; changing the track layout and adding a new lighting system as well as a year that provide a positive outlook to what is ahead.

The management team, lead by Mike Achey has been putting new training programs in place to ensure that customers receive great service and a great experience while attending the facility.

The competition team, headed by Ryan Suchon, was hard at work this year introducing a new Summer Iron Man series that received rave reviews as all three races sold out.  There was also the introduction of the new and improved Jr. League series with new Assistant Race Director, Kyle Lick, taking the reigns.  We had our best received Jr. League in company history!

There was also the changing of the guard as LVGP named a new President to the facility.  Kristine McCreary, former President Mike McCreary’s wife, will be taking on a new title as the racing facility grows.  Kristine has shown great leadership in Sales and Finance and will continue to take the company to a new level.

Looking ahead to 2012 there are really exciting new products being added to the facility.  Construction has begun for the new bar Octane that will be opening in early 2012.  The bar has always been a dream of the team at LVGP as the facility looks to improve and add products to our customers.  Octane will provide a great venue for customer’s to enjoy beverages and a bite to eat after racing to talk up their on track experience.

Octane has opened the doors to new partnerships such as Pocono Raceway.  The team is excited to be working with Pocono to hold viewing parties for some of the NASCAR races this upcoming season.  The first party will be held for the Daytona 500 race on February 26th.

2012 will also be the year of the mobile device.  The facility is going to be unrolling the new mobile website that will include the ability to check hours, look up race results as well as purchase gift cards.  In a world that lives on it’s cell phone we are excited to give our customers a more convenient way to interact with LVGP.

As we close out 2011, the team at LVGP would like to give a big thank you to our 20,000 racers this past year!  2011 has been a great success and we attribute that to our customers that we value dearly.  Thank you so much and we look forward to providing you with an adrenaline rush in 2012!

~The team at LVGP

Pocono Raceway, a host of two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events each summer,  will be bringing the excitement of NASCAR to race fans across the region with Viewing Parties of select NASCAR races in 2012. Lehigh Valley Grand Prix has been named as the location to kick off the 2012 Pocono Raceway Viewing Party Series!

Octane, the new bar opening at LVGP will host the event with Pocono Raceway.  The event will include drink specials, race specials, food specials, giveaways from Pocono including race tickets, signed racing memorabilia and gear.  The party date is set for February 26th which is the date that NASCAR opens the season in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Prior to the viewing party LVGP will be hosting the LVGP500.  A race that is designed to celebrate the start of the NASCAR season.  12 teams will compete to see who can complete 500 laps first!  The race will host 2 classes of drivers for the experienced and beginners.  The program is designed to be fun for everyone and will include prizes and awards afterwards.  Competitors will then get to celebrate the finish at the viewing party held at Octane.

“When we were looking to add Octane to the facility the goal was to provide a fun environment where fans could come enjoy the races at a racing facility.  With the partnership with Pocono Raceway it is truly going to add to the excitment!” said Mike McCreary- President of Octane- Adrenaline Bar

The Viewing party is open to everyone.  To register for the LVGP500 race contact the track at 610-432-RACE(7223) or email competition@lehighvalleygrandprix.com.