Mooresville, NC 3/8/10- A new year means a fresh start for many race teams. That fact is no different for Texas’s own Trey Mitchell. After a few top five finishes last season, including a runner up finish in the Independence 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway, Mitchell is making the move to Gary Crooks Racing for the 2010 season with plans to chase the PASS South series championship title.
 
“This year we decided to go in a little different direction and run for a championship in the PASS South Series and I believe the switch to Gary Crooks calling the shots will give our team the best opportunity to do that this year,” said Mitchell. “It’s a new year and a new chance to get our first career win and I’m hoping sometime in 2010 we can do that.”
 
Mitchell’s plans are to run the entire 2010 PASS South series schedule beginning with this weekend’s South Carolina Clash 150 at the 4/10th mile egg shaped Dillon Motor Speedway. The track features wide fourteen degree banked turns with narrow straights that can create chaos off of the corners.
 
This weekend’s race will mark a few firsts for the duo. Not only will the event be the first time the two will work together in 2010, but neither Crooks nor Mitchell has ever competed at the Dillon, South Carolina track before and had yet to see the facility until a recent test just a week ago.
 
“We just want to get off to a great start,” said Mitchell. “It is important to start off the season strong with us running for the championship. We don’t want to be trying to dig out of a hole from the very start of the season.”
 
Not only are Dillon’s confines tight down the straights, but the track has a similar shape to its big sister just 40 miles down the road in Darlington, SC. Turns three and four have a bit tighter radius than one and two, making it harder for drivers and crew chiefs to find the right balance for their car.
 
“We went to Dillon just last week and did some testing and we’re pretty happy with how things went,” said Mitchell. “It’s a new season and everything is new for both me and Gary. We just wanted to work out the kinks, build up a relationship, and a line of communication so when we come back for the race we are prepared once we unload and hopefully start off the year on the right foot.”  
 
In six PASS South Series starts in 2009, Mitchell earned one last chance qualifier win, four top tens and three top fives to go along with a seventh place showing in his Super Later Model debut at the 2009 Rattler 250 in Opp, AL.  Mitchell and his team are looking for much bigger and better things in 2010 and hope that the new duo gets thing started right away.
 
Stay tuned to www.treymitchellracing.com for all the latest news and information regarding Trey Mitchell Racing in 2010. For more information on sponsorship please visit sponsortrey.com. For public relations and website information contact Chris Ragle at cragle02@yahoo.com or call 704-706-3666.