Duck Tape Racing Begins 2011 Campaign

Seagrove, NC - While winter still graps the northeast in its icy clutches, the 2011 drag racing schedule breaks that grip at the end of an ever-shorter off-season. Duck Tape Racing returns to the track this weekend, January 28-29, 2001, at the IHRA Palm Beach Nitro Jam, hosted by Palm Beach International Raceway, in Jupiter, Fla. Palm Beach was the site of driver Michael Beard's season-opening victory in Stock Eliminator last year. That win kicked off the most successful campaign of his career, piling up a bevy of awards both on and off track, including two Nitro Jam wins, the long-postponed 2009 IHRA Tournament of Champions Stock World Championship, the Summit All Stars Stock crown, and the IHRA Sportsman Driver of the Year award, among others.

This season, Beard's opening volley will come from behind the wheel of his first Stock Eliminator car, an unconventional but deadly Billy Nees Race Cars-prepped Duck Tape '85 Plymouth Turismo. The 2.2L four cylinder, front wheel drive car surprised and confounded a multitude of opponents last year, capturing two wins and two semifinals in just ten weekends of racing.

"We're in the process of building a Super Stock engine for the Duck Tape Volare, which will allow us to compete at a wider range of events while maintaining the reliability and consistency we've enjoyed with our Sloan Racing Engines-built 360 Magnum crate motor," said Beard. "So, in the meantime, the Turismo is the weapon of choice. It proved itself more than capable last year, and I'm looking forward to competing with it on the big stage. That car is already legal for both IHRA and NHRA, so it's another car that allows us some more flexibility in our scheduling, so we can compete at higher-profile events - and that means more exposure for our sponsors. At many of the events closer to home, I hope to be able to compete with both cars.

"I'd like to thank Southland Speed for coming on board to help with the Super Stock project. The knowledge and support of Jeff Teuton, Scott Helms, and everyone else at Southland is invaluable. They're also a lot of fun," he added. "You quickly realize that they're the life of the party, where a race just happens to break out!

"I'd also like to thank Abruzzi Racing Transmissions and Converters for updating our transmission and converter to Super Stock spec. Abruzzi is huge in the world of Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and big money bracket racing, but we're going to introduce Stock and Super Stock racers to what they've been missing. Thanks also to Ross Pistons, a product we've used since winning our first World Championship in 2003, for stepping up to join our long-time backers including Duck brand duct tape, Mickey Thompson, Bearden Oil - Sunoco Race Fuels, CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, K&N Filters, Bradley Auto Parts, Macy Motorsports, Sloan Racing Engines, Billy Nees Race Cars, Jim Bailey's FINISHED, Staging Light Graphics, Matt Zapp, Stephen Beard, and everyone else who has helped along the way."

Fans will be able to follow the action this weekend via Live Timing on http://www.ihra.com/. For schedules, results, sponsor links and more information, visit Duck Tape Racing online at www.staginglight.com/motorsports/