The FASTRAK Points Banquet, better known as the "Night of Champions", was held this past weekend at the Nashville Airport Marriott, Nashville TN. Teams from all over the country were in attendance as things got under way. Wyoming, Wisconsin, Oregon, Georgia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee were all represented in what ended on a fantastic note for the upcoming racing season. Lots of teams and their families enjoyed the music in downtown Nashville.

The week got under way on Thursday with Regional Director Meetings from across the country. Friday was rules discussion and marketing programs for all weekly sanctioned tracks and later that afternoon came the technical meeting for track tech people from across the country. Saturday morning FASTRAK held a driver and team marketing class for all FASTRAK teams and later that afternoon FASTRAK met again for the team rules meeting. The goal was, when everyone left this past weekend there was no doubt people from across the nation were on the same page.

"I just can't believe this place," was the common statement of the day. The chandelier lighting was turned down low as people entered the ballroom to be seated. There was a large projection screen on stage in which the $10,000 to win crate late model nationals dvd was being played during the four course meal being served by the hotel staff. There were two Champions cars on display. William Thomas the FASTRAK Grand National Champion and that of Nick Lyons the CARS Series Champion as both were displayed beside the stage in front of the room.

There were trophies everywhere on the stage along with checks and jackets for teams. The Southern and Mid East Region awards were given out this night as well. All other FASTRAK regions across the country had completed their banquets before as to keep teams from being forced to travel as much.

New FASTRAK Vice President Doug Gillenwater started things off and hosted the night's events. FASTRAK President Mary Kay Combes was the first to speak, thanking everyone and presenting a beautiful award to Founder Stan Lester. Lester then invited the FASTRAK "three year employees" to the stage. National Tech Director Rick Ellison, Miss FASTRAK Paula Dunn and President Mary Kay Combes were awarded leather FASTRAK jackets for their hard work over the last three years.

Bill Martens of General Motors Performance Parts was the first partner of the series to speak. Martens told the crowd they were very proud to be a part of the series and looked forward to years to come. Scott Junod of Goodyear Racing Tires followed. Junod explained the relationship with the series and looked forward to the continued astounding growth of FASTRAK. The Marketing Partners in attendance were asked to come to the stage as awards of appreciation was given to all.

Prizes were awarded to everyone in the audience as the staff of the hotel had taped tickets under each seat before the banquet doors were opened. Many FASTRAK official merchandise was given away including drink cozies, thermal cups, t -shirts, die cast cars and more. General Motors gAVE away driver bags in addition to the prizes.

Then came the BIG drawings. Four new GM 604 crate engines, ten sets of Goodyear Late Model Racing Tires, two sets of wheels from Duralite, four sets of headers from Schoenfeld plus many more prizes. Then the top three in the entire United States, William Thomas, Lee Cooper and Jordy Nipper were asked to the front. They chose from three brand new chassis which included Mastersbilt, TNT and Rocket.

Along the way the Champions were brought to the stage. First; Track Champions from across the United States. They were awarded Champion Jackets, five foot trophies and champions checks. Secondly, came the Regional Champions. They were awarded six foot trophies and Champions jackets. As well as checks for the Southern and Mid East Regions for the top ten in each region.

At that time Nick Lyons was asked to the stage as the CARS Series Champion. A brief explanation to the crowd of why FASTRAK was crowning Lyons brought them to their feet as Lyons gave his sincere thanks for FASTRAK making the effort to do this for him. Lyons was welcomed by all of the FASTRAK affiliates in the room.

Then top forty in the entire Nation were then brought to the stage. Ten at a time, starting from 40th position. Each was given their checks and as the top ten entered the stage they were given plaques and trophies. The top four were given the opportunity to speak.

Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for. William Thomas, not only the FASTRAK National Champion but the youngest national dirt late model champion in the history of the United States was about to be presented with his Championship earnings. It was a jubilant moment as the entire crowd celebrated with Thomas. Thomas was handed his check by Founder Stan Lester on stage. Thomas was also given his leather National Champion jacket. Then something different happened. Much to the surprise of Thomas and everyone in the audience, the National Championship trophy was brought out right in front of the stage and completely covered. Every time Thomas had seen the trophy it had a copy of the FASTRAK die cast car on the bottom. Now, being unveiled, was the National Championship trophy that proudly displayed the yellow 22 car that Thomas won the National Championship with instead. As it was presented to the crowd, everyone was on their feet.

Young Thomas came to the microphone as he received his $50,000 check from Lester. He graciously thanked everyone including all of his competitors and the series itself along with his sponsors and that of the series too. The most remarkable moment was when he called his father, Billy Thomas to the stage and hugged his neck as he thanked him. Billy spoke for a moment as well. It was an awesome site. Young Thomas then stepped down as the crowd stood to their feet in congratulations. He headed to the front of the stage to pick up his championship trophy. As he tried to pick it up it was a little more heavy than he anticipated but he was not letting it go again. As he more or less dragged it back to his table this was one trophy young Thomas would admire forever.

Everyone thought it was over as Lester stepped back to the microphone. At that time Lester explained how much he appreciated everyone involved and much to the amazement of everyone in attendance, he also announced a new stock program whereby all FASTRAK affiliates would have the opportunity to own a part of FASTRAK. Every driver, team owner, weekly sanctioned track, regional director, employees and even the sponsors of the series would as of June 1st 2008 be able to purchase stock of the company.

*THE FASTRAK DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES is based on the GM crate engine program using both the 602 and 604 engine types. All teams utilize Goodyear Racing Tires as the "spec tire" allowing teams tremendous savings in both engine and tire expense. The National Championship of the FASTRAK RACING SERIES is one of the largest in the United States and is expected to be close to ½ million dollars for the 2008 season