ATHENS, GA (May 12, 2008) – Four races and four winners is the record now on the RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour. This Saturday night the inaugural series welcomed its newest member to the winners chapter of its record books, Florida’s Jay Middleton.

Ironically, 2007 was a year away from the competitive driver’s seat for Middleton. He got married and helped film a reality TV show at Bronson Motor Speedway. His work on the TV show helped him land a ride with former NASCAR Southeast Series Champion Mike Cope. Cope runs his race shop right next to the 3/8th of a mile racetrack. Yet, the new team had not posted a victory, that is, until Saturday night. Middleton outdueled the tough ASA SAT competition at Cope’s home track of Bronson and visited victory lane in “Gator 100.”

“I had to play the part of wheel-man tonight because we didn’t have the best car out there,” said Middleton, who took over the point lead in the RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour. “When we got out front, the car got real tight; we had to play defense out there all night. I held my breath for 80 laps and did what I had to do.”

After pole-winner Daniel Keene Jr. led the first 14 laps, Middleton got under him on the fifteenth circuit and tried to speed away from the pack. The only problem was that his teammate, Travis Cope (Mike’s son), followed him past Keene. It appeared as though it was only a matter of time before Cope was going to put the move on Middleton, but Cope wound up spinning out just past the halfway mark in the race.

“Travis Cope had by far the fastest car out here tonight,” stated Middleton. “He’s my teammate and he had a lot of pressure from behind. I didn’t get back in the gas quick enough at one point and instead of turning us around, he practically spun himself out.”

In reality, Cope did spin, but just before that point, he had been cautious about his advancements. Having a teammate in front of him made Cope think twice about moving Middleton out of the way.

“Every time we would get a run I would think, ‘Ok, Jay is running for points, don’t spin him out,” explained the 20-year-old Cope. “When I did get a good run, I got to him; I had to stay off him, and that’s when we spun.”

With Cope at the back, that brought Keene Jr. back to second, and he applied tons of pressure to Middleton as the laps ticked off. At one point, Keene made contact with Middleton. The contact slowed the pace for a mere second and nearly stacked up the entire field, but Middleton and Keene stayed 1-2.

“We were bad on the short runs, and that’s why the 74 (Middleton) and 26 (Cope) got by us,” said Keene Jr. “I was pushing the issue on Cope, and he lost it himself. We did the same to Jay (Middleton), but he made his car extremely wide, and that’s what you have to do on a little track like this.”

The cautions hurt any chance Keene Jr. had for victory. He would get to Middleton’s bumper in the fourth turn of the last lap for a love tap, but that was as close as he would get.

“He (Keene Jr.) was tough,” said Middleton. “When he got behind me, he was doing a little bit of rough driving, which is what you have to do here at Bronson. I was just glad we held him off.”

Series regulars Tyler Millwood and Chris Fontaine both posted their best ASA SAT finishes with a third and fourth respectively. ASA SAT invader Kurt Jett was fifth and Travis Cope battled back for a sixth-place run. John Bolen, Taylor Satterfield, Scotty Ellis and Jason Hogan rounded out the top-ten finishers.

With Michael Pope not in attendance, Middleton takes the point in the standings, with Preston Peltier, who won the season-opening race in Mobile, AL, in second. Peltier had difficulties at Bronson Motor Speedway and finished 12th.

Round number five of the RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour will be on Saturday, May 31st, at New Senoia Speedway in Senoia, Georgia. If you would like more information regarding the event and upcoming TV coverage, please visit the official website of ASA SAT at www.asasoutheast.com. The next televised event on the schedule is Saturday, June 14th, at Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC.

The RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour is a part of a nine-race televised program that makes up the “Road to Nashville,” which will set up the most prestigious event of the season at the historic Music City Motorplex at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. ASA SAT and the CRA Super Series will race in Nashville on Saturday, November 1st, as part of the Adam Petty Memorial All American 400 weekend. Prior to the November 1st event, the RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Tour will make a mid-season visit to the Motorplex on Saturday, July 5th. Information for the July 5th event is available by calling (615) 726-1818 or going to www.musiccitymotorplex.com/.

For more media inquiries, sponsorship and promotional information regarding the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour, contact Stan Narrison at (678) 910-7726 and be sure to visit www.asasoutheast.com for all ASA Southeast Tour news. For technical and rule information, call Micky Cain at (678) 373-9851.

To learn more of the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association Racing Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.asaracing.com

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
GATOR 100
Bronson Motor Speedway, Bronson, FL
100-Laps

1) Jay Middleton
2) Daniel Keene Jr.
3) Tyler Millwood
4) Chris Fontaine
5) Kurt Jett
6) Travis Cope
7) John Bolen
8) Taylor Satterfield
9) Scotty Ellis
10) Jason Hogan
11) Jarrod Foley
12) Preston Peltier
13) Stephan McCurley
14) Jess Mattox
15) Jeremy Mullinax
DNS J.R. Garcia