[Vukie]

Alliance Signs Standout Shane Hmiel for Chicagoland 100

BROWNSBURG, IN (August 4, 2010) �" Alliance Motorsports, the Brownsburg, Indiana based Firestone Indy Lights team announced today the signing of Shane Hmiel to pilot the #24 Rotondo Weirich/Three Wide Life entry for the upcoming Chicagoland 100 event held at the Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, August 28. Hmiel, hailing from Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, will make his debut in the Firestone Indy Lights Series for Alliance Motorsports, which is in its third year of competition in the series.

Hmiel may be new to the series, but he is no stranger to the racing world. In four years of NASCAR competition, he competed in twenty-nine Camping World Truck Series races (with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway), eighty-three Nationwide Series races (twenty-three top ten finishes), and seven Sprint Cup races. Most recently, Hmiel has been competing in all three major open wheel categories in the United States Auto Club. In 2009, Shane scored his first USAC National Sprint Car Series win at Iowa Speedway, collected USAC’s “Most Improved Driver” award, and won the 2009 “Rookie of the Year” honor at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. This year, Hmiel has scored one win in the MOPAR Midget National Series (Hickory Motor Speedway), two wins in the AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship (O’Reilly Raceway Park), and one win in the Silver Crown Series (Indiana State Fairgrounds).

"I am super excited to race for the guys at Alliance Motorsports, and I can't wait to run a rear engine car in such a great series," exclaimed Hmiel. "I am surrounded by some great people at Alliance, and hopefully we can do well enough to excite our current sponsors, as well as attract future sponsors so that we can chase the championship next year."

Team Co-owner Jeff Matthews expressed his thoughts on the signing of Hmiel. "This is such a fantastic opportunity for us to be affiliated with someone as talented as Shane, and we look forward to building our relationship with him, along with the great people at Rotondo Weirich and Three Wide Life." Matthews went on to say, "At a high level of success, Shane has proven to be an exciting and versatile driver, and for us to be able to be associated with him in this phase of his career progression is a privilege. We believe that he will adapt quickly and will be competing towards the front of the field."

Alliance Motorsports will also have support at the Chicagoland 100 event from their longtime partnership with AgriGold, as well as a new affiliation with Genuity�"� SmartTrax�"� Corn. In addition, Alliance Motorsports will continue to support the Indiana Blue Star Salute program by displaying the banner on the car, as well as educating race fans across the country about the program. Today, Blue Star Service Banners are displayed by families who have a loved one serving in the armed forces including the National Guard and Reserves of all military departments. The banner displayed in the front window of a home shows a family's pride in their loved one serving in the military, and reminds others that preserving America's freedom demands much. It is our duty to recognize the families of the men and women serving our country. They deserve our unconditional support.

The Chicagoland 100 is scheduled for Saturday, August 28th at 12 PM, and can be followed by logging onto IndyCar.com.

About Rotondo Weirich:
Rotondo Weirich Enterprises, Inc. is the leading precast module manufacturer in the United States. For over 15 years, The RW Team has been dedicated to creating the precast modular solution that best fulfills the needs of each of their clients. During the last two years, RW's Project teams have produced over 5000 precast units for federal, state and private clients. Over the company's history, they have produced more than 50,000 modular units for their clients. RW takes pride in their product, their team and the relationships they build through the design and construction process. Rotondo Weirich is headquartered in Lederach, Pennsylvania, and has operations across the country and around the world. To learn more about the company, log onto www.rotondweirich.com.

About Three Wide Life:
Three Wide Life is an entertaining and informative TV show about the people who make the green flag drop week to week. The show examines life inside the garage, targeting the hard-core race fan. Three Wide Life is meant not only to entertain the race fans, but to also educate new viewers about the drivers, the business, and the people behind the teams.

For years race fans have been asking for real behind-the-scenes content they can't get anywhere else. The nationally syndicated series is created and produced by Charlotte-based motorsports agency LVRG Marketing and Media, who knew they could successfully provide the fans with exactly what they were looking for. Three Wide Life cuts to the core of true racing fans, whether stock car, open wheel, dirt or anything in between. To learn more about the show, log onto www.3widelife.com.

Additional information regarding Alliance Motorsports can be found at www.alliancemotorsportsllc.com.

[aka Liz]

Congratulations Shane! That is fantastic news & I wish you the best of luck!

[racefan20]

[VSneader2]

Good to see a Sprint driver sticking with open wheel cars, now if a few more would join him.

[dirtnonwingfan]

Great news. Glad to see one of our open wheelers stay with open wheels. Best of luck, Shane.

[Jerry Shaw]

Originally Posted by VSneader2 Good to see a Sprint driver sticking with open wheel cars, now if a few more would join him.

On his show, Don Kay indicated that there is a forthcoming announcement concerning just that. He wouldn't give a name, but said it would be a big deal.

Jerry

[short track scott]

Shane Hmiel has that knack for getting the most out of an opportunity like this. I have personal favorites that I would like to see get a shot like this, but Shane should already be comfortable in such an environment and I'm confident that he is a very good choice for that ride.

Way to go Shane!

And way to go RW/3 Wide!
Posted via Mobile Device

[ISF]

Good for Shane! Maybe he can open a few doors for some other open wheel guys to move up in the ranks.

Hope he can continue to keep his nose clean!

[openwheelKT]

Great news. Have that race on my calendar so it will be cool to see him run in person. Like others, I hope this can open a few more doors. The new IRL management seems to really be interested in restoring the link from sprints to Indy Cars. They see that it is important if they want some of the fans to return.

"The Chicagoland 100 is scheduled for Saturday, August 28th at 12 PM, and can be followed by logging onto IndyCar.com."

BTW - The race is at 5:00pm Central Time. Noon seemed a little early since the IRL race is at 7:00pm. So I looked it up on the Chicagoland site.

[Seadog]

This is great. Congrats Shane. He is one of the brightest stars in the open wheel galaky IMO.

Now go out there and get 'em in the FIL cars Shane!