THOMPSON, CT. The Thompson International Speedway today announced that a special open practice session will be held one week prior to the running of the XTRAMART World Series in October. The date of the “test and tune” session will be Thursday, October 8th between the hours of 3 PM and 7 PM.

This special opportunity for race teams will be open to any and all safe racer cars. But, it will be a unique opportunity for those looking to compete in the three-day racing extravaganza, The XTRAMART World Series of Speedway Racing, scheduled for the weekend of October 16th – 18th.

The XTRAMART World Series of Speedway Racing attracts hundreds of race cars representing some fourteen different and distinct racing divisions. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the ISMA Super Modifieds, the mighty Midgets of NEMA, ARTS Trucks, Pro 4 Modifieds, SK Lights, True Value Modifieds, Thompson’s own NASCAR Whelen All-American Super 6 divisions and three “outlaw” divisions. All of these racing divisions along with vintage cars and more are welcome at this special pre-World Series event.

“Each year race teams find practice time to be very limited on World Series weekend and we’d like to give them all an opportunity to get that necessary on-track time before the biggest racing weekend of the season. By opening the speedway for race teams a week before the World Series, we feel that a lot of pressure will be eased for owners, drivers and crew members,” said track owner Don Hoenig.

The pit gates will open at 1 PM and the on-track activity will begin at 3 PM. The open practice session will be run in a ‘round robin’ format thus giving race teams plenty of time to prepare their cars. The tracks general admission grandstands will be closed, but admission through the pit gate, for those at least sixteen years of age, will be only twenty five dollars.

For more information on this special “Test and Tune” opportunity, racers may visit the Thompson web page. www.thompsonspeedway.com or may call the track office at 860-923-2280.