PASS South Champ will be crowned at Greenville-Pickens Saturday

Naples, ME 10/21/09- Fourteen weekends of racing over a seven month period; ten different race tracks producing six different race winners; ninety three different drivers. In the end, it all boils down to one 2009 Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Champion and that Champion will be crowned at this weekend’s PASS South season finale at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. The 125 lap event known as “The Howler”, will wrap up the 2009 PASS South season with the kind of action packed super late model racing that the fans of the half mile track have come to expect over the years when the Pro All Stars Series comes to town.

Ben Rowe dominated the four- race PASS National Championship series with three wins and one third place run to claim that title, and his win at South Boston further expanded his PASS South point lead. Rowe has emerged as the clear favorite to join his father Mike in the PASS record book as a PASS South Champion. Rowe received a beautiful new Leavitt chassis and a complete Quarter Master Clutch package as part of his National Championship winnings.

So while the drama of a tight championship point battle may not be in the cards for the Howler there’s plenty of battles for position in the final standings, and one can bet if the race is half as good as the series’ last visit in July it will be one heck of an event.

PASS South regulars Heath Hindman, Jay Fogleman, and Justin Wakefield along with northern invaders Johnny Clark, Lonnie Sommerville, and D.J. Shaw will all be on hand for the event, but there’s one driver in particular the fans of upstate South Carolina flock to see and that would be none other than Corey Williams. The Maine native now calling North Carolina home has done what many thought couldn’t be done by taking his familiar “#47 Batmobile” machine to the high side of the flat half mile track and coming from the back to the front on multiple occasions, including a runner up finish in 2008. Mark Reedy will make his first PASS start of
2009 with support from Clete Caywoods’s Kaytech Incorporated.

Also expected to be in attendance will be local racers Randy Gentry and Randy Porter, Tayla Orleans, and newcomer to PASS South and super late models in general Brandon Ward piloting Jeff Day’s familiar yellow and black #62 machine in a one race deal.

The gates swing open at Greenville Pickens Speedway on Saturday October 24th at 4:00 PM, with time trials slated for 5:00 PM. Look for the on-track trick-or-treat meet and greet as well as the kid’s Halloween costume contest to get under way at 7:00 PM,. The Howler 125 is expected to go green at approximately 8:00 PM.

Tickets still remain for the October 24th Howler 125 event and can be purchase on race day or directly through the track by visiting their website at www.greenvillepickens.com or by calling 864-269-0852.

For more information including schedules, standings, and results for all PASS sanctioned touring series visit their home on the web at www.racewithpass.com. For marketing or media questions contact Norm Desjardins at 603-539-3368 or for technical information contact Scott Reed at 207-625-3230.

 

NEMA’S Owners Crown Decided At World Series

The owner’s championship is still a question mark as the Northeastern Midget Association brings the 2009 season to a finish at Thompson Speedways rescheduled World Series this weekend. Defending champion Tim Bertrand (47) takes a 26-point edge on Mike Jarret (4) into Sunday’s 25-lap feature.

NEMA has a long relationship with the World Series that was rained out last weekend. Championship battles ending at the traditional season-ending event are hardly unique. It will be NEMAs only visit to Thompson this season.

Bertrand’s driver Randy Cabral already has his second straight championship in hand. Jarret’s driver Nokie Fornoro is assured of second place in the final standings. Both are seasoned-hands on the ultra-quick fifth mile, totaling 11 victories between them.

Cabral, the unofficial record holder with a 17.620 lap turned at last year’s World Series, is the club’s all-time Thompson winner with seven. Fornoro has been winning at Thompson since 1982. Russ and Greg Stoehr have both been involved in classic season ending-races at Thompson in the past as well.

Clearly the fastest place NEMA visits, a victory at Thompson is a perfect ending. Adam Cantor, the winner a couple weeks back at Twin State, makes no secret of his desire to end a strong campaign in Thompson’s Victory Lane.

Other possibilities for the Marvin Rifchin Trophy are Jeff Horn, Erica Santos and Jim Miller. Chris DeRitis, NEMAs top rookie, Abby Martino and John Zych Jr. are among the drivers seeking to protect top-10 spots in the driver and owner standings.

Cabral, who doesn’t like talking about points, had five wins among ten top-fives in 13 starts en route to the driver’s championship. He comes to the World Series in pursuit of his 27th career win, all of them coming in the past 10 campaigns.

In one less start, Fornoro had a couple wins among 10 tops 10s. He’ll be after his 45th NEMA checkered.

 

Brandon Ward to Pilot #62 for New Day Motorsports in PASS South finale at Greenville-Pickens

CHARLOTTE, NC (October 20) – New Day Motorsports owner Jeff Day announced today that veteran driver Brandon Ward will take over the #62 Yarbrough Transfer/Texas Pete Chevrolet in this weekend’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South regular season finale. In a one race deal, Ward will pilot the car formerly driven by Mark Gibson in Saturday night’s Howler 125 at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

“I’m really excited to have this opportunity to drive the Yarbrough Transfer/Texas Pete Chevy this weekend at Greenville,” said Ward. “Jeff [Day] and I have worked together this year with my Pro Cup car and I’m glad we’ve been able to put this deal together. I’ve driven a lot of different types of cars over the years, but not a Super Late Model. The PASS series is one of the most competitive in the country and I can’t wait to see what I can do with those guys.”

The relationship between Jeff Day and Brandon Ward goes back several years, but stepped up a level when Day began consulting in 2009 on Ward’s Mac Hill Motorsports ride in the USAR Pro Cup Series. Although highlighted by a second place finish in this year’s PASS National Series with Mark Gibson behind the wheel, an otherwise disappointing season led Day to make a change with his team.

“I felt like the chemistry between Mark [Gibson] and I just wasn’t there,” said Day. “We’ve worked hard the last few years and I appreciate Mark and his entire family for the effort we put forth, but I think to grow we both needed to go in a different direction. Brandon’s a heck of a talent and I think he will be a great addition to the PASS family.”

Brandon Ward’s racing career started in Go-Karts in 1989 where he won multiple championships over the next ten years. Ward then moved to the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series finishing a career high third in points in 2004. Ward won three races in his NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series career at Bristol Motor Speedway, Motordrome Speedway, and Kentucky Speedway. From there, Ward moved on to the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock series where he won the championship in 2006. Ward currently competes in the USAR Pro Cup Series driving the #56 Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet. After winning Rookie-Of-The-Year honors in 2007, Ward is a championship contender with two wins so far in 2009.

New Day Motorsports has been an integral part of the PASS South Series since 2006. The team scored it’s best finish with the series last year in the Piedmont Pride 125 at the Caraway Speedway finishing fourth after leading the most laps. New Day Motorsports finished in the top ten in PASS South points in 2007 and 2008 and finished second in this year’s PASS National Series behind champion Ben Rowe.

 

Naples, ME 10/19/09- It couldn’t have been a more fitting way for Ben Rowe to capture the 2009 Pro All Stars Series (PASS) National championship as he continued the north’s dominance by winning the fourth annual Mason Dixon Meltdown at South Boston (VA) Speedway. The podium was a clean sweep of Maine natives as Ben held off his father Mike Rowe who finished second followed by defending Cassius Clark who rounded out the top three.

Defending race winner Johnny Clark managed a fourth place finish and Heath Hindman represented the south as the highest finishing PASS South regular with a fifth place finish. Mark Gibson and Ryan Blaney who came into the Meltdown second and third in national championship standings were both able to hold those positions and take home some national championship hardware. Gibson managed a season high finish of sixth in the process while young Ryan Blaney fought an uphill battle to finish seventh.

Rowe was able to cruise to victory in the final laps but it was another driver who looked as if he had the car to beat all weekend long. Corey Williams who picked up a win earlier in the year at Orange County scorched the field in qualifying and just as quickly made his way to the top spot during the race. Williams lead 140 of the first 145 laps quickly putting a lap on the field when several competitors battling for position spun a half turn in front of him. One would have thought Williams would have made it through untouched but Williams got caught up in the middle of it ending his night.

The incident brought the front runners to pit road for two fresh tires and handed the lead over to Cassius Clark who pitted the previous caution. Cassius did his best to hold off a pair of Rowe’s in the form of the father and son combo but Ben overtook Cassius for the top spot on lap 208 and never looked back for his fourth PASS South win of 2009. With the win Rowe expanded his PASS South points lead, all but wrapping up the southern championship heading into the final race of the year.

The season ending finale for the PASS South is right around the corner on Saturday night October 24th at the Greenville-Pickens (SC) Speedway. Fans that make plans to see the annual Howler 125 will not only see a race winner take home the hardware, but will also see the PASS South series champion crowned that night. For more information including tickets, contact the track directly at www.greenvillepickens.com or call 864-269-0852.

For more information including schedules, standings, and results for all PASS sanctioned touring series visit their home on the web at www.racewithpass.com. For marketing or media questions contact Norm Desjardins at 603-539-3368 or for technical information contact Scott Reed at 207-625-3230.

Official Results – PASS South super late model Mason-Dixon Meltdown 250 – South Boston Speedway –South Boston Speedway – 10/17/2009

1) 4N Ben Rowe 2) 2 Mike Rowe 3) 8 Cassius Clark 4) 54 Johnny Clark 5) 91 Heath Hindman 6) 26 Preston Peltier 7) 62 Mark Gibson 8) 10 Ryan Blaney 9) 4S Jay Fogleman 10) 60 DJ Shaw 11) 23N Lonnie Sommerville 12) 48 John Batten 13) 98 Justin Wakefield 14) 20N Steven Legendre 15) 74 Ryan Moore 16) 18 Bradley McCaskill 17) 47 Corey Williams 18) 05 Alex Fleming 19) 20X John Stancill 20) 11 Joey Doiron 21) 1 Louie Mechalides 22) 23 Jimmy Weller 23) 02 Tim Nooner 24) 15 Clay Jones

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Team Bouchard Racing returns to RMR snocross series for 2009-10
Trevor Bouchard to seek Semi-Pro titles on Arctic Cat sleds

DERRY, NH (Oct. 16, 2009) — One of New England’s most talented rising stars in snowmobile racing is overflowing with enthusiasm as the 2009-10 season draws near. Trevor Bouchard, of Derry, New Hampshire, will go after the Semi-Pro division championship on the Rock Maple Racing (RMR) snocross series. After riding Ski-doo sleds the past six years, Bouchard will pilot the newly-refined Arctic Cat Sno Pro 600 race sled for 2009-10.
Bouchard, 20, started his snocross career back in 2001 in the Junior Novice class. He worked his way up through the ranks, earning all four Sport division championships in 2006. For the past two seasons, he has been a part of the powerhouse D&Z operation, owned by Dana White, of
Campton, New Hampshire. While he greatly appreciated that incredible opportunity, he is also anxious to go racing with his family again.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back out on the tour with my Dad again,” Bouchard said. “He put a lot of effort into my career when we first started, and is ready to give it another shot. Sharing the challenge of learning a new sled with him will be great, and we hope to put Arctic Cat back where it belongs on the Rock Maple podium.”
Officials at Arctic Cat know having a presence in snocross racing is crucial to connecting with consumers. Led by factory-backed Pro rider Tucker Hibbert (Monster Energy/Team Arctic No. 68), Cat supports race teams on both the national and regional levels. They view the sport as not only the perfect arena in which to develop technology for future consumer sleds, but to maintain excitement in snowmobiling overall.
“We’re very excited about having Trevor Bouchard pilot the new Sno Pro 600 this season on the Rock Maple circuit,” said Mike Kloety, Race Program Manager at Arctic Cat. “We know he has the skills to run up front, and we also know that Rock Maple is quite popular in the northeast. We’d
love to win races in Semi-Pro with Team Bouchard, and hope Trevor turns some heads as he goes after the class championships.”
Rock Maple Racing will kick off its 2009-10 campaign on Dec. 12-13 at the beautiful Hickory Ski Center in Warrensburg, New York. This is a new venue for RMR, yet Bouchard has always been quick to adapt to any new layout.
“We plan to do some testing during November so I can get a good feel for the new sleds,” adds Bouchard. “I’m not a really fussy rider when it comes to setups. As long as I can get off the line well and the sled runs smooth, I’m happy. As we learn more about them, I’m sure we’ll be fine-tuning the new Sno Pro sleds to gain speed. With all this cold weather and early snow in the mountains, I’m anxious to hit the snow and prepare for
racing.”
To join the list of valued sponsors or to follow Trevor’s progress throughout the season, visit the team online at www.trevorbouchardracing.com. Team Bouchard Racing would like to thank Dan Callahan for his assistance and the following sponsors for their support;
Arctic Cat, Stud Boy Traction Products, 139designs.com and Harvey Tool.

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Naples ME (10/18/09 Championships aren’t easy to come by in sports, and auto racing is no exception. To win the deciding race to claim a championship is the dream of many a racer. Carey Martin lived out that dream Saturday when he won the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Sportsman finale at Groveton New Hampshire’s Riverside Speedway. Martin claimed the feature over his nearest championship rival Mike Landry, securing the 2009 PASS Sportsman title by a two point margin. Clyde Hennessey finish third, Lyman McKeage fourth and Grant Arthur came home fifth.

After the qualifying heats were completed the two were deadlocked in the standings, with Dan McKeage just two points behind. Clyde Hennessey captured heat one to sit on the pole, with heat two winner McKeage to his outside.

Hennessey took the lead from the first green but Martin quickly moved up to second with Landry right on his bumper in third. The pair chased Hennessey until lap twenty nine when Martin took command. Dan McKeage was charging, up to second from fourth ahead of Hennessey and Landry, Arthur and Lyman McKeage.

When the crossed flags were displayed it was Martin, Dan McKeage, Landry up to third and Hennessey fourth. The front three were evenly matched ran nose to tail for thirty laps until Dan McKeages’ challenge for a second PASS Sportsman title went up in smoke with driveline problems. McKeage was done for the day at lap 59.

The final caution set up a sixteen lap showdown between the top two title contenders, with Martin on the inside and Landry outside. Martin got the jump on Landry at the green and try as he might, Landry could not find his way past the veteran Sportsman racer. Landry ran Martin clean, putting on a great battle for the win but Martin wasn’t to be denied, taking the victory and the title of 2009 PASS Sportsman Championship in the process. It was Martins’ third win of 2009 and firth top five in seven starts.

Just three cautions slowed the seventy five lap feature event. Seven cars completed all the laps; heat race wins went to Hennessey and Dan McKeage.

Carey Martin and his fellow PASS competitors will gather November 7th at Verillo’s Convention Center in Westbrook Maine for the 2009 Pro All Stars Series Banquet of Champions.

The Pro All Stars Series is on line at www.racewithpass.com and www.proallstarsseries.com .

Unofficial Results- PASS Sportsman 75 lap feature–Riverside Speedway, Groveton NH -10/17/09

1) 18 Carey Martin, Denmark ME 2) 40 Mike Landry, Oakland ME 3) 8 Clyde Hennessey, Windham ME 4) 58 Lyman McKeage, Gorham ME 5) 7oz Grant Arthur, Exeter NH 6) 34 Richie Morse, Waterford ME 7) 51 Dan Sidney, St. Johnsbury VT 8) 1 Kerry Marten, Littleton NH 9) 02F David Fowler, Barnstead NH 10) 67 Jourdain Davis, Whitefield NH 11) 7x Shawna Randall, Stark NH 12) Dan McKeage, Gorham ME 13) 35 Bobby Nadeau, Hollis ME 14) 73 David Ofswyk, Newport Center VT

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Jimmie Johnson has done it again. He won the NASCAR Banking 500 Saturday night, extending his lead over teammate Mark Martin to 90 points in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

Johnson drove away from the field after dicing with teammate Jeff Gordon in the closing laps of the 334-lap race.

It was Johnson’s sixth win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and put him another step closer to a fourth consecutive championship, which would be a first in NASCAR history.

Trailing Johnson at the finish line were Matt Kenseth, with his best finish since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February, Kasey Kahne, Gordon, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex and Kurt Busch.

Martin had his worst night of the Chase thus far after accidentally hitting the rear of Juan Pablo Montoya’s car on a restart. The accident ended Montoya’s streak of top-five finishes at four, and relegated Martin to a 17th-place finish. Montoya didn’t fare so well. He wound up 35th.

It was not a good night for other Chase drivers as well. Denny Hamlin ran with the leaders before losing an engine. Carl Edwards was the victim of an accident and his damaged car lost an engine when he returned to the track in an attempt to get as many points as possible. Edwards was 39th. Brian Vickers had another terrible run, finishing 34th.

Other drivers in the Chase wound up better with Ryan Newman finishing 11th; Tony Stewart 13th and Greg Biffle 16th.

The race was delayed several minutes by a cold, spitting rain but it stopped and Johnson took off from the pole in quest of another win at LMS, a track he owns in recent statistics.

Sam Hornish Jr. brought out a caution on Lap 3 when he spun and barely glazed the second Turn 2 wall. The race was back underway at Lap 7 and Hornish spun again, this time off the fourth turn. Once again, the former Indy 500 winner escaped with no serious damage to his car.

When the race resumed on Lap 13, it was Johnson out front, followed by Martin, Kyle Busch, Newman, Kahne, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Montoya, Kenseth and Hamlin. Montoya had gained 10 spots in just a few laps from his 18th starting position.

Rain prompted NASCAR officials to throw a caution again on Lap 35. Following pit stops, Kenseth was the leader on the 42nd lap restart with Johnson and Kyle Busch right behind him. Rounding out the top 10 were Hamlin, Biffle, Kahne, Montoya, Gordon and Newman.

Johnson eventually regained the lead with Hamlin in second and Kenseth third. By Lap 70, Johnson had built nearly a full-second lead, showing everyone why he has been so successful at this 1.5-mile hometown track.

However, just a few laps later, Hamlim zoomed to the front in his FedEx Toyota owned by Joe Gibbs.

All of the frontrunners pitted under green between Laps 93 and 96 and when the smoke cleared, it was Kenseth in front briefly before Hamlin took back over, followed by Kyle Busch, Johnson, Montoya, Mears, Martin, Bowyer, Kahne and David Reutimann.

Kyle Busch spun in Turn 4 at 120 laps to bring out another caution. Gordon was the leader on the 124th lap restart with Biffle, Newman and Hamlin in tow.

Martin got into the back of Montoya on the restart, causing considerable damage to Montoya’s Chevrolet. Montoya dropped well back in the pack due to the accident because his right rear fender was bent outwards, acting like a parachute catching the wind.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled into the garage shortly after the restart with transmission problems.

At the halfway mark (162 laps), the top 10 were Gordon, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Kenseth, Biffle, Newman, Bowyer and Bill Elliott.

Montoya brought out a caution when his ill-handling car spun shortly before the halfway point. He lost two laps while his crew made repairs.

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(Shediac, N.B.) — The Centre for Speed, Greater Moncton’s Playground of Power, will host the Atlantic Championship ‘Day of Destruction’ and Endurance event this Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. featuring an ‘edge-of-your-seat’ Barrel racing, an Endurance race as well as a giant Demolition
Derby.

The ‘crash and bang’ action will also include an always unpredictable ‘Full Contact’ race and promises to be an action-packed afternoon of ‘smash-em up’ action with upwards of $10,000 in winnings available to competitors.

CFS is also awaiting confirmation from the Atlantic Open Wheel (AOW) tour modifieds who may
also be part of Saturday’s program.

Saturday’s final event of the 2009 season at CFS gets underway at 1:00 p.m., with admission of $12 for adults, $5 for children 5 to 15 years of age, and FREE for children under 5. Front gates and grandstands open at noon while pit gates open at 10:30 a.m.

Full schedule
details are available at www.centreforspeed.com

About CFS
The CENTRE for Speed, built in 1996, is home to the Atlantic region’s largest and fastest paved 3/8 of a mile stock car oval as its centerpiece. The CENTRE overlooks the Northumberland Strait and is located 5 kilometers east of Shediac’s Parlee
Beach on Route #133 in the village of Grand Barachois.

 

THOMPSON, CT The consistent predictions of a rain-filled weekend forced Thompson International Speedway officials to reschedule the XTRA MART World Series of Speedway Racing to next weekend. The event schedule for the new dates, October 23, 24, and 25 will be exactly the same as that listed for this weekend.
Thompson track management, after careful consideration of both race teams and fans, made the rescheduling decision at this time in order to give those traveling to Thompson as much notice as possible. “We desperately wanted to run the World Series event this weekend, said track owner, Don Hoenig. But, when virtually every weather forecast is predicting a complete wash out, we felt we had no choice but to move everything to next weekend”.
The three-day XTRA MART World Series of Speedway Racing, featuring all fifteen racing divisions, will get underway on Friday, October 23rd and will continue through Sunday October 25th. The original schedule of events will remain unchanged.

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Naples, ME 10/13/09- It’s become a tradition in the Pro All Stars (PASS) South Series; the annual Mason Dixon Meltdown. Since the series inception in 2006 and the first Meltdown at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway, the event has grown as one of the major races to win in the super late model community. Racers from as far south as Texas and as far north as Canada have flocked to compete in the Meltdown in recent years and the 2009 edition is shaping up to be a great one. This year’s Mason Meltdown will feature PASS South super late models along with the NASCAR late model stock cars in a pair of 250 lap features giving race fans a heaping helping of high quality racing action.

PASS South regulars Ben Rowe, Ryan Blaney, Preston Peltier, Justin Wakefield, and Heath Hindman will do battle for 250 laps against a whole flock of northern invaders including defending Meltdown and 2009 PASS North Champion Johnny Clark, Young guns Steve Legendre and DJ Shaw, Scott Alexander and Cassius Clark, just to name a few. Thirty-plus super late models are expected to fill the pit area inside the 4/10th mile oval.

While the Meltdown has been an annual PASS South scheduled race, never in the history of the event has a southern driver visited victory lane. Leaving one wondering,” will this be the year that will change?” Can one of the two drivers, Preston Peltier or veteran Jay Fogleman, who have both won three races each this season, bring one home for the south? Or will it be one of the Yankee drivers, Johnny Clark, Ben Rowe, or Cassius Clark that becomes our first ever Meltdown repeat winner?

One driver who would fall under the northern invaders category, but has the longest haul of all, will be Saint John New Brunswick Canada driver Lonnie Sommerville. For the second straight year he will make the twenty-two hour haul south for the Mason Dixon Meltdown. The Canadian driver led his fair share of laps a season ago at the Meltdown, and after scoring wins in two of the three biggest races in his own country he has once again decided to see how he measures up against the best super late model racers in the south.

Not only will South Boston Speedway fans get to see an individual race winner, but the crowning of the 2009 PASS National champion will also take place. Turner, Maine native Ben Rowe looks to all but have hoisted the PASS National cup as the 2009 PASS National champion by building a comfortable fifty-seven point lead over a pair of North Carolina drivers, Mark Gibson and Ryan Blaney. Rounding out the top five is veteran Jay Fogleman in fourth, followed by defending national champion Cassius Clark. While the points from first to second may be spread out a bit, the battle to finish within the top three and take home a beautifully built cup by series trophy provider Race City Awards, is as tight as it can possibly be. A mere thirty-five points separates second from fifth. But that’s not all! The victor in the four race series will receive a Leavitt Racing components super late model chassis and a complete clutch, bell housing and starter package courtesy of Quarter Master. That’s over $7,500.00 worth of the finest racing components available anywhere, in addition to the $7,500.00 on the line for the race winner.

The Mason Dixon Meltdown 500 kicks off with practice for both divisions on Friday, October 16 from 1:00-3:00 pm. Grandstand gates will open at 3:00 pm on Friday October 16 and will be followed by time trials for both races at 4:00 pm. On Saturday October 17 at 11:00 am a NASCAR Late Model last chance 50-lap race will get the green flag followed by a Fan Appreciation autograph session. The first feature race of the day will get underway at 3:00 pm.

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