In 2008, two fixtures on the Northeast and New England racing scene will join together and tackle one of, if not the most competitive series in the United States. Eric Beers of Northampton, Penn., will pilot the familiar yellow 46 J & R Precast Troyer Chevrolets fielded by Berkley Auto Racing and car owner Bobby Katon. Beers, who has competed on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for the past six seasons, is looking forward to the opportunity.
    “As always it will be a busy season, but I can’t wait to get going,” offered Beers, who will also pilot his own machine in selected events throughout the Northeast. “Bobby (Katon) is just a tremendous individual and I’m really looking forward to working with him and all of his guys. In addition his crew members, we’ve had the opportunity to bring over some of our crew members, Kevin Crowley will be joining Dave Phillips working as co-crew chiefs, so I think all of the pieces are in place to have success right off the bat at Thompson.”
    The team ran in an audition of sort when they competed together at the North/South Shootout at the Concord Motorsport Park in North Carolina where they finished second. Katon hopes it’s a sign of things to come for his race team, who had Dick Houlihan behind the wheel for 20 years. Houlihan semi-retired at the conclusion of the 2007 season as he will appear in selected event for the Berkley Auto Racing Team at Seekonk Speedway.
     “I’m really looking forward to working with Eric,” related Katon. “It was a challenging decision to make when Dick (Houhlihan) decided to retire. He had been with us for so many years, but that is also the way we are viewing this opportunity with Eric. We’re not looking to join the driver-of-the-week-club, we want to create a long term relationship that benefits everyone. We have some great people on board, we’ve had some experienced folks join us, so things are really going forward. We’ve also got the support from our marketing partners, which is such a crucial element for success these days.”
    In addition to sponsorship from long-time and existing sponsors; Reynold’s Auto Wrecking, J & R Precast and Viveiros Insurance support will come from; Cape Cod Aggregates Freetown Corporation, Shell Oil in the form of their ‘Q’ Racing Oil brand, New England Race Fuels with, Sunoco Racing Fuel, Pro Shocks with power being produced by Jim Mikkel’s Performance Technology in Indiana. Other product supporters include Randy LaJoie and The Joie of Seating, Pro Systems Brakes and QuarterMaster.
    Beers and the Berkley Auto Racing Team will make their season debut at ‘The Icebreaker’, the season opening event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, at the Thompson International Speedway on April 5th & 6th, with intentions of racing for the Tour championship in the 16-race slate, along with select open-competition appearances at Seekonk and All-Star Speedway throughout the 2008 season.

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