Family cookouts and firework displays are usually the norms on the Fourth of July, but the Rockingham Speedway giving families another option this year — racing.

The Cheerwine Cherry Bomb 200 will be the third race of the season at the Rock on Saturday. The track kicked off the year with the Polar Bear 150 on Jan. 1 and held the ARCA/ReMax Carolina 200 in mid-April.

The Cherry Bomb 200 race will feature the ASA Late Model Stock Series and Frank Kimmel’s Street Stock National Series cars with each division going 100 laps . The first half of the double header race begins with the Kimmel Street Stock Series at 10 a.m. The ASA race follows, beginning 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Kimmel Street Stock Series race.

The ASA Late Model Stock Cars will have one-lap qualifying at 11 a.m. today, while Kimmel’s Street Stock Series qualifying is scheduled for 2 p.m.

“The qualifying is free for the public to come out and watch,” Rockingham Speedway’s Public Relations Director Andy Cagle said.

The Kimmel Street Stock Series will be involved in their second race at ‘The Rock.’ The series’ first race was the Polar Bear 150.

According to Cagle, there are 42 entries that have entered into the Kimmel Street Stock Series race, several racers that participated in the Polar Bear 150, will also race in the Cherry Bomb 200.

Among those racers are: Clint Watkins from Maggie Valley, who finished third in the Polar Bear 150, and Tony Conway from Louisville, Ky., who was fifth.

Another racer, Brett Hudson from Owensboro, Ky., will attempt to redeem himself, after he finished 32nd at the Polar Bear. Hudson was among the drivers at the front of the pack for most of the race before his engine in his Chevy Monte Carlo blew up near the end of the race.

“Those guys that participated in the Polar Bear are certainly going to want to win and take the checkered flag in this upcoming race,” Cagle said. “In addition to those guys, we’re going to have drivers from as far away as Indiana. We also got several we pulled in from the North Carolina and South Carolina areas.”

This will mark the first race at the speedway for the ASA Late Model Stock Cars. The drivers and teams of the ASA Late Model Stock Series held an open test run in Rockingham last month.

“That day they came out here, they got to learn about the track and they also gained a feel for what their car is going to do on the track,” Cagle said. “For them, Rockingham is so much bigger than most of the places they usually run.”

Cagle added the number of entries for the ASA race hasn’t been finalized. Cagle hopes both races turn out well and the fans will be entertained by the action provided at ‘The Rock.’

“We’re hoping for some exciting racing, and that it should be a good way for fans to spend their Fourth of July holiday,” Cagle said.

n Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com