| Tuesday, January 29, 2002 | |
| BRINGING BACK THE "GOOD OLD DAYS" IN RACING | By Robin Smith Miller
 Stock car driver Kenny Vaughn of Naples has been racing for a long time. If you ask him how long he will tell you, "I have been racing since Jesus was a baby and I am not done yet." The veteran late model driver has raced for well over a quarter century on tracks all over Florida.
In his travels, he has tallied about two hundred feature wins and three or four championships, he doesn't keep track of things like that. He just wants to go out and race and not worry about stuff like that. Vaughn comes from the old school of racing and hates to see how expensive his favorite sport has become for the working man. A family man, his son Karo is also a stock car driver, he also dislikes the advent of big business atmosphere that racing has taken on with the popularity of NASCAR and other series. He, like many race fans, yearns for the good old days when you could pile your whole family in the car and "go racing" for just a few dollars.
 Vaughn was one of many drivers who participated in the First Annual Noise for Toys Car Show held in Lehigh Acres last November
He has a dream he hopes to accomplish in the next five years. He would like to start a race facility somewhere in the area that would be called Kids Motor Speedway. It will be a non-profit corporation in which half of all the profits from each evening of racing will go back into a fund for the kids who go to the racetrack. He wants to have raffles each week for bicycles and other giveaways. His dream is to make racing affordable enough for everyone again, from drivers to fans. The motto of his corporation, K.O.V.A.C Promotions is "from the heart not the wallet".
He plans to kick off his endeavor with the Promotions First Annual Kids' Motor Speedway Gathering Sell and Trade Show that will be held this weekend, February 2 and 3, at Charlotte County Speedway in Punta Gorda. Vaughn has rented the track for a huge swap meet where racers can buy, sell, and trade parts and equipment. Ten percent of gross sales will go to the "Future Kids Motor Speedway Fund". If a vendor grosses over $1500, six percent will go to the fund.
There will also be a car show with motorcycles, Corvettes, dragsters, and street rods, as well as vintage cars and trucks. Camping and food will also be available.
For more information on Kids Motor Speedway or the upcoming event, contact Vaughn at 941/594-1570. Charlotte County Speedway is located at I-75 exit 28, head east to Piper Road (Charlotte County Airport) sign and turn left.
-By Robin Smith Miller
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