| Get 'REAL" this Weekend at Orlando SpeedWorld | by Dave Westerman
What is expected to be one of the biggest weekends of the year is on tap at Orlando Speedworld this Friday and Saturday sparked by the first-ever promotion Saturday night by popular Orlando radio station WTKS-FM, otherwise known as Real Radio 104.1.
Among the action taking place Saturday night will be the "Real Race"
featuring representatives from each of Real Radio 104.1's shows including The Monsters, Shannon Burke Show, The Philips Phile, The Hideout, and Real Music Weekends. Among the "personalities" will be Tuttle and Dirty Jim from the Monsters along with Drunky the Bear who are all planning on doing a few of their crazy stunts they are known for.
The FASCAR Open Wheel Modifieds will take center stage as well on Saturday with a special 50 lap non-points race plus the RE/MAX Legends will run an extra-distance 35 lap event. Also on the card Saturday will be the Bandeleros, Pro Challenge cars and Strictly Stock/Hurricanes.
"I'm amazed at how big this thing has become," say Speedworld General Manager Rusty Marcus. "Real Radio 104.1 has put together a $50,000 advertising campaign and say they won't be happy unless there are 8,000 people here Saturday night. They have a loyal following throughout Central Florida and some folks I've talked to say 8,000 might be a low estimate," he says.
A crowd of 8,000-plus would top the crowds at both the recent Crash-A-Rama event and last December's PRI USAC sanctioned event which both drew crowds estimated at 7,500.
"The neat thing about this crowd is that they will be different from the typical Crash-A-Rama crowd," says Marcus. "Most of these folks are sports fans including NASCAR fans, many of whom had no idea this race track even existed before Real Radio's involvement this week. Hopefully they'll get a taste of what good short track racing is all about and come back for more," he says.
A good field of Modifieds is expected to take part in the 50-lap race that will pay $1200 to win and a nice $800 for second place with $650 for third, $500 for fourth and $400 for fifth.
Among the competitors expected are 2006 Joslin Memorial champion Skip Honaker of Titusville who won $1200 in that 50 lap race just last month and would like to double that dollar amount Saturday.
Desoto Speedway regulars Wayne "Rocketman" Jefferson, Mike Hindgardner and Brad Bischoff already have made plans to make the tow from Florida's west coast to do battle with track regulars like Dave Debelius, Shain Held, Mark Emberson, Gary Fountain, Sr. and Randy Froelich. Harold Crooms of Lakeland plans to race as well and 2005 OSW Modified Champion Corey Freed, who has now moved up to Super Late Models, has dug out his Modified and plans to go for the money on Saturday too.
One guy who won't be in the field is current Speedworld Modified point leader Alan Bruns who has tickets to attend Saturday night's NEXTEL Cup race in Bristol, TN. Not racing won't effect Bruns' current points lead since this race is a non-points event, however Bruns says he really wishes this was one time he could be in two places at once.
"We're really hoping to get a great field of Modifieds for this race," says track GM Marcus. "Several tracks including our sister track at New Smyrna won't be running them this Saturday. This is also the regular week off for the Mods at Citrus County Speedway and we'd like to challenge them to come try their luck against our local guys as well as the drivers who race Fridays at Ocala Speedway," he says.
The race, since it's a non-points event, will make it an even playing field for all drivers as they will qualify for starting spots.
The RE/MAX Legends cars will also qualify for their 35 lap race using the same format and payout that is in effect for the Statewide PBG Tour events. Young drivers Kory Abbott of Apopka and Brandon Thomson of St. Cloud are embroiled in a great points battle going into this weekend with Abbott on top of Thomson by just eight points.
Mark Hooven currently has a good-sized points advantage in the Bandelero Bandits while Gerald White, Jr. is doing likewise in the Bandelero Young Guns. Zach Colangelo currently leads the Bandelero Outlaw tally.
Friday night FASCAR action will feature all classes except the Modifieds.
Dusty Cornelius currently heads the point standings in the Super Late Model class by 24 markers over Gary Bierlein. Despite his hard crash three weeks ago, Richard Hight continues to lead the Sportsman Division by 54 points over Bryan Silas.
Randy Blakeslee is looking for his first-ever track title as he currently leads the Mini Stock points race by just 27 over Dick Laszlo while Michael Seay is only two points behind Laszlo.
Jason Foster's win last week helped propel him to an 81 point advantage over James Frisbie in the Super Stocks in his quest for a second consecutive championship, and Robert Remus has a big 118 point lead over Bob Snyder in the Strictly Stocks.
Grandstand gates open at 6PM on Friday evening with racing starting at 8PM. Grandstands open at 5:30PM on Saturday (possibly earlier) with racing beginning at 7PM. Again, fans are asked to get to the track early on Saturday as a large crowd is expected.
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