The Boys Are Back In Town!

The driver with 5 wins is still 115 points behind the USAR Hooters ProCup leader Bobby Gill. Mario Gosselin has had a outstanding year,  taking the win at Lowes Motor

Speedway in his very first appearance in an ARCA race. But even with the five victories in the ProCup, he has a lot of catching

Mario Gosselin

up to do in the extremely competitive ProCup Series

That’s because veteran from Dalton GA Bobby Gill and a Durham NC native by the name of Jay Fogleman have been consistent from the opening race at Lakeland’s USA International Speedway in March. Gill and Fogleman have finished every one of the thirteen races in the top ten. Only 40 points separate the two top drivers with the “only difference being Gill has 2 wins to Fogleman’s 1” according to USAR Hooters ProCup PR Bobby Totten.  “People will have to watch closely as the points could change quickly, if say Mike Laughlin wins the race”

Bobby Gill

Jay Fogleman

The # 7 of Mike Laughlin, Jr.

Mike Laughlin Jr. was the winner of the Tri County Speedway 250 lap affair in May and came in second at the USA International race in June,  after which he was involved in post race incident in the pits. Tim Clayton spun Laughlin on Pit road which of course Laughlin didn’t take kindly to.

With a $250,000 bonus for the points Champion on the line and qualifying speeds very tight, the Hooters ProCup is one of the most exciting short track series and is bring considered the stepping stone to the NASCAR Busch Grand National.  Every race has at least 1- to 12 drivers capable of bring home the checkered flag.

Andy Thurman,  tire changer for the Jasper Engines Robert Pressley Winston Cup team knows how tough it is, starting the year with a terrible string of less than stellar performances has moved from nowhere to the 13th spot in the points.

And then there’s the Rookie of the Year battle between Steve Christian of Sugar Hill , GA, and Mardy Lindley of Taylors SC. Christian, driver of the Lucas Oil Products #0 Monte Carlo is trailing Lindley by a mere 12 points and has a firm hold on the tenth spot overall.

Mardy is son of the late racing great Butch Lindley, very familiar to Florida stock car fans, and has held the rookie lead most of the year. But Christian has been doing an excellent job of playing catch-up. From  the Hickory Motor Speedway event in early July, Christian has out driven Lindley three out of four times with a third place finish at South Boston Speedway 10 days ago.

Ritch didn’t think much about his chances of winning the Discount Auto Parts 250 at St. Augustine Speedway in April after being penalized by USAR officials for having his car lined up late prior to the start of pre-race activities. Qualifying second, Ritch was relegated to the 27th starting position at the green flag. While  crew and drivers from other teams who had met same fate argued with Competition Director Fritz Augustine, The smiling Ritch said, walking back to his Jackeroo Meat Sauces #23 Monte Carlo, “this is going to be fun.”
It was. He won his ninth USAR Hooters ProCup race that night in a wild ride through the field ending with a three wide battle with Gosselin, Fogleman, and Toby Porter.

When the Second Annual Labor Day Weekend classic gets under way this Saturday, September 4th, the fans will get to see Amerca’s most exciting short track series in action at the state of Florida's most exciting short track speedway.  Race fans can prepare for a great day of racing that begins with qualifying for the Jackaroo Sauces 250 at 5 p.m., autograph session at 7 p.m. and the green flag dropping at 8 p.m. USA International Speedway is located near Lakeland, Florida.

Also see the Timothy Williams article on Auburndale’s Derrick Kelley.