ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.- Racers from across the state are set to embark on
the most exciting automobile racing competition format ever conceived as
round one of the 1999 St. Augustine Speedway Top Gun Challenge kicks off this
Saturday night, Sept. 25.
     
Over the course of the next six weeks drivers will compete against each
other in 24 separate on-track events at the St. Augustine oval for the
eventual right to face off against each other on Nov. 19 in one final
competition, a real, live, honest-to-goodness aerial dogfight in the skies
over St. Augustine.
      "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first competition of this
type ever attempted," said speedway General Manager Louis Smith. "We are very
fortunate to have partnered with Bruce Moore and the folks at North American
Top Gun, Inc. to help make it all possible."
      "The parallels between the action that takes place out here every
Saturday night behind the wheel of these race cars, and what takes place in
the cockpit of a fighter plane are enormous. The speed and the power of the
machines, coupled with the agility and stamina of the drivers make for a
tremendous crossover competition. It sends chills up my spine," says Smith.
     
The dogfight, courtesy of North American Top Gun, Inc. of St.
Augustine, will pit the two highest finishing drivers from the on-track
portion of the competition against each other in genuine antique AT-6 "Texan"
WW II fighter trainers.
     
The specially equipped AT-6's that the drivers will be flying are
renowned throughout the aircraft community for their reliability, speed and
maneuverability and revered by WW II fighter pilot veterans for their
incredible performance characteristics that so closely match the high
performance, front line fighter aircraft of that era.
     
The two Top Gun candidates will first undergo an intensive ground
school training session on the day of the competition to learn aerial combat
techniques and strategies. Then, under the watchful tutelage of the NATG
instructor pilots, the combatants take to the air for an hour-long flight to
familiarize themselves with the maneuvers and aerobatics required for aerial
combat.
     
During the last part of the flight, and firing radar beams instead of
bullets from the original .30 cal. cannons, the two competitors will engage
each other in an adrenaline-pumping aerial dogfight to determine the ultimate
winner. Radar-sensing panels on each aircraft record hits and the eventual
kill and one racer-turned-fighter-pilot will return to base as the 1999 Top
Gun Champion.
     
The speedway's annual awards banquet will be held on the evening of the
inflight competition in the North American Top Gun, Inc. hanger with the
warbirds in proximity. The four cameras onboard each aircraft will record the
entire event for viewing that night and will no doubt be a highlight of the
evening's festivities as the 1999 St. Augustine Speedway Top Gun Champion is
crowned.
     
For scoring purposes in this unique competition, the six racing
divisions at St. Augustine Speedway have been separated into two tiers. The
first tier will be comprised of the Late Model, Snap-On Sportsman and Rick's
Muffler Modified divisions, while the second tier will be made up of the
Thunder Truck, Hobby Stock and Mini Stock teams.
     
Points will be kept on a handicap basis that will reward drivers for
moving up positions during the race and encourage high car counts. The winner
of each event will receive three points for the win, drivers finishing second
through fifth will receive two points, and a sixth through tenth finish will
score one point. As a bonus, any driver can accumulate up to an additional
five points per event for moving up through the field on a one-point per
position basis.
     
In addition to the inflight competition, the top three finishers in
each of the two competitive tiers that have been established by the speedway
will receive cash awards for their performances.

                   {Thanks to Mike McConnell for the above information}

                   Current TOP GUN results!