TOP TEN 2000
2000 saw some awesome racing at a bunch of great race tracks. The competition was tight and I got to see a lot of it. Here are ten of my favorite from the past year.......

10. A chilly February Saturday night before the Daytona 500 at EastBay Raceway saw Danny Lasoski win the final race of the Sprint Car 410 Winternationals with car owner NASCAR star Tony Stewart flying over to help with the set-up of the car.

9. B.J. McLeod ended his drought at DeSoto Speedway and took a commanding win in the 125 lap Pro-Late Model race in April over veteran drivers Jimmie Cope and Dickie Anderson.

8. The emotion-filled win by Figure 8 Champ Art Calkins in the Sunshine Speedway Winternationals "Wild Bill" Revard Memorial race. This was the first race since Revard was tragically killed in an accident at the Speedway.

7. Dennis Wilson Jr's victory in the first ever Street Stock Nationals. Dennis out lasted some tough competition in the grueling 100 lap race.

6. Back to Sunshine for the SARA vs. Sunshine/ GoodYear vs. Hoosier/ Carb Rule vs No Carb Rule Open Wheel Modified Race. The build up on the message boards for this race was unreal and the race turned out just as good. Former SARA standout and Sunshine regular Luke Hill took the win for the Sunshine gang.

5. The bizarre win at Charlotte County Speedway in the Road-Warroir division for "Tip Over" Terry Price during the Ron Dushek Sr memorial race, Dushek a racer in the division had passed away while driving. The field was supposed to pull into the pits one lap before the end of the race and Price was running a distant second when the leader miscounted the laps and pulled into the pits one lap early giving Price the victory.

4. Ron Laney came by on the last lap to dethrone Gary Wright for the"KING" of the 360 Sprints again at the WinterNationals at EastBay Raceway.

3. Back to Sunshine Speedway and the SARA Late Models, young Michael Faulk holds off a tough field of drivers to take his first ever victory in the class. Faulk's father, legendary driver and car builder Lee Faulk, congratulated his son in the winners circle with tears in his eyes in the emotion filled win.

2. Chip Shell had a rough year this past season with some great qualifying efforts, but some hard luck with crashes and mechanical woes. But an October night at USA Speedway made all the work worth it as Shell took His first victory in the last race of the year for the SARA Latemodels.

1. The same night at Lakeland the PARTS Pro Trucks were also running. This is one of the most competitive racing series running in the South. From the drop of the green flag it was racing all over the Speedway. But from the mid-race pit stop on it was two drivers who took center stage, Wayne Sutherland and Dusty Williams ran nose to tail the rest of the race with Sutherland holding on for a well deserved victory and doing some awesome doughnuts to show his thrill in winning this race!

I'm sure there was other races that I didn't include here but these were some of my favorites. All in all it was a pretty damn good year, yea we had our bumps and bruises and a black-eye or two along the way but there are changes on the horizon. I believe in the year 2001 racing will start taking a new course, new blood is coming in and the old guard is starting to make its way out. Racing is now becoming state wide with people being able to see the goings on all over the world right here on KARNAC.

Let's all just sit back and reflect on the past year and try to recall the good things that happened in our racing families. How we came together in the tragedies and helped each other. Let's not forget our fallen heroes and their families and keep them all close to our hearts. Racing people are like no other people on this earth, we live for the rumble of Saturday night, the togetherness we feel when we are at the track, no matter what track we are at is something that people who are not in racing do not feel. Take the time in this off season to hug the ones you love just a little bit tighter and tell them you love them. Have a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Before you know it February will be here, fresh paint and sheetmetal will be everywhere and as the first green flag of the season falls we will all know........"It's Time To Race!"
Rick Anges
Editor
Florida Stock Car Racing
www.KARNAC.com

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