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| Classic Auto Racing Series Brings Classic Weather to Orlando SpeedWorld | by Dave Westerman
For the first two weeks of their 2003 racing season, Orlando Speedworld has more closely resembled the Florida Everglades, succumbing to a monsoon rain during racing on opening night, then enough of the wet stuff last week to make the road to the track impassable.
However, as the Classic Auto Racing Series heads to Orlando Speedworld for the first of eight visits this year, some "classic" early springtime weather is in the offing with skies expected to be mostly clear by race time and temperatures in the 60's. What may be the biggest field of Classics in some time for a regular season race will be greeting action-starved fans Friday night.
The "Bald Bomber," Daryl Grief of Deland will have his work cut out for him if he plans to make it two in a row after taking the season-opener at Thundercross Motorsports Complex three weeks ago.
A new line-up procedure, voted in by the drivers last fall, sends the winner of the previous race as well as the second place finisher to the back of the starting grid for the next race. This is similar to the format used by the FASTRUCK race series and has proved quite popular.
Grief and second place Thundercross finisher Frank Conrad of Ft. Pierce will start from the back of the field Friday night. All other drivers draw for starting positions in their heats while Grief and Conrad cam run the heats for practice and set-up, but no matter what they do in the heat, they start from the back of the feature line-up.
Oddly enough, Conrad and his teammate E.B. Carr of Okeechobee have instituted the "DAWB Motorsports Worst to First award" for this season that will pay an extra $100 to anyone who can win back to back races.
However, Conrad won't be eligible for the award this time as only Grief, the Thundercross winner, can pick up the extra cash.
2002 CARS Champion Jim Rahman of Clermont missed the Thundercross race because he was on a skiing trip, but he'll be among the favorites along with other veteran Classic competitors like Car, Ed Yates of Orlando, Palm Harbor's Bud Spencer, the father/son combo of George Hall, Jr. and George Hall III, Al "Hot Rod" Hagan of Merritt Island, Simeon Spagnuolo of Vero Beach, Ft. Pierce's Wayne Ashton, and 2002 Door Operating Systems Rookie of the Year Patrick "Bam Bam" Sanders of Winter Garden.
Door Operating Systems is back as the Rookie of the Year sponsor for 2003 and many of this group of so-call "rookies" have more racing experience than some of the drivers who've been with the Classic Auto Racing Series since it's inception.
Florida State Senator Bill Posey of Rockledge has been racing in Central Florida for over 40 years and has thousands of laps around the Speedworld oval, mostly in a Super Late Model and with plenty of victories as well. This is his first full season in the Classics and just to prove he's serious, Posey recently purchased the former South 40 Motorsports Classic so he can have two machines ready in his arsenal.
Lake Mack's Joey Strehle was the top finishing rookie in the season opening race at Thundercross and has loads of experience in all types of race cars on both asphalt and dirt.
Ben Booth of Deland was one of the top Modified drivers at Speedworld when Clyde Hart brought the class to the track in the late 80's but was forced into retirement by the high costs of racing. The economical Classic Series has given him a new lease on his racing life and he has a brand new car ready to challenge the other rookies.
Second year drivers Greg Helton of Orange City, Ray Frazee of Oak Hill, Orlando's Kyle McGill and Ft. Myers driver Wally Smith are all eligible to run for rookie this year too.
Sharen Ewing, whose husband Harvey ran for rookie last year, will bring a wife vs. husband battle to the Series this year. Sharen will also run for rookie in 2003 but agrees it will be an uphill battle for her being the only real "raw" rookie out there.
One driver returning to the fold this year will be Orlando's David Marsh. Marsh will be behind the wheel of a car owned by Gene Whitlock who hopes the car will be ready for Friday's race.
For more information on this low-cost traveling series that runs both asphalt and dirt tracks, visit www.classicautoracing.com on the web.
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