February 7

FSCR

Sammy Swindell and son Kevin to race East Bay Raceway Park

by Jean Lynch

Tampa, FL…..2/6/04…..Veteran World of Outlaw Sprint car driver Sammy Swindell and his son Kevin submitted entries for the 28th Annual Sprint Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park set to run Wednesday through Saturday, February 11-14, 2003. Sammy's entry is for the 410 Sprints and Kevin will race with the Florida Mini Sprints.

As father and son, the two Swindells have raced before at the same track in separate events but only on rare occasions. At East Bay, each night of the 410 Sprint Winternationals is billed as a double-header - 410 Sprints and Mini-Sprints - which will give the two an opportunity to share information on changing track conditions.

"When we heard about the Mini-Sprints being part of the program each night, I called the track and found out the rules and specs are similar to what Kevin runs with his Stealth Mini-Sprint," explained Swindell. "Ours has a 600cc engine and we will be running against some 750cc engines, but I like the horsepower of the smaller engine."

The younger Swindell, who has been driving since he was six year old, could give himself an early birthday present with a win here because he will turn 15 on February 21st. His background already includes championships in the World Karting Association (WKA) in 2002 and 2003. Kevin's Mini-Sprint is number 1s and according to his father, "Kevin is ready for a real sprint ride if any car owner is interested, just contact us."

Sammy last won at East Bay in 1984 and will be going up against 35 other sprint car 'hot shoes' from 10 states including Craig Dollansky, Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl, Joey Saldana, Pennsylvania Posse members Greg Hodnett, Ed Lynch, Jr., Lance Dewease, Fred Rahmer and others.

Sammy will be competing in a number 12X Maxim Sprint car powered by a Wesmar engine, owned by Bob Vielhauer and sponsored by Beaver Drill & Tool Company of Kansas City, Kansas.

Gates open Wednesday at 4:30PM, hot laps will be around 5:30 followed by time trials and racing starts at 7:00PM. East Bay Raceway Park is located five miles south of I-4 just off Route 41. For more information call 1-813-677-7223 or 1-877-457-5611.






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