|
| Clyde Hart Memorial Sunbelt 125 runs Thursday, July 1, at New Smyrna Speedway | by Jane Smith
Samsula, Fla (June 29, 2004) Thursday, July 1, will see the fourth annual Clyde Hart Memorial Sunbelt 125 at New Smyrna Speedway. Clyde Hart, owner of both Orlando SpeedWorld and New Smyrna Speedway, passed away in July 1999 and every year before the Pepsi 400, New Smyrna Speedway holds the Clyde Hart Memorial, one of the most prestigious races of the year.
This year will also see the road dedication of the Clyde Hart Highway which runs from State Road 415 (beside New Smyrna Speedway) to DeLand. The road dedication will be at the Speedway this Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday will be the sixth race for the Sunbelt Super Late Model Series and coming into the race as points leader is Fain Skinner of Live Oaks, Florida. Skinner, who has
1 top 10 finish, 3 top 5's and one win leads the Sunbelt Series with 436 points over Wayne Anderson of Wildwood with 423 points.
Scotty Crockett of Land O'Lakes runs third in points with 3 top 5's and l top 10 accumulating 373 points. Jonny Kay of Deerfield Beach stands fourth in points with 366 points but only 25 points behind Kay is Daniel Keene Jr. of Weekiwachee, Florida.
Mike Bresnahan of Inverness comes in sixth with 280 points followed by Dick "King of the Florida Short Tracks" Anderson of Wildwood in seventh with 264 points. Michael Williams, the 2002 Sunbelt Super Late Model Champion, of Mims, Florida, stands eighth with 189 points. Rich Pratt of Anthony, Florida, who is leading the Florida Pro Series Points at this time, comes in ninth in points with 169 points followed by tenth place Barry Willoughby of Port St. Lucie at 164 points.
Other expected entries are Justin Drawdy, Jay Middleton, Brock Oglesby, Jacob Warren, Sean Murphy, David Rogers, Brian Finney, Jimmy Cope, and many more. Travis Kittleson of Merritt Island, Florida, was hoping to get a ride for the race since the ASA series is off this weekend but so far has not found one.
Qualifying for the Clyde Hart Memorial Sunbelt 125 will be at 4 p.m.
Along with the Clyde Hart Memorial will be the Florida Mini Stock Challenge 50. Darren Jackson leads the points for the Mini Stock Challenge with 365 points but only 44 points behind Jackson is Robbie Yoakam who is always fast no matter where he goes.
Standing only 5 points behind Yoakam is third place Rick Sirmans with 316 points. But Sirmans has little room to lose either with Chris Thornton only four points behind Sirmans. Rouding out the top five and only two points behind fourth place Thornton is Robbie Storer who has a few wins under his belt at New Smyrna Speedway. None of these drivers can afford to mess up with points as close as they are.
Rounding out the top ten in points for the Florida Mini Stock Challenge are Dustin Deschamps with 300 points, Clint Foley with 274 points, Mark Moniz with 253 points, Marty Neikens with 246 points and Alan Buker with 232 points. Also a number of New Smyrna's Mini Stockers are expected to join in for the 50 lap event - Ted Vulpius, Rex Christensen, Alli Owens, Ron Dubeau, and Tim McPhail.
Qualifying for the Florida Mini Stock Challenge will be at 5 p.m.
The Sportsman, Super Stock and Strictly Stocks are also on the program for July 1. Pit gates will open at noon with practice from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Qualifying for the Clyde Hart Memorial 125 will be at 4 p.m. followed by the Florida Mini Stock Challenge at 5 p.m The dedication for the "Clyde Hart Highway" will be at 6:30 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m. Reserved seating is $20.00, general admission $15.00, students and seniors $10.00, children 11 and under are FREE.
New Smyrna Speedway is located between State Road 44 and State Road 415 between I-4 and I-95 eight miles west of New Smyrna in beautiful Samsula, Florida.
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
or send a letter to the editor!
|
