September 7

FSCR

HURRICANE FRANCES SPARES SPEEDWORLD

By Dave Westerman

Slow moving Hurricane Frances decided to leave its mark in many places statewide in Florida, but unlike Charley, Frances gave Orlando Speedworld a break. Other than some minor damage to the east side of the press box tower and some more debris from trees, the track is in good shape.

Power remained on throughout the hurricane and the phone is also working. Water, which has been dumped on Speedworld by the tons it seems, continues to be the biggest issue, but Speedworld General Manager Dick Westfall hopes the facility will be dried out enough to allow regular Wednesday practice to resume the week as well as both Friday and Saturday racing.

How much rain the track receives over the next couple of days will be the determining factor, but rain chances are expected to decrease significantly heading into the weekend.

And, of course, all eyes are focused on Hurricane Ivan which may affect the U.S. mainland by early next week. "Maybe Ivan will slow down enough so we can do some racing in between hurricanes," says Westfall whose own home in Titusville was badly damaged forcing him to move to a hotel near the race track. "You just got to try and keep a smile on your face and keep plugging along," he says.

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