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2000 News

1999 News

March 2000

Bobby Gill, defending 1999 USAR Hooters ProCup champion, rolled to victory last night in the Jackaroo Sauces 250 at Florida Speed Park. Gill, who was victorious in the ProCup’s last visit in November, became the series first repeat winner at the fast paved half mile.

Mario Gosselin raised the bar with his St. Augustine record qualifying effort, taking the pole in front of Gill and Mart Nesbitt. Gill quickly made his way in front of Gosselin on the first lap and held the lead for the next 98 laps before pitting and taking on fuel and tires with the rest of the leaders.
(turn three action at Florida Speed Park)
Gill passed Gosselin again, regaining the lead on lap 152 and held on for the victory. Gosselin ended the night second and Nesbitt finished where he started in third. “We practiced on old tires all day and really didn’t know what would happen with new tires,” said Gill. “We are pleased to get the win but we still have a long way to go this season.”
For more on the Hooters ProCup race and full Results:Click Here!!


FSP MODIFIEDS
In Rick’s Muffler Modified action, a confident Jimmy Britts traded the pole position for an eighth place start and a possible $250 8 Ball bonus. For 29 of the scheduled 30 laps it appeared that Britts would fall short in his charging bid as a hooked up Russ Miscally, who captured the outside pole position, settled into a comfortable lead.

However, midway through the last lap, Miscally’s #2 lost a piston, sending Britts to a fortunate yet well-earned second consecutive Modified victory and the second driver in as many weeks to claim the 8 Ball Challenge.

“I didn’t have anything for Miscally tonight,” said a thankful Britts in Victory Lane. Miscally would have to settle for a 10th place finish.

The last lap also provided the fans with some fireworks as Jon Compagnone and Mark Bergman got tangled heading into turn four battling for the fourth spot. Compagnone would end up with the better end of the deal, escaping the melee and claiming his hold on fourth, while Bergman’s #17 spun, putting him 9th.

Jason Lowe, in only his third race following a two-year absence brought on by a freak bicycle accident and resulting severe head injury, turned in a strong evening with a second place finish. Jared Allison followed in third. Chuck Cumby, narrowly avoiding the last lap action in turn four, placed fifth.

Lowe, whose brother Mike competes in the speedway’s Thunder Truck division, described earlier in the day the circumstances of his bicycle injury and subsequent rehabilitation period.

“I was riding my bicycle a short distance at night in very familiar territory,” said Lowe in an interview with Mike Dempsey on WFOY 1240 AM’s “Speed Park Spotlight” show. “I rode right into a construction hole. Next thing I know I’m in a hospital.”

Lowe, who was not wearing a bicycle safety helmet at the time, defied his doctors’ prognoses and returned to the sport that he has embraced since he was a three-year-old. He now champions the cause and regularly promotes the use of safety helmets.

All six local racing divisions return to action Saturday, April 1st, along with a visit from the master of speedway antics, Speedo the Clown.

--30--

Race Night Finishing Order:

Rick’s Muffler Modifieds

1. Jimmy Britts
2. Jason Lowe
3. Jared Allison
4. Jon Compagnone
5. Chuck Cumby
6. John Galbraith
7. Wesley Moore
8. Marc Kinley
9. Mark Bergman
10. Russ Miscally
11. David Linquist
12. Chester Mayes

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After a three week layoff of racing activities at Citrus County Speedway, race starved drivers will get the command next Saturday to “Restart your engines.” They will get an opportunity to try the new resurface on Thursday night, March 30th, in their first practice session since March 4th.

With only two races in the books for the 2000 season many racers had three more weeks to get their ride, race ready without loosing too much in the points races. A number of racers in all divisions were just saving their cars for the April first race that will restart the season without any break until the end of the season on November 11th. The first of 19 sponsored Late Model races will feature the LaPerle Memorials L.M Feature for $1,300 to win and an additional $100 for 2nd and 3rd, provided by the sponsor of the race. David Pletcher picked up the win in the first race of the year but probably won’t be a regular at the Speedway this year so the points lead will really be up for grabs. Top ten, with just one race under their belts, are Dave Pletcher (40), Tate Pierce (38), Doc James Batson (36), Mike Bresnahan ((34), defending Champion Dan Johnson (32), Al Lawrence (30), Steve Griffin (28) (Driving his race truck), Jeromie Fehrenbach (26), Joe McCullough (24) and Bruce Smith (22). That is the way they finished in their March 4th, 2000 debut. Eighteen Late Models took the green in their first race of the year.

Bill Oestreicher (79) holds the Sportsman point’s lead with two top 5 finishes and a heat win. David Dollar (77) paired a feature and heat win with a top ten finish to hold a 2 point edge over defending champion Mike Veltman (75) who is the only other feature winner in the division. The balance of the top ten going into race three of season are Rex Struble (74), Travis Nichols (71), Mike Holm (59), Jim Smith (42), Mark Gillette (42), Alfred Tyrell (40) and last years runner-up, Robert Pilkinton (37). 20 cars raced in the first two races of the year. Thirty-two Street Stocks made the first two shows of the year and the Wilson trio holds down the top three spots in the point’s race. Taking the first feature of the year and a third in the second race, Wes Wilson (85) holds a five point lead over brother Sport Wilson (80) and their father Harley Wilson (79) moved into third after snatching the second feature of the year from Sport at the line. The balance of the top ten are Ernie Reed Jr. (72), Robbie Yoakam (72), Otis Hamilton (59), Victor Stanley (58), John LeVecque (54), Dean Lawyer (49) and Jason Waller (46).

1997 and 1998 Mini Stock Champion, George Neumann (84) tops the Mini Stock division points race on the merits of two top five finishes. Kevin Harrod (83) logged the first feature and has a top 5 finish and trails by just one point. Mark Sowell (75), Frank Coleman (74), John Coleman (64), Don Faunce (58), Jim Wear (52), Rick Coleman (51), Rick Sirmons (45) and Mike Moore (44) balance out the top ten of the twenty cars in the hunt.

Sixteen-year-old Chris Hooker had his eye on the three feature in a row bonus after winning the first race of the year. Hooker looked like he was going to notch his second feature in a row until Roy Perkins snatched it away from him late in the race. The two feature winners top their point’s race with 28 contestants already participating. Hooker (88) has a 13-point lead over Perkins (75) on an impressive 1 feature and 2 heat wins and a top 5 finish to kick off the season. Scott Teague (70), Mike Bell (64), J.D. Goff (60), Allen Jacobson (59), Richie Smith (58), Micky Burns (52), Mike Ruff (43) and Jimmy Peters (39) round out the top ten.

Figure 8’s will be back for the Saturday night action. With only one race under their belt, former champion Gary Swing managed to tuck away the first feature of the year with only 7 competitors going against him. Swing (40) leads by two over defending champion Robert Aaron (38). Ron Schriefels (36), 1998 champion is back in contention after taking a year off and holds down third. Ken Crews (34), Brad Cleaveland (32) and Larry Harris (30) round out the top seven. The field should be bigger this weekend.

Citrus County Speedway is located 2 miles south of Inverness on U.S. 41 at the Citrus County Fairgrounds. General admission is $10, seniors and Students to 17 - $8 and Children 12 and under accompanied by a parent are admitted free. All six divisions will be in action for the 6:30 start time Saturday night and the Late Models will go for $1,300 to win in the 30 lap LaPerle Memorials Late Model Feature.

-Larry MacMillan

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Bradenton,Fla. Sonny "Gumby" Hughes showed his experience on DeSoto Speedways high banks Saturday night by driving to a flag to flag win over 30 other cars and drivers in the Limited Late Model 50 lap feature.....

LLM drivers from all over the state converged on the "South's Fastest Short Track" Saturday night for the speedways 50 lap feature event. Also present were some familiar faces from DeSoto including Mike Abbott, Joe Boyd, Clint Slaggy and Sonny Hughes. It was Joe Boyd #5 that showed the way around the track in qualifying blistering the speedway with a 14.95 second lap (91mph) followed by the #01 of Jeff Wogoman who clocked in at 14.97 sec. But Wogoman was found light going through tech after qualifying and was sent to the rear of the field for the start of the race which made for some exciting racing later on in the event.

When the green dropped it was Hughes#45 and Clint Slaggy in the familiar # 79 battling for the lead with the entire field not far behind. A caution involving #77 Tony Amico, #67 Jimmie Best,#51 Richie Anderson, and the #19x of Frank Parsons brought out the first caution. Anderson and Best headed for the pits with flats and were able to return Amico continued but the night was over early for Parsons.

When the green dropped the field was nose to tail all the way back. #61 Richard Kelley was making some impressive moves and battled up into the top 5 along with him was low qualifier Boyd. The second yellow was brought out by the #21 Ken Gomez who got together with #51 Richie Anderson on the back stretch Gomez going head on into the wall and ending his night early. On the restart the top 4 cars pulled away lead by Hughes with the second pack of cars being lead by Joe Boyd, just when the action was heating up again the 3rd caution was brought out by a spinning Amico. On the greenSlaggy was battling hard to stay with a hard charging Hughes and trying to keep off a very fast Scofield when he lost it bringing out the 4th caution of the race Slaggy was sent to the rear for bringing out the Yellow.


The race underway again and this time it was a 3 car breakaway with the #07 of Jeff Scofield right on the back bumper of Sonny Hughes and the #61 of Kelley tagging right along with them the battle continued for several laps until Kelley dove low in turn three on Scofield for the second spot, just touching him enough to send Scofield into a spin and backwards just kissing the turn four wall bringing out caution number five and resulting in a good running Kelley being put to the rear.

With Kelley being to sent to the back Scofield set his sites on front-runner Hughes trying high and low lines to get by him, and then getting under Hughes going into turn one and giving him just enough of a nudge to send the leader into a spin coming out of turn two in front of the entire field making for some anxious moments but everyone getting by bringing out the sixth yellow and sending an unhappy Scofield to the rear.
The green dropped with 5 laps to go and it was all Sonny Hughes to the end collecting his first DeSoto Checkered Flag of the 2000 season following him across in 2nd was low qualifier Joe Boyd, third went to a hard charging #2 Tom Laurent, fourth was #23 Mike Abbott and rounding out the top five #22 Larry Olstien.18 cars finshed the 30 car slugfest with 16 of the 18 on the lead lap....

Some very scary moments during the first lap of the Legends car feature when the #57f of Doug Longwell (one of the fast qualifiers) flipped in turn 3 smacking the wall while flipping landing up right on his wheels but before he could exit his car the ruptured fuel cell exploded trapping him in his car for what seemed like an eternity while other drivers stopped and came to his aid he escaped the inferno. Although he was able to walk to the ambulance under his own power the BayFlite helicopter was called in taking him to Tampa General for further treatment.

When racing resumed #9 Jimmy Walker showed the speed needed to charge from the rear of the field to take the win #65 Johnny Kay roared across in second, third was the #1 of Rod Sanders, 4th #47 Tim Bagnaw and fifth early leader David Tard #68.

The Allison Legacy feature win went to #33 Wayne Teague jr,second was 19 year old Emily Harkins #23,Andy Chisholm #50 took third.

The Mod-Mini feature was one to remember as #00 of Shaun Ruetimann took the early lead but it was a determined #3 of Matt Watts of Dade City who roared his way to the front and hold off the rest of the field to score his first ever feature event win, second place was #73 Shawn Williams, Shane Cook in the #4 came across the line third, fourth went to early leader #00 Shaun Reutimann and fifth the #88 Ron Woodcock.

The hard driving Sportsman feature started out with a wild crash on the first lap when the field tried to come out of turn four 3 wide with the #11 of Joe Shaver losing a rear bumper but being able to continue. #89 Jimmy Cook jumped out to the lead followed by #18 George Shaver who battled each other the entire race.

Meanwhile behind them was #41 Gus Coorssen and #1 Steve Gainey in a heated battle for the 3rd spot with Gainy bump drafting his way past Coorssen to take the spot and causing him to slip several positions. In the closing laps #18 Shaver, front brakes glowing, gave it everything he had to try and pass Cook, but also had his hands full holding off Gainey and #98 a late charging Lonnie Miller .Thats the way it ended with Cook taking the win,Shaver second, Gainey finishing third, Miller fourth and a #11 Shaver coming back for fifth.

"The Rocket" Teddy Nelson blazed into the winners circle from his sixth starting position on his anniversary with wife Cindy,#72 John Grimm who was on Nelsons bumper for a while was second, a very fast Bill Davis #15 came in third, #32 Ronnie Skipper(who also competed in and finished 13th the LLM race) was fourth and #9x of Brent Yoder followed across in fifth.

The Fender crunching Street Stocks were up next and after the smoke had cleared #42Dennis Wilson jr. had banged and powered his way to another feature win, #9 Ben Kelly who had led from the drop of the green before being passed by Wilson finished second, Dale"The Rock" Reigle #5 survived for third, Rich Clouser #8 took fourth and #95 Wallace Ramsey fifth.

Howard "Cowboy" Higgins #7 was the winner in the Pure Stock Division, #56 Gary Flynn second, Troy Davis #57 third, #3 Peggy Hurst followed in fourth and #68 Gary McFall rounded out the top five.

Mini-Stock feature winner was #70 Tony Elrod jr.,#30 Jesse Dutilly hung for second, Arlin Pope #98 charged his way up to take third, #95 Clay Joseph took a solid fourth and Danny Poling #68 was your fifth place car.

Over a 140 cars were in the pits for Saturday nights action and with 30 Limited Late Models it was an exciting night of racing for all........from Bradenton...Rick Anges

Limited Late Models
1. #45 SONNY HUGHES, BRADENTON
2. #5 JOE BOYD, RIVERVIEW
3. #2 TIM LAURENT,
4. #23 MIKE ABBOTT, ARCADIA
5. #22 LARRY OSTEEN, CLERMONT
6. #96 MICHAEL KING,
7. #1 JOHN JACKSON, ELLENTON
8. #37 JOHN SHIELDS, BRADENTON
9. #79 CLINT SLAGGY, BRADENTON
10. #36 TOMMY YOUNKMAN, SARASOTA

OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED
1. #17 TEDDY NELSON, PINELLAS PARK
2. #72 JOHN GRIMM, SEFFNER
3. #15 BILL DAVIS, WAUCHULA
4. #32 RONNIE SKIPPER,
5. #9X BRENT YODER, SARASOTA
6. #22 CALEB RESCHAR, PALMETTO
7. #67 ROCCO RANNALLO, BRADENTON
8. #52 STEVE HAUSER JR, PARRISH
9. #27 TOM TROYER, BRADENTON
10. #98 MARK WILKINS,

SPORTSMAN
1. #89 JIMMY COOK, SARASOTA
2. #18 GEORGE SHAVER, ARCADIA
3. #1 STEVE GAINEY, BRADENTON
4. #11 JOE SHAVER, ARCADIA
5. #98 LONNY MILLER, BRADENTON
6. #97 BRIAN TEETERS, PALMETTO
7. #21 JAMES CARTER,
8. #41 GUS COORSSEN, SARASOTA
9. #86 JEFF ANDERSON, BRADENTON
10. #03 BARRY CARLSON, LARGO

STREET STOCK
1. #42 DENNIS WILSON JR, BRADENTON
2. #9 BEN KELLY, NORTH PORT
3. #5 DALE REIGLE, SARASOTA
4. #8 RICH CLOUSER, GRANT, FL
5. #95 WALLACE RAMSEY, BRADENTON
6. #19 JOEY BARNES, BRADENTON
7. #21 MARK CHAPMAN, SARASOTA
8. #77 SCOTT WOODLAND, BRADENTON
9. #67 SHAWN BEST, SARASOTA
10. #99 BRENT LOUISO, SARASOTA

PURE STOCK
1. #7 HOWARD HIGGINS, ARCADIA
2. #56 GARY FLYNN, PALMETTO
3. #57 TROY DAVIS, BRADENTON
4. #3 PEGGY HURST, SARASOTA
5. #68 GARY MCFALL, VENICE
6. #4 MARK PICKELSIMER, BRADENTON
7. #20 GREG BANACH, BRADENTON
8. #6 DANNY ANDERSON, BRADENTON

MODIFIED MINI
1. #3 MATT WATTS, DADE CITY
2. #73 SHAWN WILLIAMS, KATHLEEN, FL
3. #4 SHANE COOK, DADE CITY
4. #00 SHAUN REUTIMANN, ZEPHYRHILLS
5. #88 RON WOODCOCK, RIVERVIEW
6. #43 WAYNE MILLER, BRADENTON
7. #1 BILLY CARLBERT JR,
8. #7 STEVE MARTIN, PINELLAS PARK
9. #98 MIKE MITRISIN, BROOKSVILLE
10. #63 ANDY WHITTED, SARASOTA

MINI STOCK
1. #70 TONY ELROD JR, KATHLEEN
2. #30 JESSE DUTILLY, BRADENTON
3. #98 ARLIN POPE, BRADENTON
4. #95 CLAY JOSEPH, BRADENTON
5. #68 DANNY POLING, SARASOTA
6. #4 TOMMY HUFFSTUTLER, BRADENTON
7. #92 JEFF GUILBAULT, PALMETTO
8. #14 JON BAILEY, ST. PETERSBURG
9. #22 SHANE WHITBECK, SARASOTA
10. #11X CURTIS LAM, SARASOTA

The 2000 racing season began in St Augustine with a new name and a new sanction. The new name is Florida Speed Park and the new sanction is the American Racing Association, which is a weekly racing series and a touring late model stock series. The weekly series will complete for a track championship as well as a national championship based on a points system like that used in theTOP GUN Challenge last year.

1998 and 1999 Sportsman Division Champion Kenny Hall started the season at FSP right where he left off, by winning the first point event of the new year with a first place finish. He will be challenged this year by Todd "Secret Agentman" Ponce, Nick Pilinko, and Jason Garver, who finished third in his new car.

Late Models will be back as Larry Osteen will defend his 1999 Track Championship. If Speed fest 2000 was any judge Osteen will have a lot of challengers this year. Look for young guns such as 19 year old Scott Lagasse, Jr., Donnie Oden , and Dustin Chamber to challenge the "Old Man" Osteen for the trophy.

George Thrift, III may not be back to defend his 1999 championship so that leaves the door wide open for a new track champion in the Florida Speed Park Modifieds, which will be the support race for this Saturday's USAR Hooters ProCup event. The half mile speedway, with it's unique 'D' shaped lay out, also features Thunder Trucks, Mini Stocks and Hobby Stocks with returning veterans, along with some new faces for 2000.

Special events planned for 2000 are sure to add a lot of extra excitement to regular battles for FSP's track championship. April 1st brings the charm and enthusiasm of Speedo the Clown, America’s one man racing clown show. Speedo not only is a big favorite with the younger fans, but also has a way of bringing out the 'kid' in race fans wherever he turns up. The following week the NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro series heads the racing bill, and on the 22nd of April the power of the Southern Pro Trucks, the fastest trucks in the south, make the first of two 2000 appearances at the speedway. Also included in the 2000 schedule are the Southern Automobile Racing Association (SARA) Late Models, T.B.A.R.A. winged sprints on Labor Day, Florida Pro Late Models, Dwarf cars, in addition to the two stops made by the up and coming Hooters ProCup events with their Busch style cars and the most competitive short track series in the country.

A new feature for the fans of short track stock car racing on the east coast of Florida will the live radio broadcasting on WFLY of all the races at FSP. General Manager Louis Smith expressed the renewed enthusiasm at the speedway this year, "It's thrilling to see a lot of people in the community get real excited about the season and the things we're doing out here. It takes time, we've really had to turn a big ship around, with that kind of support it's going to make it a lot easier." The radio station, heard on 1240 AM, will also be airing "lunch with the drivers" live every Saturday from Noon to 12:30. The show will feature interviews with two or three FSP drivers live from the Oasis Restaurant, a favorite St Augustine spot for locals as well as tourists. Following the show fans can eat lunch and hang out with the drivers, and get to know them a bit.

On the new American Racing Association sanctioning Louis Smith stressed the importance of promoting the drivers in the community. "The biggest thing in short track racing, time and again from talking to drivers, is you can be the best stock car driver in the world but if you're not in the right place at the right time you're always going to be racing Saturday night. For a lot of the guys that's all they care about, they love being out here racing, to help them get promoted in the community and racing itself they're tickled to death about that, but some of these guys are serious about a racing career. We feel this can help put them in the right place and kind of open the timing window for them. That's what we're trying to do as much as anything is to expose the drivers who are serious about a career in racing, to promote them. We can't do it for them, but to give them as many opportunities as we can for them to do it for themselves".

The 2000 Florida Speed Park schedule combined with the sanctioning from the new American Racing Association, along with the increased community involvement, and a management style that emphasizes promoting the racers who put on the shows could well lead to a banner year for racing in the St. Augustine area.

This Saturday night the awesome power of the USAR Hooters ProCup racing series takes to the pavement at St Augustine for their second event of the year. Many Florida drivers are expected to see action including the 1997 ProCup champion Mario Gosselin, Derrick Kelley, winner of two ProCup races in 1999, Jason and Jeremy Bowser of Clearwater, Jonathon Brown of Sarasota. Rookie of the year contender David Pletcher of Pinellas Park had an outstanding sixth place finish in the first race of 2000, and longtime Florida short track veteran Bobby Gill who was last year's champion is set to defend his title. Along with the Florida stars of the ProCup scene, expect to see many veterans of the Carolina-Virginia late model wars vying for a spot in Florida Speed Park's Victory Lane. Jon Wood, grandson of Leonard Wood of legendary Wood Brothers fame, surprised most observers with his second place finish behind Andy Thurman in the first race.

Racing action begins at Florida Speed Park with ProCup qualifying at 5:00 PM and the race getting underway at 7:30 PM. The FSP Modifieds take to the track at the conclusion of the 250 lap Hooters event.

Full race reports, photos and video of the race will be available on the KARNAC Hooters ProCup Report Sunday.

-Jack Smith


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It what might been some of the best open wheel racing all year, Jerry Symons picked up the victory Friday night at Orlando Speedworld. It was a very strong field of cars including the 1999 SARA Open Wheel Modified Series Champion, and Rookie of the Year Driver, Perry Brown, Dwayne Dempsey, Robert Ham, Larry Martin, Joe Boyd and others.

Dwayne Dempsey would set the Jarrett-Bodiford Ford Fast Qualifier Award with a time of 14.000. Lee Collins from Immokalee, FL. would qualify second with a close time of 14.002. Larry Martin, Jamie Burrows and Jerry Symons would round out the top five qualifiers. After pills were drawn for the top ten qualifiers to determine starting positions, Chuck Burkhalter would start on the point with Jerry Symons on the outside, row one.

When the green flag dropped on the 26 car field, Symons immediately took the lead going into turn one and never look back. Jamie Burrows would put the pressure on Jerry Symons all night, while Larry Martin, Jason Boyd and Dewayne Lawhon all battled for third. There was great racing all over the track, with only 4 cautions in the 50 lap event.

Herb Nueman, driving his beautifully prepared Monte Carlo late model, survived a series of spins and re-starts in a wild season opener for the LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN DIVISION and won the fifty lap feature at Bronson's famed " bullring" Saturday nite. 15 cars started the first event of the year for this special series that features the high-dollar cars running for large purses once per month.

After two false starts, the leaders got it on and it wasn't until lap three that the cars of Patrick Williams and Kevin Durdin got together on the front stretch in heavy traffic. A wild slide ensued as Williams tried to " gather up " his # 18 Monte Carlo while the rest of the field slammed on the binders to keep from hitting him and Kevin Durdin. On the re-start it was Mike Faulk in his new #36 Monte Carlo out front with Patrick Williams and Herb Nueman in hot pursuit. Turn four was the action spot again as Williams, Nueman and Roy Staines spun.
Nueman's car sustained right side damage and had to re-start from the rear . Patrick Williams scooted into the pits for some fast repairs and was able to return.

Now, the DRIVING started. The big crowd of enthusiastic fans were treated to some fender to fender racing as Nueman and Williams tore through the field. Mike Faulk's car faltered , allowing Nueman and Williams to get by on lap # 24. The last 26 laps saw spectacular racing as Nueman got by Williams. He held on while Williams held off Roy Staines' Monte Carlo for the finish.

MINI-STOCK
Steve Griffen, who has had some good rides in other equipment (Southern Pro Trucks in Lakeland) showed the crowd that he is a young man with a future and won the MINI-STOCK feature after having tangled with other cars earlier. The Bronson rules put cars involved in a crash to the rear, so it was from there that Griffen had to start his charge to the front. Clint Foley ran second in the Bronson Family Restaurant #7 while Chet Marlowe finished third in his # 74 Mini-truck. Jeff Stalnaker and Charlie Stalnaker had their cars going good until both were involved in crashes. Jeff and Steve Griffen tangled early on lap # 6, while Charlie had trouble with several slower cars in the feature. One thingis for sure, these hard chargers willl be back next week. They always make this division exciting. Josh Hars and the Dr. Jay's entry were really " hooked up " in the early going, but the car broke on lap # 6, much to the dissapointed of Josh's loyal fan club and his crew. Thiscar and driver has already proven that they can win and they'll be back next week.

PURE STOCK

Talk about determination! Steve Seymour ( # 88) and his dedicated crew work hard every week to get the Autozone Camero home first. Things did'nt start out so well Saturday nite as the car lost it's harmonic balancer just as it was starting out for practice. The crew rushed back to Dunnellon, picked up a new balancer and just made it to line for the feature. As only great racing stories are written, Steve then went onto notch his first feature win!
Seymour's ride was'nt an easy one as his car kissed the wall on lap # 11, thus earning him the " Darlington Stripe" that is becoming synonmous with turn four of the " bullring". Jerome Brown and Corkey Miley had good runs going in their Cameros, but spins on their part put both cars to the rear for re-starts. Excellent driving on the part of both of these popular drivers saw them weave through traffic and finish up front. The day belonged to the Camero's asthey represented the first three positions at the finish. It is one that Steve Seymour isn't likely to forget for a long time!

4-CYLINDER CRUISERS

John Naber made it three feature victories in a row as he brought the# 3 Mini-Truck home first in the cruiser class. He had some work to do tonite to get by Chad Dixon in his # 27 Toyota and Jeff Stalnaker, Jr. who finished third. Ryan Nagele had his # 9 entry running strong and ran with the leaders all feature long.

SOME INTERESTING THOUGHTS-- Steve Griffen and Steve Seymour both had to re-start at the rear of their respective features to pull off their wins. This is no small feat on the Bronson high banks! AND-- if youthough the action was hot and heavy this week, come on out and be with us again this Saturday nite. Racing is at 7:30 sharp. See ya'll at the "bullring"!

RESULTS

LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN

1) # 98 Herb Nueman, Inverness, Fla.
2) # 18 Patrick Williams, Archer, Fla.
3) # 60 Roy Staines, Silver Springs, Fla.

MINI-STOCK

1) # 1 Steve Griffen, Ocala, Fla.
2) # 7 Clint Foley, Dunnellon, Fla.
3) # 74 Chet Marlowe, Williston, Fla.

PURE STOCK

1) # 88 Steve Seymour, Dunnellon, Fla.
2) # 93 Corkey Miley, Hernando, Fla.
3) # 25 Jerome Brown, Newberry, Fla.

4-CYLINDER CRUISER

1) # 3 John Naber, Dunnellon, Fla.
2) # 27 Chad Dixon, Ocala, Fla.
3) # 10 Jeff Stalnaker, Jr., Ocala, Fla.

by Gil Peck



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Everybody knows what a race fan is right? Wrong! Let's see now, who really pays their money at the local short track on a weekend night in Florida? One group are the circle track combatants themselves, with their contingent of seconds wearing the team T-shirts and who are given the designation of crewman. Another group are the team owners, sponsors, or friends of the team owner, sponsor, driver or crew. Their job is to yell real loud and wave the car around the track as if that magical arm wave gives the car more momentum or something like that. And then there's all the kids who belong to one of the above.

At some tracks I've been to those folks above make up the majority of the attendees. I guess that's called making your money off the back gate. At some tracks the folks who comprise the above groups are what are called the 'family'. Not to be confused with the family with the names ending in vowels. That 'family' wouldn't tolerate some of the disrespect shown to senior members of the family. But that's another story.

Then there's the people, we'll call them spectators to keep this simple, who make up the rest of the crowd. If you ever really want an education on fandom, spend an evening in the main grandstand section of a local short track watching the watchers. Don't worry about what goes on out on the asphalt or dirt bullring. The real action is in the stands.

Bill Posey, former owner of Eau Gallie Speedway, racer, now a Florida State Representative, part time racer, and track broker for those seeking to cash in on the surging motorsports craze, or leave it because they've had enough, has the following to say: "To be successful on any level, the sport must continue to entertain. It is the promoter's job to see this is accomplished. Due to increased competition by other sources of entertainment, this job becomes more difficult each day. However, a promoter with an adequate knowledge about the spectator will be more successful in his efforts to entertain him."

Whether or not stock car racing is a sport or not is still open to debate in many quarters, but for now we'll leave it at that. But this word 'entertain' keeps popping up. Is it entertaining to watch 20 drivers tearing up their cars? Sure it is, at least for that group Bill Posey calls the "blood thirsty fan". A clean 25 lap race with no major mishaps or excesses of impatience, and a smiling driver in the winner's circle is not necessarily what they came to see. Mr. Posey says this group makes up about 1000 people out of the 2000 attendees of our mythical audience. He estimates the group I called the 'family' earlier will comprise around 400 of the 2000 fans on hand. The third group Bill Posey refers to is as being true sports fans. People who understand the fine points of racing and who enjoy good competition. They, according to Posey, "comprise about thirty percent", or 600 of our group of 2000. Read all of Bill Posey's expertise at http://www.race-tracks.net.

There's a speedway in Florida that I currently hold the honor of having had my press privileges revoked, but before demonic possession gripped the owner and forced him to issue the fatal edict to my ego, I had the opportunity to take perhaps 30 friends to the races there. They loved it! Gaga for weeks, "wow Jack that's the coolest thing I've done in years". Even got one guy hooked up as a crew member with a team, until he found out you could drink in the stands, but not with that nasty pit band and a crew T-shirt on. For him seeing cars hitting the wall at 75 miles a hour was more fun after downing a few of the track sponsor's beers. Amazing that the biggest contributor to a track is Budweiser. Until you remember the reason 1000 of the 'fans' are there.

Back to the folks I turned on to local Saturday night short track racing. They didn't come back after more than one or two times. Why? Did it cost too much? An emphatic no! Was there something innately more exciting to do? Were the rent- a-sheriffs too harsh? Was it too far to drive? Would they rather go to Disney world? No. No. No. And no!

It was too predictable, among other things. They saw that elusive devil called favoritism. There was a little too long a line to get a medium sized hot dog. There was perhaps a little too much idle time with nothing happening, like watching a movie that drags. But the most important reason was no body reminded them to go back. These were the actual words used by acquaintances when a year or so later they were asked why?

I guess advertising doesn't work.

Or perhaps there's more to selling the fans than throwing a few canned spots on the radio and running ads where folks are reading the golf results and baseball line scores.

Showmanship and Racing
Now at your track how many different people attend a race once or twice a year? How many make a half dozen races? How many go once or twice a month? How far are people willing to drive? What media do they read, see or come in contact with? Is a person who goes to your local track 3 or 4 times a season a race fan? Does he or she want to know about the drivers, or does she just want to see some hot fast dangerous action? That's right she. Look around the main grandstands and fan watch. Saturday night racing is not stag party. How many kids are there at your track?

"Obviously, auto racing's spectators are the backbone of the sport" sums up Bill Posey's point. Note he says spectators not fans or drivers. Perhaps a spectator is simply a potential fan who hasn't been reminded enough times to come back.

I wonder if P.T. Barnum would agree.

Speaking of old P.T. There's a guy up in Georgia somewhere who used to light up the night skies of one Florida speedway with his shenanigans. His name is Tom Stimus. He is a showman. The fact that he went broke had nothing to do with his showmanship, just as it nothing to do with P.T losing more fortunes than most people can dream. Stimus filled his speedway regularly. Bradenton. Ask around and many old time race promoters and even some drivers tell you he knew nothing about racing. So what? He filled the place and when you ask around, people who long since became bored with the weekly shows under the current ownership, will tell you enthusiastically how they loved going to Tom's Place, and it's just not the same now. Are the drivers and the racing any different? Probably not.

Stimus reminded people to come back. Incessantly and non-stop he gave spectators a reason to return to see the show.

Were they fans? Not necessarily. They were spectators who loved spending their hard earned dollars at Tom's Place because he put on a show. Big purses come from having lots of spectators. To keep spectators coming back you have to entertain them and then remind them to come back.

And the more you do that the more fans you make.

Bruton Smith, Founding Member of the NASCAR Moguls Club and his side kick Humpy Wheeler, recently started a new campaign at Charlotte Motor Speedway, (I refuse to call it Lowe's just like I refuse to credit Raymond James) called Fan's First. Even in the rarefied air of NASCAR there are people smart enough to know you don't just have to get them there, you have to get them back. http://207.153.224.233/followthe.html

Fans and Spectators are Fickle
Of course having a lot passionate fans are your track, as opposed to causal spectators, presents problems of it's own. They don't necessarily agree with everything and being passionate, they tend to want answers, and want to complain about things they either don't understand or things they don't like. East Bay raceway has as passionate fan base as you'll find in Florida. Boy, can they present problems. Last year at the big "Run what you brung race" there was a near riot when the officials black flagged the majority of the large Street Stock field. The brouhaha went on for fifteen minutes with the flagman in fear for his life, as drivers and fans came uncomfortably close to storming the palace walls. But the fans come every week and cheer vociferously for their favorites and boo the drivers they are sure are clowns pretending to be race drivers. And spend their money. I wouldn't be surprised if the East Bay concessions some weeks exceed the gate receipts at a few tracks.

Fans are fickle, completely nuts at times, but they are the reason the speedway is open and running every Friday or Saturday night. The track isn't there to give guys and gals with a passion for speed a place to vent. It's not there to please the drivers, it's there to get spectators and fans to come watch the folks with a passion for high speed motorized competition, and spend their money. And if a speedway doesn't make sure the show is half decent and people are not treated in a friendly fashion, and asked repeatedly to come back, they won't continue to 'support' the track. And the track goes broke.

How do I know this?

It's real simple, I'm a fan.

Press, Promotion, and Money
The point of it all is that racing, even a local short track, is big business. Do the math. Really, don't be lazy if you made it this far. How many fans? How many drivers and crews paying the pit fees? How much are the fans, and drivers paying at your track? The concessions, perhaps tire sales, gas sales, photo sales. Then look around the track and count the billboards, how much are they bringing? You're on your own from here, but I will tell you flatly this is not an exercise in how much money owners are making!

Racing at local short tracks is a big operation. It takes a knowledgeable full time, hard working, dedicated promotion person with a myriad of skills to fill a track to capacity every weekend. Reminding people is big job. This is a horn I've been blowing for three years and has gotten me into more hot water in certain quarters than you can imagine. It in actual fact is what led to the creation of KARNAC.com

How can you run a multi-million dollar nearly year round entertainment facility without having a full time marketing person, and a full time PR and media assistant?

Well the truth is, you and I know it's being done at tracks in Florida and has been for years. But this is the very reason why the people who wring their hands to see their favorite driver in the Tampa Tribune, Miami Herald, or Lakeland Ledger are so frequentlydisappointed. Crime, blood, sex, violence, disaster, and other mean and terrible things are their editor's stock in trade.

Get real here. Read the 'round ball' stories. Do you think for one minute, these guys are going to treat your track like it was High School football alumni week year round?

This is a business! Daryl Strawberry getting busted for cocaine one more time gets bigger headlines than George Brett donating a bunch to charity. Find that story in small print in some rare 'goody two shoes' obscure magazine. See, when you open your doors to the CBSVD and other mean and terrible things than dominate the 'traditional media' you now have to be ready to fend off the negative publicity because they will print it every time there's a big ruckus in the pits.

And worse. Joe blow high school loser gets busted for the 14th time and goes to Juvenile Justice. It might get buried deep in some list farmed out from the Sheriffs Department that eventually made it into the hands of a writer or editor. But if that young man was a star on the football team, he would make front page sports, probably front page local, and maybe if blood was slow that day, he might be Front Page. It takes someone on your staff to deal with that kind of realism, and he or she usually has a name like Public Relations Director or something.

If you want your name in lights, you had better have a PR agent to keep you from getting burned. If you want good coverage in newspapers and television for racing at your local tracks be prepared to have your dirty laundry aired.

Some of the mild rebukes track owners, officials, and cheerleaders have received on Florida Stock Car Racing are child's play compared to the 'hatchet jobs' TV and newspapers will deliver if they start paying attention to your game.

Want capacity crowds at your track every week? It takes more skills than are currently being applied. Some of you will take this diatribe as a knock against your track, your hard working dedicated track workers. It is not, so get over it.

Public Relations, Marketing, and Press Agenting are not skills developed overnight. But they are vital to filling a speedway with fans and spectators every week. And good ones with the knowledge of the art and science of these subjects cost money.

It takes money to make money is more than a flippant phrase. And it most certainly takes money to make fans.

If you were owner of a Florida Speedway, would you spend it?

-Jack Smith
www.karnac.com

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It was June 27, 1998 when Roger Welch brought home a trophy for his wife Jennifer's birthday. He won Sunshine Speedway's last Wet'N Wild event, starting on the pole and leading the entire race. With cars sliding all around him, he drove with caution and prevailed as the king of the wet asphalt. Roger began racing Enduros back in 1996 and soon became a top five driver. It was common occurance to see him charging from the rear to the front of the field in 15 laps to battle with drivers who had been racing much longer than he. Since, he's enjoyed 5 feature event wins along with two Buddy Team Enduro race wins with fellow driver, Herman Brame.

Now 31, Roger is racing weekly in the Street Stock class. He commented, "I love Street Stocks 'cause I love to beat and bang and you can do that with these cars. In Open Wheel Modified and Late Model, you have to worry about damaging expensive cars, in Street Stock, it's expected. This class is so competitive, I just love it. All the guys go out there to win and noone dominates the class which makes it even more interesting. On any night, any one of those drivers can take the checkered flag. Take Dan Partelo, last week he got on the pole and ran a consistant line and won." When asked how his car (a '75 Malibu) was running, "I was really worried last week, we had a brand new motor but it just felt like it had a miss in it. After the race, John Makula came up to me and commented on how fast I was running and how hard it was for him to get by me, that made me feel great! You know how fast Makula is and if I was able to hold him off, that's cool!"

His first year in Street Stock, Roger finished 18th in points, the goal for this year is to finish in the top ten and admits, "I'd love to win a championship one year, that would be great!" "I love racing, the adrenaline rush, it's better than drugs. I still get butterflies but once you get out there, there's nothing like it, it's such a high."

Welch was born in Dayton, Ohio but moved to Florida at the age of 5. He grew up playing baseball and softball until getting into racing. Roger and Jennifer have been married for 12 years and have three children, Christina,11, Amber,11 and Roger,10 months. I asked if he planned to get his son into racing and after seeing the child's room, completely covered in racing memorablia, it's hard to imagine him not. "I'd like to see him get involved in racing but you just never know with kids, what will interest them as they get older," Welch explained. At the track to support Roger every week is his mother and step father, Kathy and Chuck Johnson and Rex and Michelle Hawkins, along with Jennifer and his daughters.

Roger has been employed as a salesman at Bob Lee's Tire for nine years. His car is sponsored by Bob Lee's, Signature Mortgage, Seal Best, Rainbow Muffler, www.akaflaboy.com and Robinson Performance Machine.

Helping out on the #98 Street Stock are Jody Butler, George Robinson and Rex Hawkins, Welch's teammate who drives the #99 Enduro.

On a personal note, my first real meeting with Roger was not a favorable one. My husband, Tracy, won his first feature event and Roger came in second. Tracy was disqualified in tech which turned the win over to Roger. Well, he could have been the nicest guy in the world but I wouldn't have seen it. I was furious and being women, Jennifer and I shared a few words. But as usual, the guys were fine, they couldn't understand what all the huff was about, that's racin'! Tracy and Roger never seemed to have a problem with each other, they got along great but Jennifer and I did what alot of women do, we just glared at each other.

As time went on, I got to know Roger and Jennifer and realized that they were great people. We now get along great and often laugh about that night. I always tell them, "Yeah, that was supposed to be our win!"

Time spent racing has often been the cause of divorce. If a wife doesn't understand her husband's passion for racing, she tends to feel ignored. The night I did this story, I had to track Roger down at a race shop to interview him. It was 11:00 and he was still working on cars. I asked if there was something wrong with his car, she answered, "No, that's just Roger, when he's done working on his, he helps everyone else out, he's just like that." "I hate it," she said sarcastically. I knew what she meant, she didn't hate racing, she didn't hate Roger helping others, she understands, it's his passion and she accepts that. Evidence of this is the scrapbooks she keeps of all Roger's race pictures and programs. She even has a picture of daddy's Street Stock tucked in Little Roger's baby album.

Roger Welch is a special guy, he's laid back and friendly, always greeting people with a smile. More than willing to lend a hand, always willing to give advise to new drivers who ask. Next time you're in the pits, stop by and say hi, I think you'll be impressed.

Good luck this year Roger, we'll be looking for you at the awards banquet, collecting that top ten trophy!

-By Patti Brill
Trisha56@aol.com

(Patti Brill writes for the Tampa Tribune and is producer for Short Track USA)

Winter Park, FL. - Wayne Anderson, 1999 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Champion, has been named the new manager at RACECAR ENGINEERING! Not only was Anderson the Slim Jim All Pro Champ for 1999, he also won every major race in the State of Florida last year. This year Wayne plans to race in the Slim Jim All Pro Series, 5 ASA races, the SunBelt and Florida All Pro Series and various short tracks in the State of Florida. It will definitely be an exciting year in racing!

Anderson will be managing the fabrication shop as well as racing the RACECAR ENGINEERING car at the local Florida tracks. He is looking forward to building winning race cars for new customers and continuing to meet our current customers' needs. Wayne brings a tremendous amount of racing experience and knowledge to the business. In addition to the fabrication and racing, Anderson will be heading up RACECAR COLLEGE. This weekend, March 11-12, he
will be teaching the two-day seminar in Indianapolis with Billy Bigley of Bigley Racing, Walt Stanley of Pro Shocks and Corey Fillips of Advanced Racing Suspensions. At future RACECAR COLLEGE seminars, he will team up with Freddie Query, Dick Anderson, Scott Lagassee, and other racing pros.


Wayne Anderson and Billy Bigley, Jr have won the last two Florida Governor's Cup races, and Wayne Anderson was Florida Stock Car Racing magazine's Driver of the Month for November 1999. Two duo also competed down to the final race of the 1999 NASCAR Slim-Jim All Pro Championship.

RACECAR COLLEGE offers a two day advanced race car course containing information needed by drivers and teams to win more races. The presentations, instructions and discussions include chassis setup, track tuning, assembly and positioning of each chassis and body component for maximum winning potential. Hands-on demonstrations with professional drivers and crew chiefs provide the most current technology and comprehensive advice available. The COLLEGE is designed for those who are already racing, but want to take their racing effort to the next level and become a serious contender.

The next RACECAR COLLEGE session in Florida is scheduled for April 29-30 in Orlando. For more information contact Judi Martin at RACECAR COLLEGE for at 407-629-7865.

- by Jack Smith
(from information supplied by Judi Martin)

The Fastrucks made their first appearance of the season at Charlotte County Speedway on March 4. This series is a combination of the American Race Trucks and Pro Series trucks. Eighteen trucks showed up to take the green flag. Kelly Huff (Naples), Kim Sheffler-Hays (Kathleen) and Todd Bontrager (Sarasota) led the field with a three-car freight train until Tovia Grynewicz (New Port Richey) broke an axle on the ninth lap and hit the wall, taking two other trucks with him. After the restart Bontrager dumped Sheffler-Hays causing him to go to the rear and her to go to the pits with a flat tire. Quick work by her pit crew got her back out still on the lead lap. Huff continued to lead with Shawn Icely (Bradenton) in second followed by Charlie Worth (Loxahatchee). They crossed the line in that order for the finish. Heat winners were Bontrager and Randy Sober (Punta Gorda).

The Big Wheels Mini Stocks saw a great battle between Mike Ginaitt (Punta Gorda) and Frank Welch (North Fort Myers) for the lead. Giniatt held Welch off until the 18th lap when he made his way around to gain first position, taking Danny Yates (Cape Coral) with him. Yates did his best to get around Welch, pulling along side him during the last lap but Welch took the win, leaving Yates second and rookie driver Johnny Allen (Lehigh Acres) third. Ginaitt did take home a heat win, as did Doug “D.P.” Wilson (Cape Coral).

Jerry Bryant (Punta Gorda) had an excellent evening in the Sportsman division taking home the win in both his heat race and the feature. James Dubose (Arcadia) was hot on his tail but although they had a drag race on the last lap, Dubose lost it by a bumper, leaving him to finish second. Third place went to Buzz “The Bomb” Martin (Lehigh Acres), who also won his heat race.

Chris Libak (Fort Myers) had a horrible opening night at CCS on February 26, being wrecked while leading the race. His car suffered severe damage but he brought it back with a new front clip on Saturday night. His hard work paid off as he took his first win of the season in the Cat Country Limited Late Models, as well the heat win. Glenn Morris (Bokeelia) and Jeff Dufresne (Fort Myers) rounded out the Top 3.


John Plakiotis (Port Charlotte) started on the pole for the Road Warrior division and took off like a rocket, leaving the rest of the field eating his dust. A wreck midway through the race caused a caution flag. On the restart Leo Powley (North Fort Myers) snuck around Plakiotis to take the lead. On the next restart, Plakiotis retook the lead from Powley but the caution flag flew again due to a spun car, which moved Plakiotis back to second. Powley resumed the lead and took the checkered flag, followed by Mike LeBeau (Port Charlotte) and Dennis Hale (Punta Gorda). Plakiotis did win his heat race, as did J.J. Sanford (North Fort Myers).

The Southern Pro Trucks make their first appearance of the season at CCS on March 11. The limited late model, pure stock, road warrior and Cowboy Cadillac divisions will join them. March 18 with be the Second Annual MDA Firefighters Chili Cook-off and Do the Right Thing night as CCS. Any youth wearing a Do the
Right Thing T-shirt will be admitted to Speedway for free.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY SPEEDWAY RACE RESULTS MARCH 4,2000

Big Wheels Mini Stocks
1. Frank Welch #96
2. Danny Yates #3
3. Johnny Allen #68
4. Mike Giniatt #98
5. Keith Risinger #94

Fastrucks
1. Kelly Huff #21
2. Shawn Icely #27
3. Charlie Worth #03
4. Todd Bontrager #8
5. Randy Sober #2

Sportsman
1. Jerry Bryant #9
2. James Dubose #67
3. Buzz Martin #62
4. Raymond Jones #8
5. Walter Bolyard #71

Cat Country Limited Late Models
1. Chris Libak #64
2. Glenn Morris #107
3. Jeff Dufresne #3
4. Jackie Smith #80X
5. Rick Good #34

Road Warriors
1. #26 Leo Powley
2. #42 Mike LeBeau
3. #77 Dennis Hale
4. #72 Denny Ray
5. #91 John Plakiotis

Charlotte County Speedway is located at 8655 Piper Road, I-75 exit 28, and follow the Charlotte County Airport signs.

-Robin Meiser
MORE PHOTOS FROM SATURDAY NIGHT

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In 1954 well before such modern amenities such as air conditioning and modern pesticides, home to 12 foot alligators, deadly rattlesnakes, and mosquito hoards big enough to scare even brave souls, a barren piece of marshland in South Florida was transformed into one of the most famous speedways in America.

Emerging from the peaceful beauty of the "River of Grass" known as the Everglades, Hialeah was opened on a muggy Sunday afternoon in July 1954 and the fans saw Al Powell win the first heat race ever at the speedway running a 1937 Ford. Later that day Herb Tillman won the first feature. The following year a young man of seventeen named Bobby Allison began his racing career using the assumed name of Bob Sunderman, at his dad's insistence. He drove a 1938 Chevy.

The names are synonymous with short track stock car racing, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, Larry Rogero, Robert Hamke, Bobby Brack, Pee Wee Griffin, Billy Gill, to name a few of the legends of the era. Later, racers like Gary Balough, Mario Gosselin, Mike Franklin, Jr, Mike Eddy, and Dick Anderson continued the great tradition that is Hialeah Speedway.

Now race fans and drivers alike are faced with losing a significant part of their racing history as within less than two weeks Hialeah's doors may be closed forever. Faced with mounting tax debts, less than stellar management, infighting and the growth of the city of Hialeah and the areas surrounding Miami, the day may have come to close the cover for good on a magnificent chapter in stock car racing history.

By March 15, $91,000 must be paid in back property taxes or the land owner will have no choice but to void the speedway's lease and rent to a business many non-racers probably feel better suited to the congestion of greater Miami. Hialeah Speedway has been owned and operated by the Greater Miami Racing Association since the beginning, but leases the land from it's owner, which we're told is controlled by a trust administered by a local attorney. In 1995 the GMRA hired Bill Flingos, champion of the very first late Model class begun in 1965, and Ron Kaouk to operate the speedway on its behalf. Flingos has since passed away from cancer and Kaouk continues to run the speedway.

One speedway official and longtime Hialeah supporter told KARNAC.com ,"For all practical purposes the GMRA is a lame-duck organization. What will happen is anyone's guess but it better happen quickly ...the speedway could be shut down by the landlord as he certainly will pay the taxes and deal with the racers
after the fact."

An escrow account has been set up by a local attorney, Kevin C. Lunsford, who races at the speedway, and approximately $40,000 in small sums has been pledged by those who are fighting to save the speedway from extinction, according to Mike Powers, a local Hialeah racer and businessman "We need $91,000 and we've raised at least $40,000 in pledges so far, but we are really short of time and the other $51,000.

Not only are potential saviors of the speedway fighting time and money, they are fighting a the negativism from some of the drivers who perhaps have given up hope. One Hialeah fan put it this way "doesn't really matter, the track is gone come 2003, the lease will be up, and it wont be renewed, that is a fact, the property is very valuable and the owners don't want a racetrack there anymore, they want to develop it. It kills me to say it, but why spend thousands of dollars to try to prevent something that is inevitable? Maybe I'm just discouraged, but it just seems useless to me."

But many disagree with the naysayers who say the sun is setting on the state of Florida's oldest short track racing venue. One racer said "I love that race track, I've had some awesome memories at that place, and I'm sure that everyone else has too. That track is worth saving even if it's just for a few more years. If everyone who says they love racing would just do something to help we could have it back. Every penny that I've won there I have given back to help the track...now we need everybody's help."

Mike Powers, who is one of those who refuses to accept what many say is inevitable said "What I know about Hialeah Speedway is there is quite a bit of history due to the fact they have been around so long, longer than most speedways in the state. I know of other speedways in the state that have bigger tax bills than us, yet they pay their taxes and turn a profit so don't tell me it can't be done. Yes the lease is up in 2003 but leases can be rewritten. If we stop pointing fingers at who did what wrong we could survive on our own. If you want to believe we are dead already go ahead, but rather than that, why don't we find a way to save the place we have had so many great Saturday nights and let the history live on. I plan to do every thing I can to keep my Saturday nights going at Hialeah Speedway."

The current lease runs through December 31, 2002, and renewing is an option. The current lease, according to Powers, is tied to 4% of the front gate receipts.The speedway sits on 30 acres with developments surrounding the speedway. KARNAC.com attempted numerous times to reach the speedway front office, but a malfunctioning message machine giving the details of Saturday night's racing is
all you get, leaving this writer questioning the concern of current management toward the dire circumstances the speedway faces. We're told by various sources that the speedway has no class sponsorships, has unsold billboards, and many other revenue streams are completely untapped.

Is this the end of an era or the beginning of a new one is the big question. If Hialeah Speedway can be saved to race another day, it will need a complete revamping of it's management, the addition of both able and visionary promotion as well as competent financial managers to ensure it's longevity. Race tracks, even poorly operated can and do make money for their operators, but for now it's all about paying the tax man.

The Escrow account is being handled at no charge by Kevin Lunsford. Checks should be made payable to Kevin C. Lunsford Trust Account and mailed to Kevin C. Lunsford, 1975 E. Sunrise Blvd. Fort Lauderdale Florida 33304. KARNAC.com also has a copy of the Escrow Agreement which can be made available to you by emailing hialeah@karnac.com . The escrow account ensures that all moneys are in safe keeping.

Mike Powers is just one of those whose love of the sport knows no bounds and will stick his own neck out to save his favorite racing place. He can be contacted at 954-967-9643 or by e-mail at FIREMENMIKE5@AOL.COM .

I'm sure all those that have ever put a car into the corner at Hialeah will forever be in your debt if you can help save this monument to racing, which rose out of the Everglades over 45 years ago, from turning into parking lot for shoppers. And after all, we saved the alligator from extinction, certainly we can save the glorious past that is Hialeah Speedway.

If there were ever a track that needed to be kept alive, it is certainly Hialeah, the oldest running Saturday night show, in the state where the weather is a 'little hotter and the racing is a lot faster.'

Jack Smith
Publisher
Florida Stock Car Racing
www.karnac.com

[This article may be freely distributed, posted on message boards, and submitted to any and all publications, as long as it is distributed in it's entirety.]

[Much thanks to Eddie Roche, author of Florida Motorsports Retrospective Pictorial for Hialeah Speedway historical information and to Skip Oliff for photo of the speedway]



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The second stop on the SARA BMD Title Loans Late Model Sportsman series proved just how tough and competitive the racing would be all year long as rookies battled with seasoned veterans in St. Petersburg at Sunshine Action Speedway. Thirty-six cars would attempt to make the twenty-five car field, with the top sixteen locked in through qualifying and the remainder through two consi races and provisionals. The favorite going into the 100 lap event had to be the 1999 SARA Late Model Sportsman Series Champion Dwayne Dempsey, who has two Sunshine Action Speedway track championships to his credits, and had turned more laps than perhaps all other drivers combined at the 1/3 mile facility.

Dempsey would show his dominance during qualifying when he turned a 14.318 to capture the Fast Qualifier Award. Rookie driver Richard Kelley would qualify second, Jeff Scofield in third, another highly rated rookie driver, Michael Faulk in fourth, and last weeks winner at USA International Speedway Joe Boyd in fifth. After pills were drawn for the top ten qualifiers, Bobby Beauchemin would start on the pole, and Joe Boyd on the outside row one. Rookie David Logan would start third and short-track veteran, Wayne Morris in fourth. The two other rookies, Kelley, Jr. and Faulk would take the starting grid in fifth and sixth position.

This Saturday night at Sunshine Action Speedway would belong to Bobby Beauchemin.He would hold the lead on the initial green flag, and would carry the Dent Wizard Chevrolet to his first ever SARA Late Model Sportsman victory. The best racing of the night would be the battle for second. Wayne Morris would work his way around Logan to take second and Boyd and Scofield would settle in to third and fourth. That's when the action started. Morris began to loose his brakes and had to slow up and just hold his line around the bottom of the track. Boyd and Scofield would take turns trying to get around Morris for second place. Meanwhile, Dempsey would take the #7 Pontiac behind pit wall due to a fluid leak.
All the racing for second place, allowed not only Beauchemin to check out with the lead, but it also allowed Michael Faulk, David Logan, Richard Kelley, Jr., and Scott Bramlett, who took the controls of the Richards Motorsports Chevrolet usually driven by Mike McCreary, Jr., to hang in for the battle at the finish.
With laps winding down in the race, Boyd had to try and make the move on the outside of Morris, who, although had little or no brakes, continued to hold his line on the bottom of the track. Boyd would get the run off turn two and get side-by-side with Morris for several of the final laps. Scofield would get the nose of his Chevrolet underneath Morris who continued to battle both drivers at the same time. Finally, contact between Scofield and Morris caused Morris to slide up into Boyd, spinning the SARA point leader out of the race. The finish would come down to a two-lap shoot out, but Beauchemin would hold off Morris and win his first ever SARA Late Model Sportsman race. Morris would hang on to second, Scofield in third, Michael Faulk in fourth, and David Logan in fifth.


=============================
1 161 M Bobby Beauchemin
2 56 M Wayne Morris
3 07 M Jeff Scofield
4 36 M Michael Faulk
5 1X M David Logan
6 8 M Scott Bramlett
7 61 M Richard Kelley, Jr.
8 79 M Clint Slaggy
9 23 M Mike Abbott
10 3 M Jimmy Castleberry
11 5 M Joe Boyd
12 40 M Eddie Miller
13 16 M Eddie King
14 63 M Chris Lawrence
15 21 M Robbie Storer
16 22 M Larry O'Steen
17 11 M Marlon Lynn
18 77 M Tony Amico
19 2 M Chip Shell
20 06 M Brian Hutcheson
21 12 M Mitch Hawk
22 7 M Dwayne Dempsey
23 77X M Richie Anderson
24 96 M Michael King
25 47 M Chris Fontaine

FAST QUALIFIER-$100.00
#7 Dwayne Dempsey Time - 14.318 Speed 62.862
1/2 WAY LEADER
#161 Bobby Beauchemin
HOT RODGERS HARD CHARGER AWARD
#40 Eddie Miller
TOP ROOKIE
#36 Michael Faulk
Total # of Cautions/Laps 8 Cautions - 24 Laps

-Scott McAllister

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It started for me on cool night at Sunshine I was proud to present a plaque not only to Kim Scheffler-Hays but was also was part of the emotional cermonies for "Wild" Bill Revard as I was able to present his Mother Maryellen his plaque for KARNAC "Driver of the Month" ....Then I was witness to the most awesome School bus figure8 race I think has ever been run, as not only did Bonnie Hendry lay her bus on its side, Frank"Up on Two Wheels" Hill flipped his and drove away!!!Also Art Calkins took an emotinal win in the "Wild Bill Revard" memorial figure 8 race
Then it was on to EastBay Raceway for the King of the 360 Sprints. Freezin our Butts off!!! My son Joe and I were witness to some great Sprint Car action as Gary Wright had won the features Thursday and Friday and was the defending King from last year, it looked like it would be hard to dethrone him, but a hard charging Ron Laney came by on the last lap to take a well earned victory!!!
DeSoto Speedway was the next stop for some great Pro Late Model action as 25 of some of the states best drivers dueled it out on the high banks. B.J.McCleod, Darryl Shellnut and Jimmy Cope saw hard luck early in the greuling 150 lap race. Just when it looked like another walk away victory fo #00 Dickie Anderson a patch of oil and the back stretch wall ended his afternoon as a hard charging Pete Orr in the "Race Car College" car went on for the victory.

The it was on to a chilly Wednesday night to watch Rick Eckert
class the field and complete the "Hat Trick" by winning all three "Hav-a-Tampa" feature races, Saturday Night saw #53 Cook take the 100 lap feature to end 6 hard run nights of Late Model Action
Back again to EastBay and the "Big Boys" in the 410 Sprints and their final night of racing and the end of sixteen straight days of racing at EastBay Raceway saw some action packed excitement as Tony Stewart showed up to help the team he owned. The #20 Danny Lasoki took the feature win after hardcharging Terry McCarl #24 earned my hard luck award after being tangled up with a grinding three car wreck down the front strectch ending his bid but opening the door for Lasoski's 7 of 8 wins in Florida racing action.

My Speedweeks ended at Disney Speedworld to drive a Winston Cup car for 8 laps in the "Richard Petty" driving experience averaging a 125 mph lap time on my last lap it literally was one of the greatest thrills of my life!!
After being to 4 different race tracks my racing season has really started but now all the local tracks shows are firing up across the state and we are all preparing to do what we love most... RACE!!! So good luck to all the competitors,officials and everyone else involved with the show and to all the fans support your local drivers, cheer as loud as you can for them because you know what?? It doesnt get any better then this.....From KARNAC.com....Rick Anges

What was it that Leo Musgrave knew in 1957 when he started to thinking about building the now legendary speedway? Dairy farming does not necessarily translate into show business promotions. The story of this good old boy and a crazy dream has been told over and over, but maybe a rendering from a kid who grew up around it will shed new light.

Growing up in a central Florida small town was a great way of life. Your friends were next door and your entertainment was simple and inexpensive. Going to the races every weekend was really a cool treat for a young kid. It was a social event, and fun night out mixed into one.

Small tracks began to spring up all over Florida in the years that followed the forming of the NASCAR. The Daytona Beach races were very successful and many men and women saw the opportunities it presented. Leo Musgrave was visiting other local facilities in the Tampa Bay area to watch his new passion when he noticed something, something that really got his interest.

In the late 1950s and early 60s every true cracker could tell where an automobile was from by reading the numbers on the tag. I remember Polk County tags were numbered 5. So Leo noticed that most of the cars in the parking lots were from Pinellas County, his county. That meant that hundreds of people were flocking across one of two bridges, driving many miles, to make there way out to eastern Hillsborough County and Golden Gate Speedway. He checked the parking lot at Phillips Field, same thing. That must be when the farmer took a notion that racing should come to his side of the bay.

Now Mr. Musgrave was known for his business sense, but taking a chance on building a rural speedway in what was then the middle of nowhere, was still a little risky. When your only competition for local entertainment was the Mustang drive-in movie and later the Showboat Dinner Theater, you could feel fairly confident about some sort of success. So after selling off a few of the, less used acres, ground was broken on a ¼ mile paved track, right under the airport approach zone for the now St. Pete/Clearwater Airport. No one is sure Leo was smart enough back then to realize that as the airport grew, the roads would be improved, but his foresight has left his little speedway in good stead without noise abatement programs, traffic flow, and accessibility problems that many other tracks have fallen victim to.

Once the facility was built, he had to get people to it. Organizing the racing programs personally for the first few years, Leo made many new friends with his down home charm and straight from the hip delivery. Leo hired professional managers for a number of years after that, but was always found at the track and helping things along each week. In 1987, Leo's daughter Bonnie and her husband Frank took the rains of Sunshine Speedway. Understanding the entertainment value, while juggling the pay to compete novice racer and the big money sponsored professional racer has proven its value repeatedly for Frank and Bonnie.

Now competition for a families entertainment dollars is hot and heavy in the year 2000. The Mustang drive-in and Showboat theater have both been gone for years. Now a family can still go to the movie, but some new additions have been added in the Tampa Bay area. You can visit any one of 15 public attractions in the local area, from history museums to world famous major theme parks. Plus professional sports teams have moved in, by the dozens. Baseball has spring training here, then football, basketball, hockey, soccer and golf are big players in the family cash sweepstakes. We haven't even began to talk about the technological advances that bring cable TV into every home, don't forget computer games and of course the Internet.

Maybe someday all the racetracks will be gone. A mere historical memory for some future generation. Right now it's real, for 40 years it has been real racing, close competition, and lots of action at Sunshine "ACTION" Speedway. It happens every Friday or Saturday Night at your local track, so visit often and remember, " Because someone like Leo took a chance, you and I have a legacy of winners to enjoy."
Thanks Leo

"From Behind the MIC" by Bill Green

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Fans, owners and track officials alike are anticipating the 2000 season to be a huge success, at Jax Raceways 1/2 mile "D" shaped oval, as the famed dirt track opens this Saturday night. The track which opened in Jacksonville Florida back in 1972, will begin the season with five speedway divisions, one of which is a new division that will surely bring the fans to their feet, all season long.

The NASCAR Weekly Racing series division will once again be the Dirt Late Models,and defending champion Jeff Godbee will be on hand to begin defending that title against a stellar group of competitors. (continuing Late Model Division Sponsor for 2000 - LUMBER UNLIMITED)

The Hobby Stock division, which has thrilled crowds through out the years with side by side racing action, will see a new name this season as the track announced they will now be called the Sportsman divisions. The Sportsman series will also be the NASCAR Shortrack series this series which is sponsored nation wide by Exide Battery Company. This will give the top drivers in the Late Model, and the
Sportsman divisions the opportunity to compete for national, and regional points and money.

The ever popular Pure Stock, Open Wheel Modifieds, and Ladies Powder Puff divisions will see few changes for the season, but track officials have reported record car numbers sold for each respected division. (Rusty Acres Automotive returns for 2000 as the Pure Stock Division Sponsor with Hollywood Satellite as a new division sponsor for the Open Wheel Modifieds and Ladies Powder Puff.)

The track will also added a new division which has sparked a lot of interest throughout the Northern Florida area. The Florida Sprint Car Association will be competing the first and third Saturdays of each month, bringing Winged Outlaw type Sprint cars to the lightning fast track. Brian Norman president of the series, has but together a rule book that is very attractive to car owners, and feels the number of cars each event should reach 25 by the mid way point of the season. (Frier Homes of Yulee - Division Sponsor for Sprint Car Division)

Track activities begin with pit gates opening at 4PM grandstand
opens at 5PM, and racing action starts at 6:30. Jax Raceways is a four track complex located on the North side of Jacksonville, and features a 1/8 mile NHRA drag strip. A 1/6 mile clay Go-cart track, and a brand new Mud Bog track.
For further event information contact the track at 904-757-5425. Or visit their web site at www.jaxraceways.com Race

-Donnie Helmly
Report Productions,Ponte Vedra Beach,Florida



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For racers across Florida, at one time or another, most have raced at Orlando Speed World and New Smyrna Speedway. And if it has been in the last seven years, everyone knows the name Tammy Bratcher. Tammy has been one of the stables of both FASCAR tracks.

After seven years and countless time and effort, Tammy is leaving FASCAR and plotting a new future with Race Day Water. But no one, not fellow employees, racers, fans, and friends, will forget how much Tammy Bratcher did for local track racing. Tammy has always given more than she received because she loved racing and the guys who did it. When there was a problem, Tammy was the first one to be picked on and more than once have I seen tears from her sweet eyes.

Everyone at Orlando SpeedWorld and New Smyrna Speedway will miss Tammy but I am sure that at times she will still come around because her heart is deeply planted in the local track world of stock car racing.

For those of us who love Tammy and appreciate her for being the person that she is and always will be, we will miss you. But this is not goodbye because there are no goodbyes in racing only 'see ya at the track'. GOOD LUCK TAMMY and YOU DID A GREAT JOB AND YOU WERE AND ALWAYS WILL BE LOVED.

-Jane Smith

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USAR Officials are conducting an investigation into the tragic death of Christopher Abblett of Clearwater. The accident occured Saturday afternoon as the Hooters ProCup drivers and crews were preparing to qualify for Satuday night's feature at USA International Speedway.

Abblett was a member of the Eagles Nest Racing Team, which was crewing for the Bowser Motorsports team for Saturday's race. At approximately 2:30 PM, a tire Abblett was working with apparently exploded resulting in fatal injuries. Personnel from Track Rescue, the on site safety team responded, and called in advanced life support. A Bayflite helicopter took Abblett to Tampa General Hospital at 3:15 PM where he died as a result of the injuries.

Tim Southers, spokesperson for the USAR, has told KARNAC.com the series officials have impounded the tire, wheel, and some other items to have tested to try to determine what happened. "According to the State of Florida any death of anyone under the age of 40 an investigated has to take place, and that's what's going on right now." Southers said.

Sheriffs Officials from Polk County are conducting an investigation into the events surrounding the death of Christopher Abblett. The Invesitgation is being conducted by the Homicide Division, according to a Polk County Sherrifs Office spokesman. Police have informed KARNAC.com that the police must be called in on all cases involving a death, and the incidents must be investigated according to Florida law.

Services for Christopher Abblett will be held Friday 12:00 Noon at Emanuel Chapel, 7100 142nd Avenue, Largo, Florida according to a member of Eagles Nest Racing.

Many fans from not only Florida but from around the Eastern US have e-mailed KARNAC.com with questions about the circunstances of the accident. We will not speculate on the causes, but instead feel all should be patient for now and let the USAR officials do their job. We will update you as new information becomes available.


-Jack Smith
KARNAC.com

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