Orlando SpeedWorld holds racing on Saturday night this week for the first time
in 2013 and race fans will get to witness a number of different types of cars
in action.
For the first time in about four years, the Tampa Bay Area Racing Association
(TBARA) Winged Outlaw Sprint Cars will be turning laps around the high-banked
3/8 mile SpeedWorld track and open-wheel race fans will also get to see the
Florida Midget Auto Racing Association (FMARA) Three Quarter Midgets as well,
a class that has not turned a wheel here in over ten years. Also on the card
are the Legend Cars, Mini Cup racers, Bandoleros and big extra-distance, extra
cash races for both the Super Stocks and Strictly Stocks. To provide icing on
the racing cake, the night will end with a demolition derby.
The TBARA Sprints are expecting a good field of between 22 and 26 cars but all
of the drivers feel they have just one guy to try and beat… Dave Steele of
Tampa and his “Silver Bullet” No, 33 car. Steele won the season-opening TBARA
show at Full Throttle Speedway near Bradenton and has been dominating Sprint
Car activity at Showtime Speedway in Pinellas Park. Steele, who cut his
racing teeth right here at SpeedWorld racing TQ Midgets in the early-1990s,
has a fabulous resume that includes a pair of starts in the NASCAR Nationwide
Series plus back to back United States Auto Club (USAC) Silver Crown Series
championships in 2004 and 2005. He also has several victories in USAC Midget
and Sprint Car competition and, to top it all off, was the TBARA champion in
both 2005 and 2009.
The TBARA series is not lacking for both grizzled veterans and youngsters
competing against each other on a race to race basis. At one end of the
spectrum is 68-year-old Sonny Hartley who will pilot the No. 68 DJ Racing
Special on Saturday night. Back in the saddle again this year, his 40th
behind the wheel of a Sprint Car, Hartley has been a TBARA member since its
first year in 1973 which was also Hartley’s rookie year in a Sprint, a Bob
Luscomb-built car he bought from Rob Fuller. He scored his first victory in
1974 at Golden Gate Speedway, some 26 years before the two youngest racers in
the TBARA were born. Both Garrett Green and Ty DeCaire are just 14 years old
and have shown great promise in their first year behind the wheel of a Sprint
Car. Green is coming off an outstanding performance last Sunday night at
Anderson, IN Speedway in the “Little 500” where he qualified 14th and finished
tenth earning himself “Rookie of the Year” honors.
One “local” driver chomping at the bit to race his Sprinter for the first time
on what he considers his home track is Rex “Boneman” Hollinger. Hollinger has
raced at SpeedWorld for several years, mostly in four-cylinder Mini Stocks,
but took up Sprint Car racing full-time last year and surprised even himself
by earning the 2012 TBARA “rookie of the Year” title.
Other drivers expected to do battle with the TBARA Saturday are two-time and
defending TBARA champion Johnny Gilbertson, 2002 and 2010 champ Shane Butler,
1999 champion Dude Teate, Larry Brazil, Jr., Joey “The Ace” Aguilar, Jimmy
Alvis, Sr., Ben Fritz, Tommy Nichols, Jon Gilbert, Jr. and many more.
Chris Gimmler is the most recent winner with the FMARA TQ Midgets taking a
victory at Full Throttle Speedway. Gimmler’s dad, Mark Gimmler is no stranger
to Orlando SpeedWorld having raced here in both a TQ Midget and a Sprint Car.
Mark Gimmler still races a Sprinter on occasion but it’s not known if he’ll
bring his car Saturday, although SpeedWorld is one of his favorite tracks.
Other FMARA drivers expected to be in attendance are Rob Kohler, Mike Belusar,
Jimmy Wilkins, Steve Maier, Jamie Barnum, Stu Chamberlain and Jay Stutz. Both
Belusar and Wilkins have previous experience at SpeedWorld, Belusar in Dwarf
Cars and Wilkins in the Open Wheel Modified class.
The Super Stock class has seen Donny Funk grab three wins in a row and he’ll
be the favorite again on Saturday but look for plenty of challengers trying to
get the big winner’s check including David Gould, Zach Curtis, Art Hendren,
Charles King, Ernie & Gino Tummenillo, Bobby & Jeff Cuddy, Dennis Snyder,
Dustin Turnage and a bunch more.
The Strictly Stocks usually don’t run for much cash but this week a $500 purse
is on the line. Top challengers for the dough will be Shane Sutorus, Neil
Kirby, Wes Railing, Jr., Jim “Crusher” Erb, Megan Matheny, Eddie Moran and a
host of others looking to pad their wallet.
Along with the racing action, all of the drivers running in the track’s
regular weekly classes, Super Stock and Strictly Stock, will be eligible for
the “Mystery Money,” a twist on the “Fan Fun Race” that has been held twice so
far this year for the Strictly Stock class. All Super Stock and Strictly
Stock drivers will be eligible as their names will be placed in a hat and a
kid from the crowd will draw out one name at the end of the night and that
driver will get the cash. This will also be used as a fundraiser for FMARA
driver Geoff Styner who was badly injured in a crash at Full Throttle Speedway
about a month ago. Styner will be OK but has a long road to recovery ahead of
him. “Mystery Money” raised from Saturday night’s crowd will be split with
half going to the winning driver and half going to the recovery fund set up
for Styner. Quite a few door prizes will be up for grabs to fans that donate
money into the fund.
Pit gates open at 3 pm Saturday afternoon. Pit passes are $30. Grandstand
gates open at 6 pm. Adult admission for this week only is $20 with special
discounts available to active military and first responders. As always, kids
under 12 years of age are admitted free. Open practice for all classes will
be from 5-7 pm with racing starting promptly at 8 pm.