Florida Drivers get ready to represent at the Little 500
Story and photo by Chris Fozillo
The Little 500 We are now one month away from the Little 500 in Anderson, Indiana. The Little 500 is one of the biggest sprint car races of the year on an annual basis. Teams and drivers will flock to the ¼ mile high banked oval attempting to gain a starting position for the race. And why wouldn’t they? Who wouldn’t want to line up three wide with some of the best drivers the country has to offer?
Five-time USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson is already registered to go after his fourth Little 500 victory. Kody is also to two-time and defending champion of the Dave Steel Memorial race held locally at Showtime Speedway. His partnership with legendary IMSA Corvette GTLM crew chief, Dan Banks, who is supplying the engines, ensures that he will not be short on power. Kody’s brother Tanner will also be joining the festivities as a driver.
Another USAC standout, Brady Bacon will be attempting to qualify for his first Little 500 with a purpose-built car that is already deep into testing for the event. While Bacon has made his name racing on dirt, he does bring asphalt experience and will be in the mix during the week-long event. Former NASCAR driver Kenny Schrader, sure to be the oldest driver in the filed at 65 years young has pre entered the event for the fourth consecutive year. Schrader embodies all that is great about racing and has shown a passion for the sport that is second to none.
The state of Florida has multiple teams headed north in a few weeks for the event as well. LJ Grimm goes from crew member for Shane Butler to attempting to qualify for his first Little 500 in a Tommy Nichols entry. LJ has been on a hot streak this year with 4 wins, trailing Troy DeCare who has 5, for most asphalt sprint car wins in the country so far this year. LJ seems to have really taken to the no winged cars and looks stronger at each outing.
The Bushnell Bullet, Shane Butler is headed that direction with his father Stan, and Devin McCleod on the crew for the weekend. This will be Shane’s 11th time entering the race and he has 2 top ten finishes in the event. A new power plant this year may just be the key to success.
Tommy Nichols and John Inman round out the Florida entrants. There are already 28 cars registered and they are estimating the number may increase to almost 40 by the weekend of the race. There are 33 starting spots up for grabs that will be hotly contested through qualifying. Sunshine State Racing will be in attendance to cover our Florida racers and teams. We will not be live but will provide as much coverage and updates as possible. We hope to see you there.
Chris Fozillo
