By Mike DaRoza Sports Writer

Leila Ashleman received an unusual telephone call back in the summer of 1989. And now, some 13 racing seasons later, she still doesnt regret picking up the phone that day.

The call came from her husband, Bert, who was away on a business trip for the south Florida power company he was working for at the time. He had traveled to Palatka to handle some supervisory work, but instead, ended up in the little town of Ellisville examining a run-down old racetrack.

"He called home and said I needed to come look at something", Leila recalled. "He told me there was a racetrack up here and I needed to come and see it. It was closed down at the time, but he said it had potential and he thought it would be something hed like to get into. So, before you knew it, he was giving his notice at the power company and a few months later we sold our house, sent our daughter off to college, loaded up and moved here. And, after 13 years, were still here."

Before the Ashlemans purchased the stock car racing facility, the high-banked half-mile asphalt speedway had all but lost its identity.

The track was originally opened as Columbia County Speedway in 1974 and featured a clay/dirt surface. From there, a dozen or so years and a couple of promoters later, Columbia County Speedway was renamed Gateway National Raceway (GNR).

During its tenure as GNR, the clay was removed and replaced with a new layer of asphalt. Yet, for undisclosed reasons, the promoter left and GNR was closed for business. The result: no Saturday night racing in Ellisville, or any other night of the week for that matter.

Then, the Ashlemans arrived. They freshened up the place and at the start of the 1990 race season, opened the new Columbia Motorsports Park (CMP) that stands proudly today. A

lthough they were new to the business of owning a racetrack, neither Bert nor Leila were strangers to racing. Aside from what his wife calls being a racing fanatic, Bert had owned a racecar and already had an oval-track parts business.

And Leila, she had spent 11 years prior to coming to Ellisville as a scorer for Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway, and was an office manager and bookkeeper by trade.

So, the partnership blossomed from the beginning, and now CMP - which touts some of the fastest speeds of any oval track in the area - is a mainstay once again in Ellisville.

"It keeps us busy", Leila said of the racetrack where she spends as much of her time as she does at home. "We probably work harder now than weve ever worked. But, its fun, and we both enjoy it."

With its wide, sweeping high-banked turns and long straightaways, CMP features a weekly show that includes Late Models, Florida Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks - not to mention special USCS Sprint Car events, National Late Model Sportsman Series events and four Florida Pro Series Late Models races four times a year.

And, the spacious all-concrete grandstands give race fans at CMP a comfortable vantage point to take in all the action.



"But more importantly", Leila noted, "CMP provides a Saturday night of entertainment the entire family can get share - which can be a rare occurrence in this day and age".

"I think its a sport where the whole family can get involved", Leila said. "I know I have certainly made a lot of very good friends here over the years. Its like a big family, because you can do it as a family. You can bring the kids and just be together on a Saturday night".

Kathy Phillips and her husband, Everettes, first date was at a racetrack in the 60s. Kathy remembers coming to Columbia County Speedway when it first opened, and her children growing up on Saturday nights in Ellisville.

And, nearly 40 years later, Everette Phillips is still driving a high-powered Late Model around CMP. "Everette and I have been coming to the races since our first date in 1964", Kathy Phillips said.

"Then when they opened this racetrack, we started coming here. Thats when Everette started racing, and I've enjoyed it even more ever since. It was fun then and still is today. Its a good family sport, and it will probably be a part of our life forever".



Tina Conrad, wife of CMP Street Stock points leader Tim Conrad, couldn't agree more. Tina said that she and her husband have been attending CMP as long as they can both remember. In fact, Tim - her boyfriend at the time - started racing as soon as he was old enough to carry a drivers license, and eventually won the CMP Street Stock points championship in 1994.

"I've been coming here for about 16 years", Tina Conrad said. "Everybody is a friend here, especially the Street Stock family. We all pitch in to help each other if needed, and we all care about each other. We've made lasting friendships with racers who we can have fun with at the track and away from the track. Theres a lot of good people at this racetrack".

And, just like the Phillips family, the Conrads have reared their only child, Amber, knowing Saturday nights mean being at CMP - as a family. "She loves the races", Tina Conrad said about seven-year-old Amber. "Amber's been coming here since she was about three weeks old."



At about 20 or more races per year, for seven years, she's probably been to the races here about 140-150 times. So, given the fact that the races in Ellisville have provided a place for families to spend Saturday nights together for the past 20-something years, theres no reason to believe it wont continue to do so for many years to come.

Conrad said she plans on being at CMP for the foreseeable future, hopefully watching her daughter following her fathers footsteps - or more accurately, his tire tracks. "Yeah, she'll be driving her daddy's car out here one day", Tina said. "Or, daddy will be out here racing with her, one of the two."

[Editors note: Alachua Today sports writer Mike DaRoza takes you inside the various auto racing facilities in the area with his four-part series, Saturday Night Speed. From the high-banked ovals of Bronson Motor Speedway, Columbia Motorsports Park and Lake City Motor Speedway, to the quarter-mile strip at Gainesville Raceway, Saturday Night Speed is your guide to local racing action.]

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