| Speculation Over Choquette is Just That | Jack Smith
 Jeff Choquette, driver of the number 70 Super Late Model, has done a good job creating interest from the NASCAR ranks in the last few years. Last year Choquette was one of four Florida racers making it to the final twelve in the Roush "Gong Show", which certainly din him no harm in his bid to reach the top of the stock car racing ranks.
Now, according to Jeff's dad, several teams have expressed interest in Choquette for their developmental teams. Among them are Gibbs Racing, and also Ganassi Racing as well as others, but as John Choquette said yesterday "something is going on, I just haven't heard anything yet".
Fan speculation over Choquette's chances begin to run rampant on Florida's racing message boards, which just shows the drivers popularity in the Sunshine State. The reality of course can be painful when these "deals" just don't come to pass. It is all too common to have dreams vanish into thin air, when proposals go elsewhere, as many Florida drivers can attest.
The Hooters ProCup has become the crucible for testing a drivers future value to a NASCAR team, in recent years the series has attracted such teams as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joe Gibbs and Darrell Waltrip. The ProCup is very comparable to the Busch Series in terms of the cars, though the series races only on short tracks. For superspeedway experience the ARCA series is the place to learn.
Competition is so tough even at the ProCup level, many a Florida driver has seen his career stall at that point. "It is no longer about the driver at this level, it about the team. The driver is a cog in that machine", said Skip Wall, a longtime spotter and media writer for KARNAC's ProCup Weekly Report. Florida has also lost a lot of it's late model talent to North Carolina in recent years, as more and more drivers leave the state to "make it in the big time". One driver said, "If you want to make in NASCAR you have to be in North Carolina". That driver was Mike Mason, a 18 year old hot shoe from California, relocated by himself to Mooresville to race in the ProCup. Living alone and living a dream, Mason is the current top rookie on the 2006 ProCup tour.
What about Choquette? Does he have the talent?
Of course he does, he is one of the best Florida products in the last 10 years. But so do many other Florida drivers who have raced in the ASA, Hooters, ARCA and beyond in recent years. The missing ingredient is getting signed with one of the good solid teams, such as Roush, Gibbs or Hendrick. And even then the young drivers have just a slim chance.
But we are still looking for a Florida driver to "make it". Choquette hopefully will get that chance. After turning heads in Dirt Late Models, he moved to asphalt and has been turning heads ever since. He quickly started running with and even beating the Wayne Andersons and the Mike Fritts, icons of Florida racing.
But as John Choquette said, "It could be nothing and it could be a lot you know".
Florida fans hope it is a lot.
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