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April 2000
| Jeff Fultz Winner in Slim Jim All Pro at USA International |  "It's been a long time since I've seen victory lane in one of these races, I was beginning to wonder whether I could still do it," exclaimed Fultz in victory lane.
During the week Cincinnati, Oh. native Jeff Fultz toils in the shops of the Jasper Engines & Transmissions-sponsored NASCAR Winston Cup Series team of Robert Pressley. On the weekends he drives the Cleaver Brooks/C&C Boilers/Honeywell Chevrolet in the Slim Jim All Pro Series, NASCAR Touring.
And Saturday night at U.S.A. International Speedway in Lakeland, Fla. drive he did. He drove all the way to victory lane in the $56,600 Discount Auto Parts 200 presented by ROL Gaskets.
"I did know that there was no question about the equipment. Jon and Jimmy Craig have great race cars and the whole Cleaver Brooks/C&CBoilers/Honeywell team did a great job this weekend. This win is for the whole team," he added.
During Bud Pole qualifying seventeen drivers broke the track record established last year by two-time former Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion Mike Cope. The best of those 17 was Mooresville, N.C.'s Brian Smith. The second year driver drove his Juba Glass Chevrolet into the pole position with a lap of 20.995 seconds at an average speed of 128.602 mph to earn the right to lead the starting field to the green flag.
Smith was the only driver to break the 21-second barrier. Starting outside of Smith was St.Joseph, Mich.'s Gary Terry. Terry's best lap time was 21.016 seconds.
When the green flag waved to start the 200-lap, 150-mile race around the 0.750-mile oval Smith showed that his first career Bud Pole was no fluke as he took the early lead over Terry, points leader Billy Bigley, Jr. and rookie contender David Stremme.
By lap 12 Bigley moved under Smith and grabbed the lead. Bigley led until lap 48 when Smith regained the top spot as the lead duo was negotiating lapped traffic. Again Smith's lead was short-lived as Bigley again took command on lap 56.
Green flag conditions prevailed from the first lap until lap 78 when the first caution period occurred when Shane Sieg's race car developed rear end problems. During the resultant caution period most of the leaders pitted for tires and fuel except for Kevin Prince and Shane Sawyer.
Prince led the field to the green flag for the restart on lap 84, and Ken Weaver was in front of Prince, on the tail end of the lead lap. As the cars came out of turn four to complete lap 84 Randy Gentry made contact with Weaver's car, sending Weaver's Square D Chevrolet spinning and when the dust settled 10 cars were collected in the fracas. All of the cars were able to continue but Lee Tissot and Wayne Anderson were both forced behind the wall for repairs.
Once the accident scene was cleaned up Prince again held the point with Smith, Stremme, Bigley and Fultz hot on his trail. Prince's Wells Transmission Chevrolet was strong as he led until lap 127 when he was forced to pit for fuel. At that point Smith regained the lead and appeared to be headed towards his first career series win.
Persevering through two more caution periods Smith was able to hold off his pursuers. After the final caution ended on lap 172 Fultz repeatedly tried to get by Smith, finally making a pass stick coming out of turn four on lap 183. From that point forward Smith chased in vain comin up 0.379 seconds short when the checkered flag waved. Smith held on to the second spot for his best career finish while Steven Howard came all the way fromhis 23rd starting position to finish third. David Reutimann snagged the fourth spot while Shane Sawyer earned his first career top five finish to round out the first five. Rookie Kevin Bryant led the second five with Scott Carlson, A.J. Frank, Prince and Casey Yunick rounding out the top 10.
The top eight cars all completed the full distance of 200 laps and there were 18 of 29 starters running at the finish. The race was run in a record time of one hour, 33 minutes and 58 seconds and Fultz's winning average speed was 95.779 mph. There were a total of five caution periods totaling 32 laps and six lead changes amongst four drivers. After four races the Slim Jim All Pro Series point standings are very tight. Points leader Bigley had a rough go when a wheel bearing froze upon his Peerless Woodworking Chevrolet. He spent many laps in the pits as his crew effected repairs and he wound up with a 21st place finish, completing just 148 laps. Coming into the Discount Auto Parts 200 he held a 48 point lead over Tissot but now leads race winner Fultz by just 10 points after Fultz jumped from fifth to second by virtue of earning 180 points for his race win.
Reutimann, Frank and Howard round out the top five while Tissot, Stremme, Benny Gordon, Smith and Anderson complete the top 10. Just 98 points separate the top eight drivers after four races. Smith's three times at the front for a total of 75 laps earned him the $500 Gatorade Front Runner Award. Bigley continues to lead the points in this category with Smith and Scott Hansen trailing the Naples, Fla. driver by four points.
Fultz's crew chief Jon Craig garnered the $300 Jasper Engines and Transmissions Crew-Chief-of-the-Race Award for leading his team's effort toits first series win. Bigley's crew chief Adam Heckelman continues to lead the season-long points chase for the annual award.
Dade City, Fla.'s Kevin Bryant was the top finishing rookie and picked up $250 from Moroso Performance Products for his effort. Pensacola, Fla.'s Carlson earned the $100 runnerup award.
Stremme and Yunick are tied for the lead in the rookie-of-the-year battle with Bryant just one point behind the leaders.
Next up for the drivers in the Slim Jim All Pro Series is the Memphis Motorsports Park 100 at Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tenn. The race will be held on Saturday, May 13 and represents the third year in a row that the series' competitors will have raced at the high speed 0.750-mile oval, along with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
--By James F. Noltimier
Time of Race: 1 hour, 33 minutes, 58 seconds (NRR)
Winner's Average Speed: 95.779 mph Margin of Victory: 0.379 seconds
Bud Pole Award: Brian Smith, Mooresville, N.C., Chevrolet, 20.995 seconds,
128.602 mph (NTR)
Gatorade Front Runner Award: Brian Smith
Caution Periods: 5 cautions for 32 laps, 78-83, 85-91, 134-139, 147-155,
169-172
Lead Changes: 6 lead changes amongst 4 drivers
Lap Leaders: Smith 1-11, Bigley 12-47, Smith 48-55, Bigley 56-79, Prince
80-126, Smith 127-182, Fultz 183-200
Moroso Performance Parts Rookie of the Race: Kevin Bryant
Jasper Engines & Transmissions Crew Chief of the Race: Jon Craig
For complete finishing order list and more on the Slim Jim All Pro Series see Southern Short Track racing news.
Slim Jim All Pro Homestead Photos.
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| Speedways Levy Fines And Suspensions | Two incidents this weekend resulted in driver and crew suspensions at Florida Speedways. Florida Speed Park in St Augustine and DeSoto Speedway in Bradenton both made strong statements about the level of professionalism they expect at their speedways.
Florida Speed Park issued the following statement today:
[Speedway officials announced today the levying of fines and suspensions stemming from an incident along the front stretch involving several drivers and crew members following the conclusion of this past Saturday night’s racing program.
Sportsman drivers Kenny Hall and David Cline have both been fined an undisclosed amount and suspended indefinitely from the speedway. Two non-competitors Nelson (Tiny) Cline and Mike Harrison have also been fined and suspended indefinitely. Two other non-competitors Jimmie Bunn and Ronnie Tillman have been fined an undisclosed amount.
"What happened Saturday night was an embarrassment not only to the fans but also to those competitors here who work so hard at success in this sport," said speedway manager Louis Smith. "We will not stand for this type of behavior, period. Racing is a family sport and this is a family program. The actions of those select teams and individuals involved in the post-race melee will not be tolerated here, under any circumstances."
The incident overshadowed a hard fought battle between Todd Ponce and Jason Garver for victory in the hotly contested Sportsman division feature. Ponce went on to eek out the win, just getting underneath Garver and taking the lead with only two laps to go. The Sportsman, plus all five other local divisions, will be in action this coming Saturday night.]
A similar incident occurred this past weekend at DeSoto Speedway involving last year's Street Stock Champion Gus Coorssen and fellow Sportman racer George Shaver. Coorssen reportedly rammed Shaver who was parked while a red flag was out on the speedway. Both drivers have been suspended according to statements made by General Manager Earl Savage.
These incidents are reminiscent of East Bay Speedway last year on a wild afternoon when the officials disqualified nearly the entire field of Street Stocks for not stopping immediately under a red flag. Though that action nearly led to a riot amongst the drivers and the fans, General Manager Tom Hall stood by his decision saying "You can never have enough safety".
In the DeSoto incident the real loser may have been Brian Teeters, driver of the #97 Sportsman. Teeters was leading the race with one lap to go when the red flag was thrown. He intervened in the fracas between Coorssen and Shaver in an attempt to separate them, resulting in his own disqualification. After his car owner explained his case he was able to collect $100 for his efforts.
And it's only April.
-Jack Smith
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| Hialeah 'Powers' Back To Life! |  A months ago many if not most people were sure Hialeah Speedway with its 46 year history was close to seeing it's last race. The management had essentially thrown in the towel, the tax man wanted $91,000 by the 15th of March, and that was just for starters. We asked the question:Is it the end or the beginning of a new era? There was no money, and little hope of it being found. The Miami Herald wrote what could be described as a "requiem mass" for the Speedway with a NASCAR legend playing the lead. For the most part the rest of the state's racing community watched, if at all, with only a mild curiosity.
And it still may not survive for the long haul but this coming weekend (Saturday April 15th) will be a special day for race fans in South Florida as Hialeah Speedway will re-open it's gates to fans and drivers. Thanks to the involvement of a hundred or so Hialeah fans and drivers the smell of spent fuel and the sound of screeching tires will again resonate from the grand old speedway.
Mike Powers, a local Cyclone Division racer, refused to give up racing at his favorite track when the word went out that the track had finally come to the end of it's road. He, along with the help of attorney Kevin Lunsford, and a handful of others brought together 80 some speedway regulars and 34,000 dollars to try and pay the $91,000 due by March 15th for back taxes. In early March Powers told me "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 everything I can to keep my Saturday nights going at Hialeah Speedway."
And he did just that.
South Florida Race Alliance Formed
Fighting against the negative attitudes that exist around a failing business was the toughest thing in keeping the speedway open, "every door we had gone and knocked on was slammed in our face, there's a lot of burnt bridges out there." Powers added, "we found a way to work through it."
Working thorugh it meant forming a new organization called the South Florida Racing Alliance, and also meant the end of an era. The Greater Miami Racing Association which started the speedway in 1954 and has operated it since that time is no more.
The newly formed South Florida Racing Alliance will focus on building it's local classes up, and drivers are not expecting to race for a purse for at least several weeks. Sticking the with local classes, no rule changes in sight, concentrating on their local show, and getting a massive volunteer effort to help clean up and repair the physical facilities is the first priority. Powers put it this way "we would love to bring back some of the other things such as the Florida Pros, sprint cars and things of that nature, but right now our operating capital doesn't allow that".
Mike Powers is the acting President of the SFRA and will oversee the general operations at the track. Powers drives the number five in the Cyclone Division and was the division representative. Now he finds himself running the speedway, with a lot of help of course. Approximately 200 people attended a special meeting organized recently to answer questions regarding the future of the speedway, and to separate rumors from facts surrounding the speedway's situation. The lease was read to them, and in the end they got behind the effort.
This past weekend the clean up and refurbishing of the facility got underway. Fans and drivers will be helping the new management group prepare for the re-opening throughout the week. A couple of roofing firms are donating time and materials and another company is supplying wood to fix the bleachers. Mike Powers shrugs off his effort and instead credits the fans and drivers who supported and got involved in the effort to save the speedway, "Without these people's money in the escrow this thing would have never come to life." The fans who contributed to the escrow account meant for taxes have signed over the monies to the SFRA.
Another of the important elements in getting the property owner to deal with the SFRA and negotiate the new speedway lease is the issue of taxes. The SFRA agreed to pay the property taxes weekly instead of quarterly and signed a new lease through December 31, 2002, with a clause for re-negotiating the extension of the lease.
Powers said the alliance would like to bring back the touring divisions such as the T.B.A.R.A. Sprints and Florida Pro Late Models but that would have to wait. He would also like to see the Legends Dwarfs, Open Wheels and Mini Cup cars return to Hialeah Speedway, but first would like to get the track stabilized and perhaps get their Pure Stock and Late Models running first.
The SFRA has lowered ticket prices from $10 to $8 and is allowing kids 12 and under in free with a paying adult. Seniors will only pay $7 for grandstand admittance. The speedway will open for test and tune Friday with racing returning at 7 PM Saturday evening.
KARNAC.com will be there to cover the racing and meet the people who, against nearly impossible odds, kept hope and faith alive and managed to keep the sun from setting on the state's oldest speedway.
Just goes to show you what can happen when a small group of people get their head and hearts together on a problem.
UPDATE
[Just as we were preparing to publish this story I spoke with Mike Powers from Hialeah Speedway. He said they got a lot done today and 100 people helped clean up and do repairs to the speedway. They were still at the speedway at 8 PM]
-Jack Smith
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| The Butlers Did It! -- In the T. B. A. R. A. Sprints | Remember that old mystery movie line "The Butler did it"...well, add an "s" to that old saying and you have the T.B.A.R.A. Sprint results Friday night at Orlando Speedworld as the Butlers did it to the rest of a very competitive sprint car field.
The Butlers in question are Keith and Shane, son's of veteran driver Stan Butler. After Todd Schmidt took heat race #1, Keith Butler dominated heat #2 while younger brother Shane Butler ran off with heat #3. The only majoy incident of the entire evening took place in the first heat when something broke on Jerry Jones car just after taking the initial green. His spriner skid through the infield, then back up the track and hard into the wall. The car was out for the night but Jones was A-OK.
Shane Butler had the pole for the 25-lap feature and jumped out to a healthy lead as Bobby Rose was fending off an angry pack of cars for second. Keith Butler started ninth and was picking his way through the field taking fifth spot just as Kevin Cahill stalled in turn two to bring out the races only caution flag.
Once green flew again, Keith Butler wasted little time picking off his competitors, finally catching his younger brother. Shane was able to fend off Keith for three laps but Keith's Riverview Paving Equipment special was on rails and he blasted by and ran off to victory. Shane Butler held on for second making it the first time the two siblings finished one-two in a T.B.A.R.A. race.
Father Stan Butler was both proud and impressed by his sons' performances only wishing he could have been in the field too, but a crash the previous week at Ocala sidelined his car. What made Keith Butler's run even more impressive was that he was driving a former dirt sprinter that was given to him after it had been wrecked during 1999 Speedweeks. Butler clipped the front of the car himself making it into an asphalt sprinter. Although the car's dirt heritage was still there as Keith said it hooked up better when he drove through the sand on the edge of the race track exiting the corners.
Bo Hartley, another second generation racer, made a late pass on Todd Schmidt to put his Stephens International Shipping 3X into the show position. Schmidt held on for fourth with veteran Jim Childers taking fifth spot in the Jim Riddle Herbalife machine after starting 12th. Point leader Wayne Reutimann took the Heckman Motorsports/Eagle Jet International/Race against Drugs sprinter to a sixth place finish a head of 17-year old Shaun Farr who drove a steady race to seventh. Bobby Rose, Dave Pletcher and former Supermod and NASCAR Star Doug Heveron rounded out the top ten.
The Late Models were gearing up for next week's SARA/Late Model 100 but it was rookie "Tall" Tim Laurent who took the measure of the field in his Seanco Trucking sponsored machine. Only Kenny Crites' spin with two laps to go slowed Laurent as he took an easy victory over Eddie King, Dallas Ward, Chris Fontaine and Mike Murphy. Laurent and King were heat race winners.
It looked like Jason Boyd was going to make it three wins in a row in the modifieds despite heavy pressure from second heat winner John Grimm. However a lapped car spun in front of the leaders with three las to go. Boyd backed off thinking the caution was coming out--it didn't--and Grimm drove around Boyd and raced to the win in his RoDan Fire Sprinklers Camaro bodied modified. Boyd was second trailed by Chuck Burkhalter, first heat winner Frank Polly and "Hot Rod" Sanders.
In the "What else is new" category, Kelly Jarrett remained undefeated in 2000 with his fifth straight mini-stock win. Carl "Peanut" Green ran second in the Ugly Duckling/Thrifty Nickel Ford but couldn't catch Jarrett's fleet Toyota. Jamie "Mr. Restart" Dixson took third over Lakeland's Bo Davis and Gary Green.
Sportsman action saw a first time winner in Sam Bowman who led most of the way in the car which Andy Nichols won the 1999 Points Title in. Bowman outran Russ Shaw who finished second for the third week in a row which Richard Hight, Kevin McMullan and Mark Scherer rounded out the top five.
Unlike last week, Rich Clouser and Duane Freed finished 1 & 2 but got to keep their spots in the final Super Stock rundown. Both had come up light on the scales the week before. Mike Peppler came home third over Homer Gordon and Darren Gould.
The new Strickly Stock class continues to grow and it was Chris Kirkgard taking his first step towards a career in Winston Cup with his first win at Speedworld. Kirkgard held off Roger Favreau for the win while Stan Price, Robbie Gay and Carmen Sottanti rounded out the top five.
1967 Governor's Cup Champion Dumont Smith was on hand at the track to watch the action and reportedly turned down several offers to drive some top-line sprint cars.
Next Week it is the SARA/Late Model 100 for the Late Models while the Classic Racing Series makes its first Speedworld 2000 appearance on April 28th.
LATE MODELS
FINISHING POSITION CAR NUMBER DRIVER
1 32 TIM LAURENT
2 16 EDDIE KING
3 15 DALLAS WARD
4 47 CHRIS FONTAINE
5 26 MIKE MURPHY
6 67 CHAD ALLMAN
7 8 MIKE McCARY
8 31 WINDER GUY
9 57 CHAD PIERCE
10 1 KENNY CRITES
11 84 MIKE TODD
12 6 DAVID HART
MODIFIEDS
FINISHING POSITION CAR NUMBER DRIVER
1 72 JOHN GRIMM
2 2X JASON BOYD
3 30 CHUCK BURKHALTER
4 34 FRANK POLLY
5 90 HANK SANDERS
6 14 ARIC ALMIROLE
7 66 GARY ENGLISH
8 51 RANDY LEWIS
9 4J ALAN BRONS
10 55X DWAYNE WEOMANS
11 54 RUSS THOMSON
SPORTSMAN
FINISHING POSITION CAR NUMBER DRIVER
1 49 SAMUEL BOWMAN
2 11 RUSS SHAW
3 23 RICHARD HIGHT
4 43X KEVIN MCMULLAN
5 00 MARK SCHERER
6 27 SCOTT TYLER
7 15 BILLY BELFLOWER
8 ONO JEFF MILLER
9 98 RAY RIVERS
10 04 DOUG SAMION
MINI-STOCKS
FINISHING POSITION CAR NUMBER DRIVER
1 97 KELLY JARRETT
2 30 CARL GREEN
3 6 JAMIE DIXSON
4 67 BO DAVIS
5 46 GARY GREEN
6 25 TIM CLARK
7 1 BLAKE SMITH
8 71 RONNIE WOODCOCK
9 44 TOM ROSE
10 17 JOHN GAY
11 37 JIM ENGSTROM
12 5 EUGENE DAVIDSON
SUPER STOCK
FINISHING POSITION CAR NUMBER DRIVER
1 17 RICH CLOUSER
2 11 DUANE FREED
3 81 MIKE PEPPLER
4 22 HOMER GORDON
5 67 DAREN GOULD
6 1 FRED PETERS
7 7X BOB WINE
8 L3 LEONARD STORY
9 07 LEE MORGAN
10 38 STEVE HAGY
STRICKLY STOCK
FINISHING POSITION CAR NUMBER DRIVER
1 25 CHRIS KIRKGARD
2 24 ROGER FAVREAU
3 7 STAN PRICE
4 29 ROBBIE GAY
5 52 CARMEN SOTTSANTI
by Dave Westerman
See the Dave Westerman Collection of vintage photos
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| Goody's Dash Returns To Florida Speed Park | NASCAR GOODY’S DASH GOLD STAR DODGE DEALERS 125 RETURNS FOR ONLY 2000 SPEEDWAY ENGAGEMENT
Race teams from throughout the southeast are putting the finishing touches on their cars and getting the haulers ready for the trip south to Florida Speed Park and the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Gold Star Dodge Dealers 125, presented by Pabst Brewing and NAPA Auto Parts, this Saturday night.
Heading up this weekend’s field, and heading the way south from North Carolina is two-time defending Dash champion and 1999’s St. Augustine winner Robert Huffman. Huffman, driver of the #37 White House Apple Juice Pontiac, has collected wins in each of the first two Dash races of the season, including his first ever Daytona victory during speed weeks.
“I really enjoy racing in St. Augustine,” says Huffman. “I adapted to the track well. Some of the best races that our division has run has been in St. Augustine.”
Huffman has apparently adapted to all of Florida’s tracks, winning the last three events run in the Sunshine State.
“Florida didn’t used to be that great for us,” says Huffman. “It’s been good to us lately, though.”
Also pulling from North Carolina is last year’s runner-up Zach Brewer, driver of the #31 Old Milwaukee NA Pontiac. Brewer, who finished second to Huffman by a car length in last July’s lone St. Augustine visit, is hoping the twenty-five extra laps in this year’s event may be the difference he needs to claim a victory.
One driver with a short distance to travel is Jacksonville’s Jimmy Britts. Britts, the 1999 Dash Rookie of the Year and current points leader in the local Rick’s Muffler Modified division, is hoping to successfully defend his home asphalt against Huffman and the rest of the Dash field behind the wheel of his #92 Fat Boys Wings car. A total of thirty-six drivers have pre-entered into the event, so Britts will have his hands full.
Drivers from the Dash series will be at Jacksonville’s Regency Square Mall on Friday night from 5:00pm to 8:00pm to show off their cars, sign autographs and “race” fans on a special “NASCAR 2000” game setup.
Joining the Dash series on the program are the speedway’s local Thunder Trucks, the Mini Stocks and the Hobby Stocks. Gates open at noon with Dash qualifying at 3:00pm. The Triple Rock Blues Band will perform live in Turn 4 at 4:00pm. Local qualifying will resume at 6:45 pm. Immediately following, the Dash cars will line up along the frontstretch for fans to come out and meet all of the drivers and sign autographs. The Gold Star Dodge Dealers 125 wlll begin at 8:15 pm.
General Admission is $20, students and seniors are $8, children ages 7-12 are $2, and under 7 is free. A special $45 Family Pack admits two adults and household children 18 and under.
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| THUNDER CROSS MOTORSPORTS PARK TO HOST SOUTHEAST MOTORSPORTS DIRT RACING SERIES | CALLAHAN, FL - (April 5, 2000) - The Southeast Motorsports Dirt Racing Series is set to invade South Florida with a 50 lap $3,000 to win Super Late Model program at Thunder Cross Motorsports Park in Okeechobee Florida.
Saturday, April, 29th a full field of Super Late Models will take the green flag for the third of twelve scheduled events on the Dirt Late Model Tour. With some of the biggest names in Regional Late Model action expected to be
in attendance, Thunder Cross officials are extremely excited about the Tour making it's way to the ever growing South Florida facility.
Previous events on the Southeast Motorsports trail saw Dirt Late Model veteran Dan Schlieper capture the victory at the season opener at JAX Raceways in his first Series event win since recovering from neck injuries in a non race related incident. Schlieper collected the top prize beating out
Wendell Walllace and Billy Moyer for the win.
South Carolina's Chris Madden, bested the field at Waycross Motor Speedway in the second event on the 2000 Tour sweeping the pole and the win over Ronnie Johnson and Earl Pearson, Jr.
Heading into the third event South Florida headliner's Keith and Jack Nosbisch plan to participate in the Series event after visiting the facility for the first time earlier this month to compete in weekly Late Model action.
Thunder Cross Late Model Champion Danny Cox of Indiantown (FL) and Loxahatchee (FL) hotshoe John Choquette will also be on hand to try and defend the checkered flag from the incoming traveling guns at the ¼ mile clay oval.
A complete program of Super Late Model action and area support divisions gets underway with the pit gates opening at 3:00 PM with Super Late Model qualifying expected to begin at 6:30 with racing starting at 7:00 PM.
Thunder Cross Motorsports Park is located 25 miles west of Interstate 95 on Florida State Road 70 just 4 miles east of Okeechobee, Florida.
Additional information concerning The Southeast Motorsports Dirt Racing Series or sponsorship opportunities can be obtained through the Southeast Motorsports regional offices at 904-879-4226 or visit http://www.thespeedzone.com/southeast.
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| Mario Gosselin: A Racer Living A NASCAR Dream | The dream of big time NASCAR racing for most local short track racers is only that, a dream. But for Mario Gosselin, that dream is fast becoming a reality with his new contract to drive in five Busch Grand National events and three ARCA races this year.The friendly, fun loving racer who started at Hialeah Speedway 10 years ago is ready for a shot at the big time racing of NASCAR.
"I've had more fun than I've had in years driving".
Michael J. Belle, Attorney and motorsports agent, said Mario Gosselin of Lake Wales, Florida has signed a deal to put the 1997 USAR Hooters ProCup Champion in five NASCAR Busch Grand National races this year. Belle, speaking from his law offices in Sarasota confirmed Gosselin will be sponsored by Carter Grandle/CFI Manufacturing, along with Western Nonwovens and Eastern Metal Supply as associate sponsors. Busch races at Charlotte, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Myrtle Beach are planned, though the exact venues haven't been confirmed yet. Gosselin will also run three ARCA races this year, with another, as yet unnamed sponsor getting involved.
Belle, who has worked with several ProCup racers as well as NASCAR's Wally Dallenbach, told KARNAC that Sarasota based Carter Grandle, manufacturer of casual pool and patio furniture is the major cog in a sponsorship package that will give Gosselin all the tools to have a shot at securing a solid future in NASCAR racing.
Mario Gosselin, born in Quebec City, Canada, first began racing at Hialeah Speedway in 1990 in the pure stocks, winning the track championship.
His late model career began the next year with two wins and runner-up in points at the Hialeah flat track. It was about this time that veteran stock car promoter Don Nerone came into the picture. Gosselin went racing with Nerones' U.S.A Late Model Series and over the next few years cranked out championships and major wins from one end of Florida to the other. When Hooters Restaurants got involved with the U.S.A. series, and changed the name to Hooters Cup Series in 1995 Gosselin won the Championship with 3 wins and 16 top ten finishes.
Don Nerone has been very instrumental in the success that Gosselin has had. Nerone remembers, "I watched Mario's career come right on through,... he always ran respectably", speaking of Gosselin's first year in the U.S.A series,
" but he was young." Nerone continues, "The following year he came back and just did a dominating job and he has ever since. Probably the lightning for everybody was when they ran the little series over there in Pensacola, along with the Snowball Derby, he went over there and absolutely murdered them in that deal. Everybody who was anybody went and they all said 'who is Mario?', they hadn't even heard of him".
Mario remembers those days of learning to qualify "Don has helped me a lot...at first it almost felt like we were fighting him but then once we were one of the boys, he helped us out a lot". I was having a hard time qualifying, I would practice well but be lucky to qualify 15th. In '93, all these guys were coming from up North, it was big thing you know, and we went out to Lakeland one night and we did nothing but qualify. This was Don's idea, you have to practice qualifying. From there on, boy what a difference". Mario laughs when he remembers those days, "And I won the Triple Crown that year". His accumulation of ProCup poles attests to the fact that Mario Gosselin was indeed a good student.
Having run in every USAR Hooters ProCup race since the inaugural season in 1997, Gosselin holds all the major ProCup records. In 53 races he has 13 poles and 15 wins, and has finished in the top 10 over 60 percent of the time. He was able to win the Championship the first year of ProCup competition, in a series which uses heavy Busch Grand National cars.
Besides the three scheduled ARCA races and the 5 NASCAR Busch races this season, Gosselin is planning to run the entire USAR Hooters ProCup series, and is leading the points after two races. Asked about the increasingly tough competition in the ProCup series, as more and more teams are using the series as the training ground for the Busch series, he said "oh there's definitely more money getting involved, and when there's more money getting involved it's gets tougher, no doubt about it"
At the end of last year the money pressures involved with big league racing forced Gosselin to rethink his career and make some changes. 1999 was a mixed bag, a disappointing and sometimes frustrating year in the ProCup, with some very high points as well. In May he took his operation to Lowe's Motor Speedway (Charlotte) and not only sat on the pole in his very first ARCA event, but won the race as well. In October the guy the kids know as "Super" Mario proved the first ARCA race was no fluke , as he sat on the pole again, this time setting a speedway record of 181.354 mph. He ended up with another podium finish in third place. Also in 1999 Gosselin made his first, and only Busch race to date, with a 20th starting spot and came in 16th at the tough Myrtle Beach Speedway.
But while the promise of success was there, the ProCup wasn't going so well for the WJ Plemons Chevrolet team in 1999. After destroying the car in the opener at USA International Speedway, the team went to work and though struggling put several top fives together and won the June race at USA International, putting him in the points lead. Still in the thick of the championship battle with Jay Fogleman and Bobby Gill, in the latter part of the season things started to go wrong again as the team's car problems began to mount, over heating one race, a wreck while running for second in another, and "getting further behind the eight ball" as Mario recalls it.
This year Gosselin hopes for a different outcome. Like so many other drivers, the cost of being competitive takes it's toll, and so at the end of the year he got out of being the team and car owner and went looking for a team to drive for. "I don't work on the car....we talk on the phone about setups and what we're going to do, and he puts it in there pretty much gets it all ready" .The relief from all the added pressures of running his own team has proven, thus far, to be an enormous benefit to Gosselin. He lights up when asked about the change, "Boy I tell you, these past two ProCup races, I've had more fun than I've had in years driving." Speaking of team owner and crew chief, Haskell Wittingham, "they are really great people to deal with. You hope everything is going to go smooth, and I mean it's been a lot smoother than I had hoped for. They're happy, they had never been on a pole in a ProCup race, now they have their first pole and a track record, a second and a fifth and we're leading the points. They're pretty psyched up."
And it's evident than the 28 year old native of Canada is pretty psyched up too. "I have enough money to set up the Busch deal the way I want it. That is why I sold all that stuff...I knew I had to do something different. It' not that I didn't know how or know what I needed to do, I didn't have what I needed to make it happen A lot of the strain is off of me...."
Now that the sponsorship package is there Mario Gosselin will now have a chance to prove he is ready for the Busch Grand National Series. The goals are simple: "We're just looking at making the races and getting solid top 20 finishes. We've got to realize one thing, we're not a team that's been formed for 2 or 3 years that has unlimited resources, which there's a lot of Busch teams out there that that is the way they are, they have unlimited resources with some of them with 4 million dollar sponsors." Gosselin seems to understand well the challenge ahead of him and has a clear cut standard of success.
With the major hurdle of securing the funding necessary to compete at the Busch level behind him Gosselin can focus on getting the job done, "We 're kind of starting at the bottom of the ladder, so for us to accomplish qualifying for the races and getting good solid finishes, and being there at the end. If we can go in and do something like that, and build on that, I think we 're going to show our sponsors we're serious about it, we're going to give them the coverage they are looking for."
Most drivers run out of resources before they run out of talent. With the sponsorship, the good relationship with his ProCup team owner, and the Carter Grandle partnership he says " I feel I'm going to have fair shot at it."
And that's about as much as you can ask in a sport where only a very few ever get a chance to live their racing dream.
-Jack Smith
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| B.J. McLeod Ends DeSoto Drought | After some close races and hard luck 16 year old B.J. McLeod drove one of hell of a race Saturday night to take the Pro-Late Model feature at DeSoto Speedway.....
With 15 of the 23 cars qualifying in the 14 second range you could tell this was going to be one heck of race. Starting on the front row was #61 Jimmy Cope and alongside of him was the #7 of Darryl Shelnut. Cope jumped out to the early lead with a great start as he would all night long but it was the racing behind him that was action packed!
B.J. McLeod moved up into second bringing with him the #37 of a very fast James Powell. #00 Dickie Anderson meanwhile was battling on the outside groove slipping and sliding running in the fifth spot . The first caution came when #12 Jeff Emory lost it coming out of turn four and the #01 of Jeff Wogoman who has had his share of bad luck at DeSoto lately ran over top Emory's machine, Wogoman's car was to badly damged to continue but Emory came back out after a visit to the pits, having to remove the entire front end of the car making it look more like a modified then a late model.
When the green dropped it was Cope with fast start pulling out to a three car length lead B.J. McLeod,Powell,Anderson and Shelnut were nose to tail running for the second spot. After a few laps Anderson had gotten by Powell and he and B.J. McLeod were battling Cope for the lead but Cope held the low line forcing both McLeod and Anderson to try the outside groove if they wanted the front spot.
Anderson ran side by side with Cope with B.J. McLeod staying low with Cope, Anderson slipped coming out of four allowing Shelnut up to take the third spot but Anderson wasn't giving up the spot that easy bump drafting Shelnut coming out of four taking the spot and bringing along with him a hard charging #72 Mike Franklin jr.
While the heated action was taking place up front former track Open Wheel champ and crowd favorite Lee Collins in the familiar #89 was slicing and dicing his way through the field looking strong on only his second Pro Latemodel race of the year using the high groove moving up into the top five. Franklin looking to get by the cagey veteran Anderson dove hard into the turn but went a little to deep on the charge spinning out in cloud of smoke bringing out the caution and sending him to the rear of the pack.
Another awesome restart by Jimmy Cope left B.J. McLeod and Anderson battling again for the second spot but within a few laps the duo had caught up with the streaking #61 again Cope held the low line forcing the #00 and #78 to try the high line B.J. McLeod slipped and allowed Anderson to regain the second spot. Anderson was working Cope hard when out of turn two Anderson tapped him and sent him spinning infront of the field being collected by the #38 of Shane Sawyer ending Copes charge for the checkers with just fifteen laps to go Anderson was sent to the rear field leaving B.J. McLeod with the lead and Lee Collins second.
Collins gave it all he had on the restart getting a low line run on B.J. but the kid had the horsepower to hold him off and take a well earned victory on the high banks, Collins came home with the second place trophy, Anderson in typical fashion was able to make his way back through the field to take third, fourth went to #34 Ricky Carlton, Richard Till #53 rounded out the top five.
#98 Lonny Miller battled his way up from mid pack to take the win in the Sportsman class holding off #41 Gus Coorssen, #1 Jerry Rogers took third, fourth was #97 Brian Teeters and fifth #86 Jeff Anderson.
The Street Stock feature saw a first time winner as #99 Brent Louiso was able to hold off a fast Bruce Sherwood in the #05, #8 Rich Clouser won the melee for third #4 Ronnie Allen survived for fourth and Dennis Wilson jr. #42 ended up in the fifth spot.
Mod-Mini was won by a very fast Mike Mitrisin #98, second place went to last weeks winner Matt Watts #3, #77 Lee Davis came across third, #8 Kenny Hawkins fourth and #73 Shawn Williams held on for fifth.
A young Todd Freed #97 may not have won the feature in the Mini-Stock race but he showed some smooth driving skills and held on to a solid second place finish just behind the #70 of Tony Elrod jr.. Jesse Dutilly #30 crossed the start finish line third, #14 Jon Bailey fourth, Arlin Pope #98 took fifth.
#22 Doug Carroll was the winner in the Pure Stock Division keeping the big Dodge of "Cowboy" Howard Higgins #7 behind him at the start finish line.#20 Greg Banach third, #3 Peggy Hurst fourth and fifth Gary Flynn #56.
"Rockin"Rodney Davis #89 won the pro-figure 8 race...........From Bradenton....Rick Anges
Results 4/1
PRO LATE MODELS
1. #78 B.J. MCLEOD, WAUCHULA
2. #89 LEE COLLINS, IMMOKALEE
3. #00 DICK ANDERSON, WILDWOOD
4. #34 RICKY CARLTON, HOMOSASSA
5. #53 RICHARD TILL, BARTOW
6. #56 WENDELL OVERSTREET, CLEARWATER
7. #98 DAVID BRINSON,
8. #2 RANDY FOX, FT MYERS
9. #72 MIKE FRANKLIN,
10. #33 SCOT WALTERS, NAPLES
SELECTIVE HR SOLUTIONS
SPORTSMAN
1. #98 LONNY MILLER, BRADENTON
2. #41 GUS COORSSEN, SARASOTA
3. #1 JERRY ROGERS,
4. #97 BRIAN TEETERS, PALMETTO
5. #86 JEFF ANDERSON, BRADENTON
6. #21 JAMES CARTER, BRADENTON
7. #11 JOE SHAVER, ARCADIA
8. #03 BARRY CARLSON, LARGO
9. #09 MIKE WODARSKY,
10. #89 JIMMY COOK, SARASOTA
EXPRESS PERSONNEL SERVICES
STREET STOCK
1. #99 BRENT LOUISO, SARASOTA
2. #05 BRUCE SHERWOOD, BRADENTON
3. #8 RICH CLOUSER, GRANT, FL
4. #4 RONNIE ALLEN,
5. #42 DENNIS WILSON JR, BRADENTON
6. #9 BEN KELLY, NORTH PORT
7. #51 CLARENCE SMITH, SEBRING
8. #19 JOEY BARNES, BRADENTON
9. #65 MIKE JOHNSON, SARASOTA
10. #2 DAVID DICK, PARRISH
CONTEMPORARY CABINETRY &
CLOSET CONCEPTS PURE STOCK
1. #22 DOUG CARROLL, SASAROTA
2. #7 HOWARD HIGGINS, ARCADIA
3. #20 GREG BANACH, BRADENTON
4. #3 PEGGY HURST, SARASOTA
5. #56 GARY FLYNN, PALMETTO
6. #7 TROY BUCKLES,
7. #57 TROY DAVIS, BRADENTON
8. #6 DANNY ANDERSON, BRADENTON
MANATEE LUMBER
MODIFIED MINI
1. #98 MIKE MITRISIN, BROOKSVILLE
2. #3 MATT WATTS, DADE CITY
3. #77 LEE DAVIS, LAKELAND
4. #9 KENNY HANKINS, LAKELAND
5. #73 SHAWN WILLIAMS, KATHLEEN, FL
6. #7 STEVE MARTIN, PINELLAS PARK
7. #31 GREG LUECKE, ST PETERSBURG
8. #O3 JOHEL CHAVES, FT MEADE
9. #4 SHANE COOK, DADE CITY
10. #17 JOHN COHEE, ST PETERSBURG
Q AUTO & INJURY ATTORNEYS
MINI STOCK
1. #70 TONY ELROD JR, KATHLEEN
2. #97 TODD FREED, BRADENTON
3. #30 JESSE DUTILLY, BRADENTON
4. #14 JON BAILEY, ST. PETERSBURG
5. #98 ARLIN POPE, BRADENTON
6. #17X SYNDEE BROWN, BRADENTON
7. #22 SHANE WHITBECK, SARASOTA
8. #9 JEANNE WHITTED, SARASOTA
9. #35 GREG KROM, SARASOTA
10. #92 JEFF GUILBAULT, PALMETTO
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| Two Veteran Midget Racers Die In Wreck at Bronson | Two veteran midget racers with the Daytona Antique Racing Association lost their lives in a crash during warm-ups preceeding their exhibition at Bronson Motor Speedway Saturday nite, April 1, 2000. Breck Semans of Beverly Hills, Fl. and Charlie Wherlin of Brick Township, N.J. tangled in turn one, causing both cars to leave the racing surface.
Despite heroic efforts on the part of track medical personnel, Levy County paramedics, and the ShandsAir helicopter medical team both drivers succomed to the injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene by Levy County officials. Breck Semans was 66 and Charlie Wherlin was 62 years old.
The speedway, fans, and other participants at Saturday's event all offer their heartfelt condolences to the families of these two brave drivers.
Out of respect for the drivers, the evening's event was cancelled.
by Gil Peck
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