Short Track Roundup (3/11/98)
11 March 1998
Mobile, Ala - We open this week’s recap on a sad note with the passing of one of the best short track racers of all time in Joe Shear. Joe succumbed to cancer, but not before he won over 350 short track races including 8 Winston National Short Track Championships, 6 Rockford (Ill) Speedway Track Champions and over 50 races on the ARTGO series. Our condolences go out to his wife and family and he will be truly missed by the racing fans of the midwest. This past weekend saw Mother Nature win virtually every scheduled race in the Southeast with the exception of Florida, but there was action on the tracks in the West and the Northeast. At Yuma (Ariz) Speedway, Richard Griffin came home with the win ahead of Kevin Doty and J. J. Yeley. The cars then moved on to El Centro, Calif. for the SCRA race and at Imperial Speedway the winner was Mike Kirby. Kevin Doty had another runner-up finish while Troy Cline took third. In NARC action at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif it was Kaeding once again visiting Victory Lane, but this time it was Bud who took the checkers with Randy Tiner second and Ronnie Day in third spot. This race was a real bruiser with a number of cars doing flips during the event. At Lincoln (Pa) Speedway it was Steve Siegel leading every lap to take the Sprint feature with Todd Shaffer and Jeff Shepard following him to the line. With Williams Grove and Hagerstown getting hit with rain, this was the only track that managed to run in the Northeast this past weekend. The first race of the Big Johnson National Championship, The Don Smith Ford 100 at Bulls Gap, TN was on the card for this weekend, but after getting Friday’s action completed the Saturday show was rained out. This leaves the race to be completed this coming weekend and leaves many dirt Late Model drivers in a quandry about where to go as there will be a Southern All Star sanctioned $10,000 to win event at Cleveland Speedway as well. Wendell Wallace is the pole sitter for the Bulls Gap event when it gets the green flag. By winning the pole Wallace racks up the first points in the new National Championship race. There was racing in Florida this past weekend as there were two big Sportsman races on the paved surfaces of Hialeah and Sunshine Speedways. At Hialeah, Ron Regula took the win in the Hialeah Six Pack event with Tim Harington and Bobby Beauchemin following him across the line. The SARA Sportsman cars were on the other side of the state and it was Jeremy Bowser who got the win ahead of Joe Boyd and brother Joe. At Auburndale Speedway the season opened with Von Pope taking the inaugural win while Dale Poff grabbed second and Jimmy Castleberry was third. The opening night at JAX Raceways was a victim of the rain, but they did get to race down the coast at St Augustine Speedway where Chuck Hiers won the Late Model feature. The reports from the track indicate that the car count was minuscule, but that Scott Lagasse from the Craftsman Truck Series did make an appearance and won the Modified feature. With the World of Outlaws rained out at Dixie Speedway, Woodstock, Ga., this past weekend, it should allow plenty of time for everyone to change out their rear ends. Winters Performance Products is recalling their new integral bell center units due to a high number of malfunctions. The recall should be completed before the touring series sets out for Mississippi and Texas this weekend. The Dixie race will not be rescheduled for this year, so Sprint Car fans in the North Georgia area will have to wait until 1999 to see the Outlaws in their area. The Northwest Tour will now be known as the NASCAR Raybestos Brakes Northwest Series as the brake manufacturer comes on board as the title sponsor. Raybestos is also the official brakes of NASCAR and an Associate Sponsor on the Kenny Irwin driven #28 Ford as well as providing sponsorship help with other NASCAR series. The new driver for the Terry Eaglin Motorsports #B12, replacing John Gill, will be Kevin Weaver. Weaver won out over Bob Pierce, Rick Aukland and Don O’Neal in getting the seat. The team will run a Rayburn chassis and will open the season at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway this Saturday. The weather forecasts for this coming weekend are looking very bright at the moment and there will be plenty of racing action going on around the short tracks. Sprint Car Fans can see the SCRA back in the friendly confines of Perris (Calif) Speedway while the World of Outlaws will visit Magnolia, Miss. before moving on to Highland, TX. There will be two big dirt Late Model events in Tennessee and the National Late Model Sportsman Series will open the 1998 season for Lake City Speedway. Many tracks will be holding test and tune sessions and others will be opening the season, so no matter where you live head on out to your local track and take in some really great racing action. Have a ball, Ya’ll! John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel