Short Track Roundup (12/10/97)
10 December 1997
Mobile, AL - The first week of December has come and gone and throughout the southern tier of the country there are still races to be found. During the past week there were three big events scheduled and two of them managed to beat Mother Nature to the starting line. In Arizona the Late Model weekend for the Winter Heat Series was forced to be canceled due to rain, not a common occurrence in that region. The forecast looks better for this weekend when the Southwest Tour cars will be on the track. The biggest race of the year for the Late Models took place over the past weekend in Pensacola, FL where they held the 30th Annual Snowball Derby. It should be noted that one driver, Red Farmer, has started every one of the 30 Snowballs and he was honored before the race for his accomplishments. Red qualified 13th after not having driven on asphalt all season, another example of the ability he possesses. In the Pete Moore 108 held Saturday night, Tony Walls led the entire distance to take the win over Donnie Brusso and the "Texas Tornado" Tommy Grimes. Sunday the Snowball produced a repeat winner as Bobby Gill passed three cars in the final laps to take the checkered flag and the $15,000 paycheck. Eddie Mercer was second and Rick Crawford took third. Gill previously won in 1993 and now joins an elite group with two wins in the season ending race. At Columbia Motorsports Park they held the Suwanee Truss 200 for the Florida Pro Cars and Scott Bramlett was the victor in a caution filled event. Dave Weltmeyer came home second with Ronnie Burkett third. The Frigidaire All Stars held their banquet Columbus, OH where they honored Frankie Kerr and car owner Stan Shoff as the 1997 Champions. It was announced that Frigidaire will not be back in 1998 and the All Stars are currently pursuing other title sponsors. In a case of musical chairs Dean Jacobs will replace brother Kenny in the #92 car for 1998. Kenny will replace Dale Blaney in the Tim Hughes owned car and Dale will move to the World of Outlaws and replace his brother Dave. Dave is moving to the Busch Grand National Series. In other news from the World of Outlaws, Gary Stanton is apparently negotiating with Karl and Mark Kinser for 1998 to campaign the #75 Mopar Sprinter. That would be one potent combination should they come together. The 1997 racing season is about over and the 1998 season is about to begin. During the past year the Late Model scene has taken a big hit with the demise of the TIDA in Texas and the Hooters Cup Series. This leaves a void in Late Model racing that to date has not been filled. Although there was a rumor out of Tennessee that Don Nerone was going to bring back the United Speed Alliance, there no word recently on that becoming a reality. The beneficiaries of the Hooters Cup death will be the Florida Pro and Southern All Star series which will find their fields a little more competitive in 1998. The Slim Jim All Pro series will also see some of the top Hooters drivers move over to that series, from whence most of them came in the first place. 441 Speedway in Dublin, GA is changing from clay to asphalt for 1998 while at Volusia County, they are reversing the two tracks with the half mile becoming dirt and the 3/8 mile going to pavement. South Alabama Speedway in Opp has finally been sold and the word is that it will reopen in 1998. The short track scene will suffer from another assault from NASCAR in 1998 as Daytona's Pepsi 400 moves under the lights on July 4th, thus taking away one of the best night's of the year for track promoters. One can only wonder if the France family has forgotten where their roots lie. With more and more Cup races moving under the lights in future years, the short tracks will find it increasingly more difficult to draw crowds and must take a long hard look at the way they promote and present themselves to be successful. 1997 has seen many tracks take a beating from the weather and one can only hope that Mother Nature will be kinder in 1998. Perhaps El Nino will take a siesta. This weekend the place to be will be Waycross, GA where the Southern All Stars are running a big Late Model show on the fast surface of Waycross Motor Speedway. Expect many of the big names of the Dirt Late Models to be on hand for this event. Have a Ball, Ya'll! John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel