Bristol Motor Speedway
Notes: Deep South gets ready for biggest event
Louisiana driver Marlon Wild tackled Deep South in 2006. (Steve Molnar)
Deep South Speedway has never hosted an event quite like this. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is set to invade the burgeoning 4/10-mile oval for a two-day shootout on March 13-14, by far the biggest show that has ever been scheduled at the Gulf Coast facility.
With a 40-lap feature paying $7,000 to win topping the Friday-night program and a $12,000 first-place prize on the line in Saturday night’s 60-lap headliner, more than $100,000 in purses will be paid out during the blockbuster weekend.
And with the entry list expected to boast drivers from nearly two dozen different states, an unprecedented field of dirt Late Model talent will perform on the Deep South Speedway high banks.
“It’s going to be explosive,” promised Ozzie Altman, a veteran short-track racing announcer and publicist who oversees the operation of Deep South Speedway. “This has to be one of the biggest weekends of racing ever around this part of the Gulf Coast — and not just for Dirt Late Models. The Snowball Derby (a well-known asphalt Late Model event at Five Flags Speedway in nearby Pensacola, Fla.) doesn’t even pay this much money.”
Located midway between Pensacola and Mobile, Ala., and just 25 miles north of the Alabama resort towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, 5-year-old Deep South Speedway is a relative newcomer to the national Dirt Late Model scene.
Track owners Bill and Karen Webb, whose Pensacola-based business, BKW, is one of the first called by the federal government to assist with the critical recovery needs of areas hit by severe storms, are longtime racing enthusiasts with an especially deep background in the Dirt Late Model ranks. A decade ago they spent time as the owners of Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway and, more recently, they fielded the car Rick Rogers of Knoxville, Tenn., drove to the 2008 Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series championship, so they couldn’t resist purchasing Deep South when they stumbled upon the track in 2007 and discovered it was for sale.
After green-lighting the most ambitious schedule in Deep South Speedway last season, the Webbs gave the directive to make the 2009 campaign even more spectacular. A visit by the WoO on March 13-14 was arranged to serve as the season’s marquee event.
“We were all very pleased with how the 2008 season went, so the decision was made to really put the place on the map this year,” Altman said. “We are just so excited to kick off the new season with a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event of this magnitude."
According to Altman, about 50 drivers from across the country have indicated their plans to enter the WoO doubleheader at the red-clay oval, which boasts such amenities as grass-terraced grandstand seating (lawnchairs and blankets allowed), air-conditioned restrooms and spacious camping areas.
Leading the talent-laden charge to Deep South will be the roster of WoO stars, including defending tour champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; young sensation Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va; ’07 champ Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.; Peach State standouts Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; Rick Eckert of York, Pa.; and former Rookies of the Year Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. (2007) and Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y. (2008).
Former WoO champions Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., are among the nationally-known names expected to invade Deep South Speedway for the first time, heading a list that also includes Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colo., Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., and Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis. — Kevin Kovac
SAS EAST LAUNCHING SEASON AT CHEROKEE: After a Feb. 28 rainout at Travelers Rest (S.C.) Speedway, the O'Reilly Southern All Star East Series will open its fifth season March 8 at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C. The 60-lap March Madness main event will pay $10,000 to the winner. Among drivers expected are last year's winner Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., reigning series champion Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., hometown driver Dennis Franklin and Randle Chupp of Mooresville, N.C. Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., is expected to run his first event in the Rumley Enterprises Rocket Chassis. — From series reports
CLASH TACKLES RECONFIGURED CAROLINA SPEEDWAY: The Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series opens the 2009 season March 14 at Carolina Speedway near Gastonia, N.C., for the ninth annual Skyler Trull Memorial. Series drivers will find some changes at the 4/10-mile oval that's been reconfigured with progressive banking in the top groove and a widened surface. Track promoter Clint Elkins said the track record is likely to fall. Carolina Clash regular Jeff Smith of nearby Dallas, N.C., checked out the track recently and is anxious to try out the changes. “We have had a lot of success at Carolina and we are pumped up about the season opener,” said Smith, the son of Hall of Fame driver Freddy Smith. “Carolina is one of my favorite tracks and with the success of our recent test out there I believe we will be in the hunt for the big money." — From track reports
ODDS AND ENDS: Driver Todd Morrow of Oldfort, Tenn., has merged his team with car owner Richard Hunt for the 2009 season and plans to run a variety of Super Late Model, steel-head and Crate events. Morrow plans to run Eldora Speedway's biggest events and other major Super Late Model specials. ... Dixie Dirt TV Productions plans to provide live audio netcasts of several O'Reilly Southern All Star and SAS East events. Series announcer Travis Scott will provide the play-by-play. ... The Mississippi State Championship Challenge opens the season March 6-7 at South Mississippi Speedway's sixth annual Frostbite 50 weekend. Friday's feature pays $2,000 to the winner with Saturday's winner earning $3,000.
