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PAGE 2B - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS - MARCH 26, 2008
Auto Racing
Valerie Clements (near lane) faced Dylan Hutchins (far lane) in the final round of 13-17 Junior
Dragster competition. Clements won with a .008 second reaction time.
Weather Cuts Dragway Opener Short
14-year old Valerie Clements shows off the hardware from her
victory at the Atlanta Dragway last weekend in the 13-17 Junior
Dragster class.
by Amy Glover
The weekend’s event at
Atlanta Dragway in Commerce
began with ideal conditions.
It was the day after spring
began, beautiful and breezy
the perfect setup for the first
points race of the season. The
night before, the track was
packed, a trend continuing into
Saturday’s race, demonstrating
the racers’ eagerness to start
the new season on a brand new
track. A companion to the new
track is its new cleaning equip
ment, which, perhaps unfor
tunately, got quite a workout
when the event was delayed
twice by oil downs. The accu
mulation of delays, along with
unruly Georgia weather, cut
the day short for competitors.
However, the kids in the junior
dragster classes managed to
finish their race, with females
dominating the playing field,
before the temperature went
down with the sun.
In the 8-12 Junior Dragster
class, nine year old Mackenzie
Butler, of Jackson, Ga. won
against Madison Lee, age 10
of Campobello, S.C., thanks
to her quicker reaction time,
as both she and Madison over
shot their dial-ins at the top
end. Butler went 13.23 on a
13.14 dial and Lee went 9.02
on an 8.95 dial. Butler, whose
home track is in Reynolds,
said it was her first time and
win at Atlanta Dragway.
In the 13-17 Junior Dragster
Class, 14-year old Valerie
Clements, of Central, S.C.,
an Atlanta Dragway veteran,
ran a close race against Dylan
Hutchins, age 13 of Monroe,
winning with the better reac
tion time and taking the win
stripe .008 seconds in front of
Hutchins. Clement’s time was
7.96 on a 7.90 and Hutchins’
time was 7.99 on a 7.94.
Clements reported that she
hadn’t bracket raced in a year.
“I’ve been doing outlaw,’’ she
said.
On top of her time away from
bracket racing, she brought a
new car to the track, making
her victory all the more excit
ing. Seventeen-year-old Taylor
Griffith of Homer finished in
the semi-final round.
Round one for the Super Pro
class started promptly after
the Junior Dragster finals.
Regrettably, conditions turned
cold and windy, and officials
decided the plummeting tem
peratures and wind were mak
ing race conditions unsafe. In
consideration of driver safety,
the race was canceled. In com
pensation for the cancellation,
drivers will be given a tech
card at the next Summit ET
Series points race.
— Eagles Play Double Header Friday
Cont. from Page IB
“(It was) the most complete game we have played
all year,’’ Robertson said. “The guys made the rou
tine plays. Sammy was awesome on the mound. To
only be a freshman, he is truly something special.’’
Up next for the Eagles is a home stand this
(Wednesday) afternoon with Rabun County. The
Eagles lost to Rabun 8-6 earlier this month.
On Friday, East Jackson will host Dawson County
in a double header to make up a March 14 rain-out.
Game one will start at 4:30 p.m„ with game two set
to follow at 7 p.m.
Cool Cars Race Through History
Usually when you think of
NASCAR, you think of big
American made cars tearing
around the racetrack, with mon
ster V8 engines pushing out tons
of horsepower.
But actually, there have been
some surprising cars to turn up
over the years that many people
would look back on and say,
“You’re kidding me.’’
Here’s a look at a few surpris
ing entries from over the years.
For example, as has been point
ed out before, Kyle Busch’s win
at Atlanta for Toyota might have
been the first for a non-Ameri
can manufacturer in NASCAR’s
so called “modern era,’’ but it
wasn’t the first win for a foreign
nameplate.
That distinction goes to the
late A1 Keller, who piloted a
Jaguar in NASCAR’s first road
course event, at the Linden
Airport road course in Linden,
N.J., beating out Joe Eubanks in
a 1951 Hudson.
You see, back in the 50s, Big
Bill France wasn’t necessarily
opposed to having foreign cars
run on the big circuit. In fact, he
ran several races that welcomed
these cars into the sport.
That means there were some
pretty interesting entrants, to
say the least.
For example, look at some
of the cars that were entered
into the first event at the famed
Riverside Raceway, which was a
road course in California.
While the top 17 finishers were
all in American made iron, a
look at the results show a pair of
French built Citroens finishing
18 th and 19 th on the field, driven
by Bill Jones and Ralph Roberts,
respectively. Then a little further
Down
The
Stretch
BY BRANDON REED
back, there sits a Renault driven
by Hylan Micka. So the foreign
car make roots go a lot further
back.
But maybe the neatest of all
the foreign cars to compete in
NASCAR had to be at Langhorne
Speedway in Pennsylvania in
June of 1953.
In that race, Philadelphia
native Dick Hagey entered a
Volkswagen Beetle in the event.
Hagey’s number 18 Beetle quali
fied 32 nd in a 38 car field, and
plugged right along in the 200
lap event to finish 19.
Not bad for a four cylinder
with less than 40 horsepower!
It was Hagey’s only Cup event,
and the only time a VW Beetle
has ever competed in NASCAR
(unless you count Herbie The
Love Bug in that movie a few
years ago).
But it’s not just the foreign
makes that are interesting.
Sometimes it’s an American
made car that you wouldn’t have
believed somebody would have
put on a race track that makes
for a memorable moment.
That brings us to Canfield,
Ohio, and a 200-lap event on
May 30, 1950.
There was nothing overly spe
cial about the race. There were
Oldsmobiles, Fords, Mercurys,
even a Nash and a Kaiser on the
starting grid.
But there was one very special,
and extremely rare racer on the
grid. It was Joe Merola’s number
12 Tucker Torpedo.
Let me type that again so you
can read it a second time. I’m
not kidding. Joe raced a 1948
Tucker, one of only 50 cars ever
manufactured.
For those not in the know, the
Tucker is a very highly sought
after automobile by collectors.
Its builder, Preston Tucker, was
run out of the automobile busi
ness by the “Big Three’’ auto
makers because, to be blunt, his
car was just too darned good. It
had safety innovations that were
light years ahead of its time.
When the government shut his
plant down, Tucker had built
only 50 of the futuristic looking
cars.
So the idea of one being on a
half-mile dirt track is amazing, to
say the least.
But the Tucker’s introduction
into NASCAR stock car racing
was short lived. Merola broke a
right rear axel, and the car never
completed a lap.
It’s believed that the racing
Tucker was later lost in a ware
house fire in Florida, one of the
few not to still survive.
So next time you hear the TV
commentators talking about how
unique it is to have Toyota on the
race track, just remember Dick
Hagey’s Beetle, and Merola’s
Tucker. We’ll never see cars that
cool on the track again.
•Brandon Reed is a reporter
for MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Contact him at brandon@main-
streetnews.com.
GAS Series Starts Season Sat.
Fans will be greeted by this newly erected sign at the entrance
to the speedway property. It’s one of several improvements pro
moter Vince Whitmire has made to the speedway.
The Georgia Asphalt Series
for Pro Late Models will kick
off its 2008 touring season
on Saturday evening, March
29 at Peach State Speedway
in Jefferson. The GAS Series
drivers will compete in a 100
lap event on the 1/2-mile high-
banked oval.
There has been a lot of “spruc
ing up’’ around the speedway
during the off-season.
“We want to make the speed
way more fan friendly,’’ said
Vince Whitmire, GAS Series
and Peach State Promoter.
There will be several fresh
faces in the Georgia Asphalt
Series this year. The 2008
rookie class includes Max
Gresham of Griffin, Kyle
Mitchell of Hampton, Matt
Swarts of Jasper, Ala., Rusty
Evans of Cairo, and J.R.
Tippens of Covington, as well
as other drivers.
Several of the GAS veter
ans are expected to be back
this year as well, including
2007 series champion Russell
Fleeman, Bubba Pollard,
Commerce racer Taylor
Satterfield, Jefferson’s Nick
Potts, and Hoschton’s Jimmy
Garmon. Other drivers expect
ed to compete include Michael
Pope, Kyle Fowler, Fredrick
Moore, and Josh Atkins.
The GAS Series plans to
race closer to home this year,
with five events scheduled for
Peach State. The chief rea
son is the rising cost of fuel
prices.
“We really want to get back to
a working man’s racing series,’’
Whitmire said. “Diesel fuel for
the haulers is now $4 a gallon
and racing fuel keeps rising
in price and we needed to get
back to what the GAS Series
was originally based on.’’
In addition to the GAS
Series, the Outlaw Late Model,
Sportsman, Super Trucks,
Bandits and Mini-Stocks will
compete Saturday night.
Adult grandstand tickets are
$12. Racing is scheduled to get
underway at 7 p.m.
O!
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