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The Commerce News
Sports
CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927
Auto Racing
Peach State Speedway Goes Up For Sale
Officials: Racing To
Continue As Scheduled
By Brandon Reed
Track officials have confirmed that Peach State
Speedway, the half-mile raceway outside of Jefferson,
is up for sale.
An advertisement appeared last week in the
Athens Banner-Herald listing the track and the 53
acres it sits on for $2.5 million.
Track promoter Vince Whitmire says, however,
everything is business as usual.
“The track has actually been for sale since the end
of last year," he said. Whitmire has a two-year lease
on the property, and said that if the track were to
sell, his lease would continue, as will the Georgia
Asphalt Series, which is headquartered out of the
track.
“We’re going to keep racing and everything is
going to continue just like we’ve been doing.’’
Whitmire said there have been questions from
worried racers and fans about the track’s future, but
he insists things will go on as usual, including sched
uled GAS events, and the World Crown Weekend in
November.
Owner Paul Kegel bought the facility in 2006.
The track was built in 1967 under the name “Jefco
Speedway,’’ a combination of the town names of
Jefferson and Commerce. The track hosted two
NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) events,
one in 1968, won by Cale Yarborough, and again in
1969, won by the late Bobby Isaac.
The track was re-christened Georgia International
Speedway, and ran the inaugural World Crown 300
in 1983. The track played host to several touring
series, including the American Speed Association
and the NASCAR All Pro Series.
Previous management at the track had planned an
extensive reconfiguration of the track in hopes of
Kyle Fowler turned practice laps at Peach State
Speedway Monday afternoon. Track promoter Vince
Whitmire says things at the track are running “as
usual” after news broke that the speedway, along with
the 53 aces it sits on has been put up for sale.
Photo by Brandon Reed
luring NASCAR teams to the facility to test. That
plan didn’t materialize, however, and the facility
remains in its current configuration.
The track has seen good crowds and car counts
this year, as tracks all over the country struggle
against rising gas prices.
“I think the deal with us cutting the ticket prices
back and keeping the racing closer to home has
helped the crowds here,’’ Whitmire said. “Plus, we
keep our concessions reasonable and affordable
for the family. I think the key to keeping the crowds
coming with the economy being what it is will be
keeping ticket prices as low as possible.’’
Events scheduled for later this year at the track
include the GAS series season finale, a visit from
the ASCA Sprint Car Series, as well as an event for
the ASA Late Model tour.
The next event for the track will be July 3, featur
ing the GAS series, local divisions, and a fireworks
display.
CHS Golf
Commerce Park and Rec
Gary To Play In All-Star Matches
Commerce High School
golf standout Taylor Gary
has been selected to play in
the North-South All-Star golf
matches at Sunset Country
Club in Moultrie on June 6-8.
The event will feature golf
ers from all classifications
playing 36 holes. The Georgia
Athletic Coaches Association
sponsors the event.
Gary recently committed to
play golf for the Piedmont
College men’s golf team in
the 2008-2009 season.
He will join head coach
Dusty Rogers’ nationally
ranked NCAA Division III
men’s golf team. The program
just completed its fourth
year among all Division-Ill
schools.
Gary recently shot a 72 in
state tournament play.
Commerce’s Taylor Gary will play in the North-South All Star
Matches at Sunset Country Club in Moultrie beginning Friday.
Coach Nick Moulton and assistant coach new pace clock, which was donated by sup-
Josh Totherow are showns standing by the porting businesses and individuals.
Tiger Sharks Prepare For Season
By Brandon Reed
The Commerce Tiger Sharks
swim team is ready to get its
summer season under way.
More than 60 swimmers have
signed up for the 2008 season.
The Tiger Sharks will com
pete in several meets, includ
ing two they’ll host, the first
on July 10, and the second on
July 15.
Swimmers will compete in
age divisions ranging from 6 to
18 years of age. The team will
also be eligible to compete in
the state swim meet in Tifton
in July.
Last year, 13 members of the
team qualified for state compe
tition after finishing in the top
three in district competition in
Clarkesville.
Nick Moulton will coach the
team this year. Moulton, an
alumnus of the Tiger Sharks,
is entering his seventh year of
coaching. He will be assisted
by Josh Totherow, who himself
is a Tiger Shark alumni.
The swim season opens on
June 14 with a pentathlon at
the Winder YMCA. The Sharks
then travel to Jefferson for a
dual swim meet on June 19
before heading to the Green
Street Pool in Gainesville for
the Summer Splash on June
21.
The team will then travel to
Chattahoochee for a dual swim
meet on June 25, then travel to
Dacula for an invitational meet
on June 28. July 12 will mark
the district meet at Habersham
County.
Commerce host the Jefferson
Sea Dragons on July 10, and
the Winder Barracudas on
July 15 before traveling back
to Habersham for the league
championship meet on July 19.
The season will wrap up on
July 25 and 26 with the State
Swim Meet in Tifton.
IB
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 4, 2008
Down The
Stretch
By Brandon Reed
Marty Robbins,
The Singing Racer
I was listening to the classic
“Prairie Home Companion’’ radio
program on my local NPR affiliate
Saturday evening as I drove home
from Atlanta. At one point during
the show, Garrison Keillor intro
duced a group that was going to
perform the classic Marty Robbins
song “El Paso.’’
As part of the introduction, Keillor
mentioned that along with being a
performer on the Grand Old Opry,
Robbins was a racecar driver to
boot. Keillor made a reference
to an incident where Robbins had
experienced a particularly hard
crash, and sang his way through “El
Paso’’ to make sure he hadn’t suf
fered any memory loss afterward.
That got me to thinking about
how many folks know that along
with being one of the greatest
singers of all time, Robbins was a
pretty darned good race driver.
Robbins started out racing as
a hobby in the late 50s, racing
micro midges. In the early six
ties, he moved up to full-bodied
cars, piloting a purple and yel
low 1962 Plymouth dubbed the
“Devil Woman’’ at the old Nashville
Fairgrounds. Robbins would often
have to rush away from the track
after finishing the feature to make
it to the Grand Old Opry in time
for his Saturday night show.
It was at Nashville that Robbins
made his NASCAR Grand National
(now Sprint Cup) debut in 1966,
finishing 25th after falling out due
to an oil leak.
While continuing to compete at
Nashville (and, of course, doing
that singing thing on the side),
Robbins would compete in 35
NASCAR Cup events between
1966 and 1982.
His best finish came at Talladega
in 1974, as he piloted his number
42 purple and yellow Dodge to a
ninth place finish.
It was also at Talladega that
Robbins “confessed’’ to being a
“sinner’’ in May of 1972.
As the story goes, Robbins start
ed in ninth position. After running
with the lead pack all day, Robbins
eventually finished 18th, and was
to be named rookie of the race.
But after the event, Robbins
drove right to the impound area,
and asked the officials to check
the carburetor.
Sure enough, the carburetor
restrictor plate had been removed
from the Dodge. Robbins had
turned himself in. He was rel
egated to a 50th place finish, and
fined $250.
Robbins would later say in inter
views that he wanted everybody
to see him pass the leaders just
once.
Despite being only an occasional
competitor, Robbins was always a
driver to watch. He recorded six
top ten finishes over his career,
including a seventh in the 1971
Southern 500 at Darlington, a 10th
at Texas World Speedway in 1972,
and an eighth at Daytona in the
Firecracker 400 in 1973.
Robbins suffered a particularly
hard crash at Charlotte in 1974 that
left him injured. As a crash unfold
ed in front of Marty on the front
stretch, he chose to turn into the
wall at around 160 miles an hour
rather than to t-bone the stalled car
of Richard Childress.
Robbins came away with a broken
tailbone, broken ribs, 37 stitches to
the face, and two black eyes.
While racing had dealt him a
tough blow on that day, it may
well have saved his life on another.
Six months after suffering a heart
attack while performing on stage
in Ohio, Robbins went to his per
sonal doctor for a routine checkup
Continued on Page 2B