Big T's

Big T's

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Big Finish 50 Saturday Superstreet Feature


Videos: 2012 Winter Spectacular At 441 Speedway

I took a friend with me to help out at 441 Speedway for the 2012 Winter Spectacular.  He had never been there before.  After the racing action had been completed for the evening, I asked him his thoughts on the track and the action he was able to witness.  The three and sometimes four wide racing must have impressed him.  He could hardly contain himself as he described how much he had enjoyed it.  He said he finally understands why I enjoy taking the long trip up to Dublin when I get the opportunity.  The racing is so dang exciting!  Well, enough talk.  The videos will be listed below as they are completed. You can watch them and then judge for yourself.
Late Models

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Langdale Ford Big Finish 50



   On December 28th Needmore Speedway will open it's gates for the first day of a weekend of racing called the Langdale Ford Big Finish 50. The previous race Needmore held was back in November called the Earlybird 75 and it was extremely successful. Lots of cars and lots of fans made for an exciting weekend. In the late model division Adam Giles blistered the track during qualifying and broke the previous track record leaving fans to hope someone can repeat this feat at the Big Finish. We also saw Brandon Overton from Appleton, Ga. lead most of the race in a crate late model but eventually lose out to Needmore regular Stacey Roberts. There were drivers from 6 different states in attendance for the race.
  

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Jimmy Owens Cruises To A $20,000 Payday At EAMS



In-cars: Steve Francis and Tyler Ivey
Video Production By: Leo Johnson
Video Crew: Greg Keigans and Carolyn Johnson


 

Sunday, December 9, 2012

A Crazy Finish to a Driver's Exciting Year: Mark Whitener

      The beginning of a race season and how a driver does isn't an indication of how a driver's year will go. It only means that the year can get better from there if you're having to start at the bottom and come back up. Mark Whitener is a good example of this. His racing season started out with an awful accident and went up from there. On January 28th at North Florida Speedway Mark was driving a modified and got into a crash that broke his back and kept him out for 5 weeks. Some people could have looked at this as an omen to how his season would go but from there he won 14 features with 15 second place finishes. He also finished out the season with not one but two championships. One in the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series and the other the track championship at BRP.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Deep Dixie Racing Legends: A Conversation With Marvin Ragan

Today, I met with Mr. Marvin Ragan to begin a series of conversations with influential figures of stock car racing in the south.  As many of you may know, Mr. Ragan is the owner of the Watermelon Capital Speedway and he has recently been diagnosed with a very grave form leukemia and one doctor told him his life expectancy may be less than two months.  He has set up a blog on Caring Bridge to help enlighten people on his condition on a regular basis. You can click here to view it.

I have known Mr. Marvin for several years and I have a great deal of respect for him. Having covered racing in this part of the country, I knew a little bit about his background but I wanted to learn more.  It was a really enjoyable time sitting back and listening to what he had to say.  Overall, I will probably put up around two hours of our conversation, more or less.  The first video is around thirty minutes long. I will add the others to this post as I complete them. Please keep Mr. Ragan in your thoughts and prayers. 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Rising Star: Pearson Lee Williams


   To learn how to finess a race car in the turns and know how to fix a mistake to make yourself better can only come from years of experience, seat time, and age. So, when a 15 year old wins a NLMS race in only his second late model race you have think this kid has something special. Pearson Lee Williams, a Dublin, Ga. native, has been involved in racing his whole life. His first trip to the race track was at the age of 3 days old and he's been there every since. Pearson had plenty of influence in his life when it came to racing by having a father and both grandfathers who raced.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Legend Has Passed

  
Submitted by: T.J. Roberts

     National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Rance Phillips, a south Georgia dirt racer who piled up more than 700 career victories, died this week. He was 78.
     He was found in his Hamilton County, Fla., home on Tuesday by a sheriff’s deputy after family members weren’t able to make contact with him. His death was confirmed by Roberts Racing of Sparks, Georgia, a team Phillips worked with for several years.
    Phillips, who competed in a vintage race car event a few seasons back, won hundreds of races along with more than 10 track championships at tracks in Georgia and Florida. He once had a 12-race winning streak at Jacksonville, Fla., where he was also the winner of the Jacksonville 100 in 1989.
Among his other major victories: the 1967 Waycross 75 at Waycross (Ga.) Speedway; the 1979 Nimnicht Chevrolet 100 at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga.; the 1980 Easter 100 at Columbia County Speedway in Lake City, Fla.; and the 1980 Georgia-Florida 100 at Lake City.
   Phillips was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He was inducted into the Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame two years earlier.
RANCE PHILLIPS
(1934-2012)

Monday, December 3, 2012

Gresham Motorsports Park & Other Local Tracks To Form "Southern Super Series"


Submitted by: Sheena Elliott
Jefferson, Georgia - Gresham Motorsports Park is proud to announce the most exciting thing to happen to stock car racing in the South in the last twenty years, The Southern Super Series!  Gresham Motorsports Park has been working diligently to bring drivers and fans in the Southeast a competitive 2013 race season.   The new series will enable teams to race within the region at premier race facilities for good race purses and be able to save money by not having to travel long distances for the opportunity to race.