Videos: Action from Thursday Thunder at AMS

Deep Dixie Racing has coverage of the Semi-Pro, "The Faster Pastor Race",and the Pro Divison.

Weekend Outlook: Bounty Hunting at Needmore

   See the picture above? This is who everyone in the late model division will be chasing Saturday night. Gene Ross now has a bullseye centered directly on his back, but that's the price for being such a dominant force at Needmore Speedway. If anyone can beat him in the next three weeks they get to pocket an extra $500 on top of the regular pay out. If not, he gets to pocket it himself. Needmore already has more excitement than you can shake a stick at, but this has created a whole new level of anticipation that is so potent it's gotten even the Needmore critics talking and coming out to the race track.
  

Video: Interview With Rutledge Wood At Atlanta Motor Speedway's Thursday Thunder

The Deep Dixie Racing staff was covering the Thursday Thunder event at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Rutledge Wood unexpectedly showed up.  Most of you know that Rutledge works for the Speed Channel helping in their NASCAR coverage and he is involved in Top Gear on the History Channel.  He graciously consented to a short interview.  Check it out.

Sight and Sounds of 441 Speedway

Dougals Motorsports Park Cancelled For July 14

Submitted By: Leo Johnson

   The July 14 race at Douglas Motorsports Park has been cancelled. DMP was going to run Sprint cars in two 20 lap features. Deep Dixie Racing talked to Lon Chaney who said the race may be scheduled at a later day. If more information is available we'll post it as soon as we know.

Golden Isles Speedway Boasts Of Lowest Prices Around

Golden Isles Speedway is back open and is being run by Darryl Courson.  They opened back up on June 16th.  You can click here to see the results of those races.  In an effort to make racing entertainment more accessible to hard working folks especially in this economy, Golden Isles has announced lower ticket prices.  This is straight off of their website:
"The Golden Isles Speedway is back open, as of June 16, 2012! Under the direction of new promoter Darryl Courson, we have announced new Hard Times Pricing! Grandstand admission for regular shows is only $8.00 per adult or $15.00 per couple. Pit admission will be $20.00 for adults. Children under the age of twelve (12) will be admitted to both the grandstands and the pit area for FREE. Gates will open for weekly programs at 5:00 p.m., while Practice will start at 6:00 p.m. and Racing will follow at 7:00 p.m. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Courson at 904.445.9549."

For more information, visit Golden Isles Speedway's website by clicking here.

Tuesday Trivia Question Winner!

Congratulations to winner, Lauralee Flournoy for answering the trivia question of "What was the name AND car number of the driver who won the February Hav A Tampa race at Thunderbowl Speedway in the year 1993?" with a correct answer of Lavon Sloan in the #201 car. She won two general admission tickets to Needmore Speedway's race this weekend!

July 18th Race At GMP To Be JEGS Pro Late Model 50

Submitted by: Sheena Elliot

JEFFERSON, GA (June 25, 2012)- In May, Gresham Motorsports Park announced a new partnership with JEGS and the Coughlin family. GMP is excited to announce that JEGS is amping up the partnership and sponsoring the Wednesday night Pro Late Model race event on July 18th.

Videos: Phil "The Thrill" Pittman Wins 441 Late Model Feature

                Videos of all classes will be up when they are done. Thanks to the video crew Greg Keigans, Chase Keigans, and Carolyn Johnson 

Videos: Albany Motor Speedway 6/23/12

The mini stock feature is the first video up this week because it marked the first win by an up and coming driver, Tyler Summerlin.  The other videos will be posted as they are completed.

Celebrate July 3rd And 4th With Top Drivers At Gresham Motorsports Park

Submitted by: Sheena Elliott

JEFFERSON, GA (June 22, 2012)- The Commerce Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram 29th-Annual World Crown 300 and fireworks at Gresham Motorsports Park is less than two weeks away! With GMP’s largest race of the year being moved to July 3rd and 4th, this is guaranteed to be the hottest race of the season!

Michael Ford Track Protest (VIDEO)

  Last Saturday night at Needmore Speedway Michael Ford was ask by the track after three wins in a row to see his engine. The heads, bore and stroke were checked and found to be legal.

Weekend Outlook: Waycross Motor Speedway

  This weekend will be the next stop for the NLMSS at Waycross Motor Speedway. Waycross has added some extra excitement for fans and drivers by bringing in numerous truck loads of dirt to add banking to turns three and fourand will reconfigure both. Turns one and two will be totally different from turns three and four making the racing more exciting for everyone. Waycross is always in the habit of thinking of new ways to make the racing better and always looking for more ways to make their drivers happy.

WANTED: LATE MODEL BOUNTY HUNTERS

June 30th, Needmore Speedway will add an extra $500 for the driver who can beat Gene Ross. If after 3 weeks no one has beaten him he gets to pocket the $500. Needmore will also run E-mods. They will, along with mini stocks, run hot laps, no heat races, but have a feature. All other classes will run. See you there!

A Father's Legacy

  

      This Father's Day has a lot of people celebrating the first man in their life by giving ties, belts, shirts, and electronics. Others will not be so lucky and only have memories to reflect on. At Needmore Speedway Saturday night a young man by the name of Cale Dixon was asked to come out onto the track to be recognized as a tribute to his father, Marvin Dixon, whom he lost in 2003. As he led the pack for the hobby stock heat race I looked around the race track at all of the fans clapping and cheering for Cale and the memory of Marvin Dixon.

Casey Roberts Leads Flag to Flag for 441 Speedway ULTIMATE Series Victory

Submitted by Kelley Carlton

Dublin, Georgia – The ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series made its first ever visit to the New 441 Speedway located just outside of Dublin, Georgia on Saturday night for event #10 in the 2012 schedule. ULTIMATE Series point leader Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Georgia shattered the existing track record in qualifying and then proceeded to decimate the talent-laden field in a flag to flag victory at the 3/8ths mile facility. The dominating win was Roberts' first of 2012 and his second career victory with the second-year series. “It’s pretty cool to win our first ever coming here. It’s a real nice facility and it’s fairly close to my car owner Mr. Cushman’s business down here and we have a lot of people here so it’s good to win for my car owner. I really like the racetrack and I look forward to coming back down here sometime. It’s been a tough year so far and hopefully this will get the ball rolling for us on this new Capital Race Car. Hope we can pick up some more victories.” Roberts said in ULTIMATE Victory Lane.

Horrifying Crash Takes Ivedent Loyd Out Of Race

I spoke with some friends of Ivedent Loyd before the race Saturday night at 441 Speedway and told them I was a fan and wished him well during the race.  "Well" wasn't the way the race went for him.  He was running in third position early into the race when his throttle stuck.  He was propelled off the end of the track and his car rammed into the concrete retaining wall.  It was really scary for anyone who saw it.  Mr. Willis Wombles was standing next to me as I was filming the race.  Now, Mr. Wombles has been involved in racing for a long time and he has seen an awful lot.  His concern for Ivedent's safety was apparent in his reaction.  It took a little while for the announcement to be made that all was well and a collective sigh of relief was made by the crowd.  It had a lot of us seasoned racegoers holding our breathe.  It was just that scary.  Check out the video and judge for yourself.

Needmore Speedway June 16 (Videos)

film crew:  Carolyn Johnson   Greg Keigans  and  Jacob Hall
All six features will be here when they are done until, enjoy
(Hobby is a must watch after the race. A hard hit in the mini's. Limited pileup!)

Videos: 441 Speedway 6/16/12

As usual, great people and great racing was to be found at 441 Speedway this weekend. This will be the link for all the videos that Deep Dixie Racing made while there. The Ultimate Super Late Model race will get us started. The other videos will be posted on this link as they are completed. (Technical difficulties prevented filming of the very start of this race which included the wreck of Ivedent Loyd.)

Poll: Who Should Restart A Race After A Caution?

We at Deep Dixie Racing keep hearing talk about this topic. Who should be the one to restart a race after a caution? Should it be the lead driver or the flagman? Let us know how you feel about it.

Something Has Got To Give

Submitted by: Leo Johnson

  

The excitement of the opening of Needmore Speedway has brought everyone together. Enemies have been seen talking and putting feuds aside to welcome back racing to the 3/8 mile oval. Over the last two races, however, there have been questionable moves on the track by some of the drivers.  From all the talk, some competitors are getting ready to see a new face in victory lane. The first two races of the season have seen the same winners in all divisions but one, the Enduro class. Patience may be growing thin, but the car owners wallets aren't and we may actually see an engine hoist Saturday night.

Smokey Harris Speedway (video)

  On June 1 Dale, Carolyn, and myself made a visit to Smokey Harris Speedway in Haleburg, Al. The track staff was great to Deep Dixie Racing, as were the drivers, owners, crews and fans. So, if you're looking for a place to race or just watch a race on a Friday night, Smokey Harris is the place to go.

ULTIMATE Super Late Models Ready to Make Dublin 441 Speedway Debut

Submitted by: Kelley Carlton

Toccoa's Casey Roberts

Photo by Chad Wells

Dublin, Georgia – The second-season ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series is poised to make their debut at yet another new venue for the series. Saturday night, June 16^th the ULTIMATE Super Late Models will take to the banked 3/8^ths of a mile red Georgia clay surface for a 40-lap / $4000 to win event. The series is excited about going to another new venue. “We are all very pumped up about going down to 441 Speedway. We believe that we are putting out what is some of the best racing anywhere in the country right now. Our whole staff believes in our product and we all work very hard to make sure that our fans and our tracks are getting the most for their money while giving the drivers quality tracks to race on with good paying purses. We have a great thing going and I am so proud to bring it to new areas and make new fans for our drivers and our series. The staff at 441 has been a real pleasure to work with and we are looking forward to getting down on Friday.” said ULTIMATE Series Director Kelley Carlton.

Kyle Larson Gets His First NASCAR Victory At Gresham Motorsports Park

Submitted by: Sheena Elliott 

 Kyle Larson goes for the lead.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Slack Auto Parts 150

Jefferson, GA (June 9, 2012) – As they say in racing, the only lap that matters is the last one and Kyle Larson learned that on Saturday June 9th at Gresham Motorsports Park.

“Nobody knows me in the stock car world yet so hopefully this puts me on the map,” Larson said. “I’m really excited to get my first (NASCAR) K&N East win in front of  a great crowd.”

Needmore Bumps and Bruises

Gresham Motorsports Park Recap & Results 6/9/12

Submitted by: Sheena Elliott

Jefferson, GA (June 9, 2012) – After a hot day at Gresham Motorsports Park the on-track action got even hotter with the local division features on Saturday, June 9th. The Mini Stocks, Renegades/Sportsman, Trucks, and Outlaw Late Models took to the track and kept fans on the edge of their seats.

Avery Burgess and Vernon Hicks started the Mini Stock feature side-by-side. Aaron Calvert was black flagged on lap four for leaking fuel but refused to pull into the pits and began to race Hicks for the lead. He overtook Hicks on lap 9 but was no longer being scored. Scotty Beck then went around Hicks to take over the true race lead despite being behind Calvert’s No. 01 machine.

Golden Isles Reopening

Sources tell us that Golden Isles will be opening back up on June 16th and will also be running a new E-mod class that is very popular at a lot of area tracks. More news to come.

Weekend Outlook Albany

 It should be a great show this weekend at Albany Motor Speedway with most of the area dirt tracks having a week off. Ben Sumner has set himself up for a great car count and race.

                          Updates and results

             Kyle Busch wins Prelude!

Young Guns of Needmore

   I had the priviledge of interviewing some of the up and coming young drivers at Needmore Speedway and the responses I got were funny, smart, and well thought out. I was very impressed with these young drivers and think that the future is wide open for each and every one of them. I hope to see every one of them go far in racing. During the interviews you'll see who their influences are and I think it proves an excellent point that every guy needs a father figure in their life. It has shaped and molded each and every one of these guys. Maybe there are some new dads, uncles, grandfathers, etc. out there who can watch this video and see just what kind of impact they can have on a young boy's life.

Watermelon Capital Speedway Results 6/2/12

Submitted by Billy Goodman:

Go Karts
1. 17 Jamie Bailey of Bonaire, Ga.
2. 53 Dylan Bailey of Bonaire, Ga.
3. 13 Dawn Brackett of Marshaville, Ga.
4. 22 Keith Edwards of Sylvester, Ga.
5. 22r Kevin Rogers of Leesburg, Ga.
6. 14 Mike Coonfield of Bonaire, Ga.
7. 06 Doug Sanneman of Warner Robins, Ga.

VIDEOS: Needmore Features 6/2/12

All five features will be here when they are each done, until then, enjoy.  (Special thanks to the video crew Carolyn Johnson, Dale Hall, and Greg Keigans.)

Groundhog Day for Ross

   It seemed Saturday night was a groundhog type of day for the top two finishers in the late model feature at Needmore. Gene Ross in the #33 was the dominant car again with #111 car of Steven Roberts in second place. Ross started out with a good lead but at the end saw Roberts catching up to him but did not have enough time to do the job. The third and fourth place was a battle between the NLMSS regular #15 of Evan Becton and the #21J of Kelly Walker with Becton taking control of the third spot and Walker finishing in fourth but not without a battle from the fifth place finisher of Lee Newsome who was in third spot at one point and didn't give it up without a fight. The feature also saw a rookie start his first late model race by the name of Michael Ross in the yellow #33 who impressively dodged some wrecks in front of him that would make dear old dad, Gene Ross proud.

Traditions

I remember when I was young and my dad would load us all in the car to go watch the races.  We had us a routine we would go through.  Back then, the races we went to see were usually down in Valdosta at I-75 Speedway or Thunderbowl Speedway.  The closest of those two was 35 miles away.  It was usually late on a Saturday afternoon before we had eaten supper and that usually meant that, before we left Tifton, we would go by what was to me one of the best eating places in the world, Kendrick's Recreation Center.  Laverne Kendrick was the owner and he had a little something to do with racing himself.  I will chase that rabbit on another day.  For now, let me focus on the food and how it was obtained.

 Sam McQuagg & Laverne Kendrick

Breaking News: (Update)The Powell Family Upset With Bubba, Have Pulled Support Of Powell Memorial

A lot of news is coming out of Bubba Raceway Park today.  The Powell Memorial is supposed to be a memorial race to honor those who lost their lives in a plane crash on June 7, 1995.  From what I have heard this morning, the Powell family is highly upset at the management of Bubba Raceway Park and they may be pulling their support of this race.  Rumors coming out of that track abound and we will post only what we can verify from those involved.  Deep Dixie Racing is running down several leads at this time.  We will post information as soon as it is verified.

Update 12:19 PM: According to one of the family members, the Powell family has pulled their support of the Powell Memorial at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala.  At least one altercation between Bubba and one of the Powell clan has occurred.  Others have been reported too.  Facebook is alive with comments about these events.  More to come......

Weekend Outlook: Needmore Speedway

    Saturday night is the second round on the Needmore return schedule and if there were 100 cars at the last race, I expect even more to be at this race. The proximity to most drivers' homes is a huge turn on to most and with the track being widened slightly before it was opened has allowed them to swing out higher in the turn and give them more room to race each other. Not to say there weren't a few wall scrapes last week. Chris Davis, in the #94 late model hit the wall and rode a couple of feet which, I'm sure he didn't like, but it had the fans oohing and ahhing.