2023 RACE RESULTS

We missed racing in the Auburndale season opener, but we were on hand for the 2022 Southern Sprint Car trophy presentation!

Steven made his first start in Mac Steele's #1.  Practice went well, and he was fast in the heat.  Everything was looking ok, but then he pushed off for the feature.  

Steven immediately felt that something was "off" regarding the throttle linkage.  The potential for disaster was high, so to his great disappointment Steven pulled off on the last pace lap.  Darn it!

Some of the racing buds who helped out tonight: Big Rick, Gary Wiggins and Scott Heil.

2-18-23

SHOWTIME SPEEDWAY

Robert Yoho drove Mac Steele's team car.

2-24-23

SHOWTIME SPEEDWAY

One week later, and we were back at Showtime for the Dave Steele 125.  This was Steven's first wingless sprint race.

We practiced on Friday night, and finished second in a dash for cash.

We went to the track "old school" on an open trailer.

Kyle O'Gara came down from Indiana and won the Dash.

Steven and I stayed the night in Tampa, then headed back to Mac's shop.  After some quick repairs, we were back at the track for practice and qualifying.  

Our qualifying time was not great; I think he was 8'th quick.  Steven ran very well in the race.  He passed, then lapped several veterans, and ended up 5th, while racing against some of the biggest names in our sport: Kody Swanson, Kyle O'Gara, Shane Butler and race winner Davey Hamilton Jr.  Quite a successful beginning to wingless racing!

2-24-23

SHOWTIME SPEEDWAY

night #2 of the Dave Steele 125

Steven climbed into the wingless car and took off!  His years in the TQ's certainly helped with this.  

The Dave Steele ran the last 100+ laps green. Steven kept his rhythm and ran very steady lap times.  

So Steven had lots of seat time, got a great first finish, and some positive exposure too.  He loved driving the wingless cars and is looking forward to another opportunity!

4-8-23

CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY

​Steven was in Mac's car for this race at Citrus.  We were a little worried at the start....we had NO new tires, and then Mac arrived late so we got no practice.  Steven was on the pole for the heat, so he TOOK OFF and won it!

He was leading the feature too.  It was a big lead that was lost when the yellow came out around lap 12.  The engine bogged very badly on this the start, and he fell back to 5'th or 6'th,  Damn!  Steven recovered enough to finish 4'th.  This was the first win of any type for this car.

We overcame a light rainstorm just before the feature.​

In April and May, I made a few trips to Hendry County Speedway to watch some friends race in the Mod Lite class.  Here are some of the interesting sights....

Gray primer and spray paint numbers!  I have missed this look.

Check out the hauler set-up that brought this battered Crown Vic to Hendry.

George Sands' is a Hendry regular with his two Mod Lites.  And here is my dog Sky making a rare speedway appearence.

Friends for many, many years: Steve Chambers and Dana Barlow.

Look who is back in the seat!  I drove this car on May 20'th and I had a blast!  It was my first time in a Mod Lite, my first time on dirt in 20 years, and my first ever try at Hendry.  I ended up forth in the B feature.

Many Thanks to Richard Houston for giving me a shot in his hot rod!

Off to Indiana for the Little 500!

It was a little different for me this year.  I dedicated my time to helping a racing buddy, Scotty Adema, in his effort to return to the Little 500 after nearly 20 years.  

So after racing the Mod Lite, I stayed over in Clewiston, and went to Scotty's shop in Ft. Myers.  His truck and trailer was loaded and ready to depart, so Ryan Adema and I set off for Indiana!  I drove us to Unadilla, GA, where we stopped for the night.  (What a dump!). The next day, we drove to Clarksville, TN to drop off Skydog and get some rest.  The next day, a Tuesday, we rolled into Anderson Speedway and got parked for sprintcar racing's greatest event.

Scotty's rig parked for the night at Clarksville Speedway in Tennessee.

And then came the brick wall.....

No one expected our week to go the way it did.  The racecar was evil.  Despite dozens of sprintcar wins over the years, Scotty and the team struggled to figure this new car out.  When we thought we had made improvements in the drivability, then the new engine broke on Thursday.  It was one of those trips.

The race takes the top 33 cars, and we ended up qualifying in 34'th.  So since we had a damaged engine anyway, we were the "first alternate", and ended up watching the race from the stands.  Disappointing, but Scotty is a determined veteran, and before he left Indiana, he had planned out a different approach for the Little 500 in 2024.  Back for more next year!

Ryan worked hard all week, and kept us laughing too.

On Thursday night, we were spectators at the Silver Crown race at IRP.

I had the chance to chat with Dave Argabright, and get a copy of Rich Golardi's amazing book.

BREAKTHROUGH!

Auburndale Speedway, 6-10-23

Steven won his first sprint car race tonight!  He was in Mac Steele's #1, and was making his second winged start in this car.  It was Mac's first win in 9 years.

Kudos to Auburndale Speedway for making this even happen.  The skies were VERY threatening, so the track cancelled all the heats, and moved the sprint car feature to the first event of the night.  It turned out to be the only event that night as the rain moved in shortly afterwards our celebration.

Left to right:  Big Rick, Mac Steele, Steven, Paul, Rex Hollinger

That is one proud dad!

It was a short night, so we stopped on the way home to celebrate.

7-3-23 Showtime Speedway

Double feature night for the sprints!

Rex made it back behind the wheel of a sprint for the first time in nearly 5 years.  #85 had a new engine, and the goal was to break it in and test. 

Steven was had no brakes and finished 9'th.

Our buddy Scotty Adema won his first race in a few years!

Scotty, Chaz and Ryan parked it for the "W"!

Race #2 on July 3

VICTORY!!  Steven won his second race of the year.  That is two wins in 4 starts driving Mac's #1.

This was the first time Steven and Rex were on the track together in sprints.

7-8-23 Citrus County Speedway

Five days later and we are back at the track!  We had a rain delay, but the track dried and we were racing.  

Steven parked the #1 for ill handling and poor brakes.  Rex ran the #85 backup car for 8-10 laps and pulled out.

So this was the first time that Steven and Rex started next to each other.  We were both in the fifth row.

Fun in the pits with Ryan, Stephen and Fozzy.

8-19-23 Bubba Raceway Park

I had the chance to drive George Sands' Mod Lite at BRP.  Dwayne King, another Florida City Speedway alumni, drove George's other car.

8-26-23 Showtime Speedway

Steven had one practice session, but the weather moved in and rained out the show.  We ended up at El Cap with Fozzy and Ant.

9-3-23 Showtime Speedway

This was certainly not Rex's best night.  I got in a first lap accident in the feature.  One car flipped into the wall, everyone checked up, and I got into the car in front of me.  I broke a few radius rods and was out.

Steven was working in New Jersey, so Gary Wiggins filled in driving the #1.

My buddy Jay was on hand for support and 4 wheeler driving.

Roslynd and Sky came out to watch the shortest race ever.

9-9-23 Hendry County Motorsports Park

Steven made his first Mod Lite start in George Sands' #88.  Not a bad start: second place in the heat.  Steven got tangled up with someone in the feature, was sent to the rear and rebounded to finish second.

9-16-23 Hendry County Motorsports Park

The good news: on his second week of driving, Steven won the heat and feature by a mile.

The bad news: the car was not "expected" to win, so not weight was added and it was DQ'd for being underweight.  We'll try again next time!

Steven drew the winning 50/50 ticket.

Our ole' bud Rob Kohler is the race director at Hendry.

9-23-23 Auburndale Speedway

It was a rough night for the #1 team.  Persistent brake issues and other problems led to Steven and Mac parting ways after the feature.  They had a good run together.

Young guns Steven and Ryan Adema at the drivers' meeting.

Good buddy Raulie Morse made an appearance!

This page is getting unwieldy, so click HERE to go to a new page covering the rest of the year.