ROGERS RACING
07-31-2008, 06:57 PM
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The site of the ¾-mile speedway will be converted into an industrial park.
It opened in 1995 and hosted races for ARCA, ASA and the Hooters Pro Cup Series. It also was the site of testing by NASCAR teams throughout the years including those of two-time champion Tony Stewart, 2000 champion Bobby Labonte and Daytona Beach’s Mark Martin.
Several Brevard County races have fond memories of the speedway.
“I raced a ton there,” said Merritt Island’s Travis Kittleson who raced and won in several Florida and regional stock car series and just concluded a three-race NASCAR Nationwide Series deal with Mac Hill Motorsports.
“That was my first big track,” he said. “I’ll never forget when we went to our first race there, I think it was a Speedfest race, 2000 or 2001, and there’s all this hype about going to this ¾-mile track and I thought ‘how am I going to do there? Am I going to miss the turn? Am I going to overdrive it?’ They tell you, you get up to about 160 (mph) on a Super Late Model. It went to being one of my worst tracks, we tore up a lot of gear there, probably the first three races, and then after that we were a dominant car there.”
Merritt Island’s Brian Finney won the first leg of the Triple Crown in Super Late Models at Lakeland earlier this month and hopes to be able to win the final race.
“It’s basically the best place that we’ve been able to go race at in Florida and it’s the nicest facility we go to,” said Finney who races for his family-run operation.
“It’s a fun place to go. It’s a real good race track.”
Should he win Saturday, the victory would be memorable.
“I think it would be really big, it would say a lot for us and what we do,” Finney said.
He began racing at Lakeland in 1999 or 2000.
“I remember going the first time,” Finney said. “We didn’t really know what we were in store for. We were real successful the first time and we’ve been pretty successful every time we’ve gone. It’s sort of disappointing right now to lose this race track.”
The closing was a surprise for Merritt Island’s Jane Smith, long-time media relations official with FASCAR, the Florida Stock Car Racing association.
“In today’s time, the land’s worth more than they’re making with the race track, even with the NASCAR drivers who come in and test there,” Smith said.
And if the closing proceeds as planned, it will be a sad day for many racing aficionados.
“That’s the short track’s Daytona,” Smith said. “If you ask a local guy where they want to go, it’s always been Lakeland. To see that (close) means that they’re be no more Hooters Pro Cup races, ARCA went there, ASA has been there.
The site of the ¾-mile speedway will be converted into an industrial park.
It opened in 1995 and hosted races for ARCA, ASA and the Hooters Pro Cup Series. It also was the site of testing by NASCAR teams throughout the years including those of two-time champion Tony Stewart, 2000 champion Bobby Labonte and Daytona Beach’s Mark Martin.
Several Brevard County races have fond memories of the speedway.
“I raced a ton there,” said Merritt Island’s Travis Kittleson who raced and won in several Florida and regional stock car series and just concluded a three-race NASCAR Nationwide Series deal with Mac Hill Motorsports.
“That was my first big track,” he said. “I’ll never forget when we went to our first race there, I think it was a Speedfest race, 2000 or 2001, and there’s all this hype about going to this ¾-mile track and I thought ‘how am I going to do there? Am I going to miss the turn? Am I going to overdrive it?’ They tell you, you get up to about 160 (mph) on a Super Late Model. It went to being one of my worst tracks, we tore up a lot of gear there, probably the first three races, and then after that we were a dominant car there.”
Merritt Island’s Brian Finney won the first leg of the Triple Crown in Super Late Models at Lakeland earlier this month and hopes to be able to win the final race.
“It’s basically the best place that we’ve been able to go race at in Florida and it’s the nicest facility we go to,” said Finney who races for his family-run operation.
“It’s a fun place to go. It’s a real good race track.”
Should he win Saturday, the victory would be memorable.
“I think it would be really big, it would say a lot for us and what we do,” Finney said.
He began racing at Lakeland in 1999 or 2000.
“I remember going the first time,” Finney said. “We didn’t really know what we were in store for. We were real successful the first time and we’ve been pretty successful every time we’ve gone. It’s sort of disappointing right now to lose this race track.”
The closing was a surprise for Merritt Island’s Jane Smith, long-time media relations official with FASCAR, the Florida Stock Car Racing association.
“In today’s time, the land’s worth more than they’re making with the race track, even with the NASCAR drivers who come in and test there,” Smith said.
And if the closing proceeds as planned, it will be a sad day for many racing aficionados.
“That’s the short track’s Daytona,” Smith said. “If you ask a local guy where they want to go, it’s always been Lakeland. To see that (close) means that they’re be no more Hooters Pro Cup races, ARCA went there, ASA has been there.