The Wrench behind the Wins……..

When you look on a race track on a Friday or a Saturday night, you will see lot’s of race cars, but what you don’t see its the hours of hard work put in by the crew chiefs. These guys work hours and hours for very little pay or recognition, just the fact that they know in their hearts that they are turning wrenches on the best race car out there. And if you doubt the car a crew chief wrenches on is the best….. ask him.

Some of these master wrench turners are fortunate to have a good driver, one who will put the car up front and use the hours of work the crew chief puts in. One of these lucky crew chiefs is Mark Defore. Head wrench for Crate late model driver Craig Reece.

Mark Defore has raced karts and he tried a hobby car for 6 years but realized that his calling was turning wrenches.

Mark likes to spend his time with Emily his daughter, if he isn’t working on race cars, but racing is in his blood. Being around it for most of his life he has developed a deep understanding of racing and its his love.

As Mark puts it “ if you find a job you love to do, you won’t every have to “work” for the rest of your life.” and He lives the behind the scene stuff. Its what he does best. And with the wins coming fast and furious for the CRR #74 Crate car, Mark is doing his home work. Winning is not just a Saturday night job, it’s a real day in and day out job. One that Mark takes very seriously.

Mark started messing with race cars at age 16, he loved the going fast part of it. And he will turn 45 this coming Sept. so with approaching 30 years in racing he knows his stuff. And Mark has been with CRR for going on 15 years.

Winning at the Rome Boss race last year was his high point when Craig came back to racing and everything jelled, Mark wants to keep stepping up the ladder working his way up to the top class of racing. Mark looks at the Crate series as merely a stepping stone to the top classes.

He has a never give up attitude and that is the one thing he prides himself on, that and his dedication and passion for racing.

Mark says that just being around racing makes him happy, and that being at the race track makes him feel at home, “its the best place on earth” says Mark.

When I asked him if he was superstious he only said “don’t eat no peanuts in our pits, My daughter was eating peanuts in our pits one night, and I spun out and destroyed my hobby car, so eating peanuts is a taboo.”

I asked Mark if he ever thought about going back to driving, “ yeah I would love to go out an make a few laps but I like doing what I am doing now I am good at it.” and His performance speaks for its self. He is good at it.

Mark said that when he is dead and gone the thing he wants people to remember about him is that he was a great person who would help anyone with anything. And that he LOVED racing!

The duo of Craig Reece and Mark Defore is a force to be reckoned with, there is no doubt about it, they are jelling and working like a team, again and the more they race together the better they get, so better look out they are a coming.

CYA@THERACES

the dr.

 

 

Dixie Results…….

 

The night at Dixie started off with a full field of cars wanting to take the checkered flag, but as with any race only one can take the win.

In the Supers it was the X car of Tyler Millwood making a late charge and taking the win over Michael Page and a hard charging Chip Brindle.

In limited it was the 99 of Rucker Orr taking the win over the 55 of Mark Bunch and the 39 of Richard Goode with Don Jenkins taking 4^th.

In the Crate race it was the 74 car of Craig Reece. Craig Reece said in Victory lane that he wanted to thank the super duo of Marshall and James Green for the help in getting the Capital Fab Race car to victory lane, and since the addition of Ed Lowe and Scheaffer Oil to the National Title Pawn race car things are really starting to gel. “It feels good to win here at Dixie beating the best around is an honor and it ain’t easy, these guys are good.” said Craig Reece.

In super bomber it was the 40 car of Andy Morris taking the win over the D22 of Daniel Brewer and the 39 of Timmy Millwood.

In Economy bomber it was the 21 car of Eric “hambone” Hamby taking the win with the 4 car of Shane Smith and the 71 of Cody Richards and the 9 of Rob Johnson rounding out the top 4.

 

 

SUPER LATE MODEL:
X – Tyler Millwood
18x – Michael Page
24 – Chip Brindle
17 – Ricky Williams
59 – Dale Thurman
F9 – Frank Ingram
3 – Luther Jenkins
77 – Doug Stevens
07 – Scott Hall
119 – Mike McConnell
H3 – Kayne Hickman
17 – Lamar Haygood
25 – Jay Smith
1 – Eddie Blackmon
63 – Ricky Jennings
1 – Jeff Franklin
105 – Preston Graves
24 – Buster Goss
18 – Chuck Page
7 – Donald McIntosh
16 – Tracy Pearson
9 – Jason Croft (DNS)

LTD LATE MODEL:
99 – Rucker Orr
55 – Mark Bunch
39 – Richard Goode
42 – Don Jenkins
18 – Jake Herrell
22 – Alan Brewer
9 – Cass Fowler
03 – Oliver Gentry
22 – Michael Brewer
44 – John Paul
84 – Jason Smith
17 – Billy Pettigrew
82 – Randall Powell

CRATE LATE MODEL:
74 – Craig Reece
18x – Mark Page
9.11 – Justin Wakefield
34 – Chuck Padgett
25 – Henry Ward
54 – Hunter Jones
3 – Billy Coley
1 – Frank Rogers
Nine – T.S. Comp
16 – Cole Davis
85 – Dustin Rogers
B52 – George Ervin
6H – Steven Hite
12 – Darel Ownbey
41 – Alan Green
J12 – Justin Clements
23 – Trevor Thompson

SUPER BOMBER:
40 – Andy Morris
D22 – Daniel Brewer
39 – Timmy Millwood
89 – Kirk Atkins
43 – Tim Ford
111 – Josh Geers
00 – Matt Black
15 – Tony Vaughn
5 – Kenny Taylor
17 – Roy Patterson
5 – Ricky Garrett
44 – Joey Geers

ECONOMY BOMBER:
21 – Eric Hamby
4 – Shane Smith
71 – Cody Richards
9 – Rob Johnson
19 – Chris Blalock
07 – Dan Meadows
116 – Cody Czobat
G7 – Gooch Spriggs
12 – Robby Stewart
6 – Tex Holden
19 – Kenneth Burns
17 – Bryne Duren
95 – Cody Richards
06 – John Davis
9 – John Binger
51 – David Beam
5 – Justin Greir
16 – Kyle Beavers
11 – Tom Darby
08 – Justin Shipley (DNS)

PONY STOCK:
41 – Bo Jordan
21 – Shannon Etheridge
25 – Jeremy Millsaps
x6 – Ronnie Faucett
11 – Don Arnold
10 – Bobby Card
04 – David Kirkland
70 – Stephanie Gahler
x5 – Jeremy Ray
13 – Eddie Harrison
11 – Claude Etheridge
D87 – Steven Shattles
10 – John Land
69 – Charles Whitmire
22 – Matt Thompson
7m – Matt McCollum
L19 – Landon Bryant
8 – William Brown
4 – Tony Harris
71 – Unknown
18x – Austin Phillips
28 – JJ Garrett

Reece Makes it 2 out of 3 at Dixie!….

 

A week after being disqualified at Dixie for a Spacer plate that was reportedly .003 too thick, the Dalton Bad Boy Craig Reece took them to school at Dixie showing them the spacer didn’t make a bit of difference.

While Reece won his heat to sit on the pole for tonights crate feature at Dixie, he then took off and was pulling away when the yellow came out on the white flag lap, bringing the race to a halt, and letting the field catch up to a hard charging Craig Reece, who has pulled out to a half straight a way length lead of the field.

But on the restart it was all the 74 Capital Fab race car of Reece as he won pulling away again by 5 car lengths.

This win makes it 2 in a row for Reece at the Dixie Speedway in Woodstock Ga. This makes it 2 out of 3 at the Famed dirt track.

Full details and rundowns coming soon!

Craig “The Dalton Bad Boy” Reece

 

Double Down 20′s at NGS….

 

North Georgia Speedway kicked off another night of awesome racing with the “Double Down 20’s” in the 2 hobby classes last night.

Last year at the last race of the season the track felt the Hobby Guys got the “short end of the stick” so to speak, and was determined to make it up to them. Well with the March 24^th season opener rained out, and the March 31^st show with the Ultimate Super late Model Series, this was the first chance the track had.

All Hobby Drivers got in free and the winners purse was doubled! And the race was on!

With Mother Nature not in attendance this week, the track looked good, weather was superb, and everyone was ready to sling some mud. With a couple new cars showing up including the grandson of many time winner and NGS legend,  Milton Brown, Caleb Patton showed that  the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, as he took his hobby car and showed he was a fast learner at getting around the famous 1/3 mile clay oval.

With a pair of heats in Econo the #7 of Justin Thomas took the first win with the 14 of Langston and the 64 of Grimsley giving chase to the line, the second heat saw the 10 of Bo Allison and the 20 of Joe Dockery leading the field to the checkered setting the field for  Allison and Thomas to lead the feature to the line, well when the time rolled around for the feature, it was wide open racing and a field of cars determined to take home the big money, with Thomas and Langston battling behind the leader of Allison lap after lap, and Thomas working to get his nose in the battle as well, the 64 of Grimsley with a brand new look to “The Reaper” who had spun, was charging hard from the back to get up there to battle with the leaders, coming from the back 2 times to find himself battling for the lead, coming off of turn 4 on the final lap it was Langston, Allison and Grimsley 3 wide crossing the line! With Langston taking the win, Allison was promptly dq’ed for being too light at the scales. But the fans got to see the closest race I have seen at NGS in years, 3 WIDE at the start finish line less than a fender separating the top 3 cars. What  a way to start the night of features!

Mod Hobby was next with 2 heats of cars challenging for the double pay out to the winner, with Devin Stuart taking the early lead and walking away with the heat followed to the line by the 11 of Mark Bishop and Brandon Stansfield, the second heat was more exciting as the duo of Johnny Hughes and Derek Chapman battled for the heat win with a young hot shoe named Caleb Patton (Grandson of legendary Milton Brown) who started at the rear of the field by choice coming home 3^rd in the heat.

But come time for the “Double Down 20 “ feature it was the 20 of Devin Stuart and the 14 of Johnny Hughes jumping out front and they seemed to be the class of the field as they battled lap after lap, before hard cantact between the two sent Hughes to the pits, with bent wheel and rear damage, leaving Stuart to lead the field back to the restart, Bishop and Patton and Stansfield were not going to let him run off and hide and set sail after the blue 20 car of Stuart, but at the line it was the 20 car of Stuart crossing the line first, but the drama was just starting as the 11 car owners of Bishop protested the 20 car and after a lengthy teardown the 20 car was deemed “Illegal” and he was disqualified. Placing the 11 car of bishop in the Winners Circle for the win of the 2^nd Double Down 20, bishop was followed to the line with the 57 of Caleb Patton 2^nd in his first race , and Brandon Stansfield 3^rd.

The Crates were out next with Jeff Smith and Grayson York on the front row and they put on a battle as the laps wound down it looked like another Jeff Smith win, but, Aaron Wheat made a late race charge and come up short in the last few laps, with Smith taking the win Wheat second, Kizzar 3^rd and York after starting on front row brings home 4^th.

The Limiteds rolled out next with qualifying and it was Spencer Singleton on the pole with a 14.47 lap, but the B4 of Brian Jackson was hot on his heels with a 14.51 lap putting them on the front row, but it was the S14 of Aaron Wilson who was quick to show the limiteds that he was there to race, and just walked away  with the race in the later laps following Wilson to the line was the 71 of Singleton and the B4 of Jackson the 06 of T.J. Britton made a strong show for 4^th.

When the supers rolled onto the track it was the 00 of Johnny Chastain on the pole with a 13.349 fast lap and the 99 of Derek Ellis and his 13.462 lap giving him his share of the front row. The Ditchdigger Derek Ellis was not to be denied as he walked away with the win in the super feature, followed to the line by a pair of Chastains, the 00 of Johnny Chastain, and the X15 of Shaun Chastain and 15 time Track champ Gary MacPhearson rounding out the top 4.

When the pony’s took the track Billy Callahan and Matt Leonard lead the field to the line and the 32 of Callahan seemed like he was going to walk with another, but the 7 of Bama Bash winner and last weeks defending winner Caleb Howard had other idea’s and he set sail chasing the 32 down, an ask the 7 of Howard was starting to reel the 32 of Callahan in, the 32 broke and dropped , giving the win to Caleb Howard for his second win of the year, at NGS and his 3^rd of the year total. Caleb has really been doing his home work this year in the off season, showing he is ready to be a force to be reckoned with!.

In all, it was a great night of racing, lots of fans got to take home some door panels from race cars , that were given away by the drivers and track, a lucky fan got to wave the green on the Mod hobby race, and everyone was done and gone at a reasonable hour, all in all it was a great night of Racing at NGS, some make your plans now to be there this coming weekend for a full race program except the pony class will have the night off…

CYA@THERACES

The dr.

 

Driver Profile, Joe Dockery….

When I picked this driver, there was one word that I kept thinking about, Humble, and this driver fits that perfectly, Joe “Joe Dirt” Dockery, driver of the econo Hobby #d20.

Joe has been racing for 4 years, and 3 of them at Sugar Creek Raceway. He calls Blue Ridge Ga, home and is one of the “Blue Ridge Bandits” along with Devin Stuart.

Joe has had a very good start to the year this year in Econo Hobby, winning once and is in second in points. Joe runs a Jig-a-lo Chassis with a stock clip.

Joe says what he likes most about racing is the adrenaline rush, going fast and showing just how humble he is, he says it is the privilege of just being on the track.

Ray Cook and Dale Earnhardt are his favorite drivers, and says he don’t like dirty drivers. North Georgia is his favorite because he says ”it’s the fastest track I have ever been on”. Although he still has dreams of running Eldora someday, Joe is 35 years old , so he still has a few good years to make his dream come true.

His goals for this year are to win more races, and to win the championship, he is well on his way to that one. Joe has a clean driving style that keeps him at the front of the pack most nights.

When Joe isn’t racing you will find him out 4 wheeling, hunting or working for Tow’s Septic Service. He is divorced and has 2 children Austin and Amelia, and one if his biggest fans is his girlfriend Rosie, (who helped make this profile possible).

Joe says he has no desire to be called up to the “bigs” says he don’t want to be strapped in a car for 4 hours he is perfectly happy racing on dirt!

“got dirt “ is one of his favorite sayings, and when asked why he runs number D20 he said” it was my age when my first child was born”. Look up the word Humble and you will find this man’s picture. Very quiet and soft spoken but he lets his driving do the talking for him.

Joe is sponsored by S&S Collision Center, and he would like to give a very special thanks to his brother Randy “if not for him I would not be here” says Joe. His crew is made up of Randy Dockery ,  and his son Austin Dockery. Randy is also the car owner.

Joe want to give a special thanks to the following: Mom and Dad, Rosie, Tiffany, Sidney, his daughter Amelia, and David Stuart.

Joe wants his fans to know that he will never give up until the checkered flag drops, he is a go getter and he likes racing everyone, and he says he learns from every one he races against . When he was asked about his most memorable moment in racing he says his first win … I can see him getting more wins this year, Joe simply don’t give up.

So next time you see the D20 roll onto the track stand up and wave, but know one thing, you will be waving at a true winner. Joe Dockery. Driver of the D20 Econo hobby.

From the flag stand…….

Flag stand Duty….

I have been involved for over 30 years with racing of some sort, everything from fan, driver, owner, crew chief, and now as a writer, I have had some of my best times in life( not counting when my children were born) at race tracks. Now with that being said let me share with you my experiences of Saturday night at North Ga. Speedway.

As a writer I try and follow all of the events and excitement I can, and I have found that if I position myself at the start finish line, next to the wall, I can get to most of the track pretty easy, plus I get some really good shots there. And it is easy to call the finishing order into my little digital voice recorder I have come to rely on. Well Saturday night I was at my normal spot at the start finish line and I hear some one hollering “hey dr.” I look up since my friend Steve the flagman has on occasion asked me to run get him a drink, and the flagman is motioning for me to come to the flag stand, so I head over to the opening in the wall and looked up, he is motioning for me to cross the track, well since he has the flags in his hands I head across, feeling pretty strange, crossing the track…..I get to the outside wall, and he tells me to “come on up” so I go to the ladder to the flag stand and make my way up the ladder, once at the top, Steve hands me the yellow flag, “ here hand this to me after I wave the green!”… was he on drugs? He smiled and asked me “ you ever been up here before?” I was stunned, yeah I had been in a flag stand before, but it was when a midget I was driving flipped and landed there, never had I walked up the ladder to get there….. Steve and I talked for a few he showed me the switches that control the lights yellow and green and red. I looked at the flags sitting neatly in their holders, I looked and cars were coming down the front straight toward the flag stand, I watched in amazement as they drove under Steve and I. All I could think of was “WOW” …. Steve told me “you now got the best seat in the house!” and I could not agree more. The limited late models were lining up and I watched as each car took it’s place. I couldn’t imagine watching a race from here, But I was about to.

The cars started making laps around the track getting into position to start the race, I watched as Steve reached for the light switches and he turned the yellow off as the cars rolled by, once the cars were in turn one, Steve flipped the switch for the green on and off a few times letting the drivers know they were coming to the green, with one hand on the switch and one hand holding the Green flag high above his head, the cars rolled into turn 3, my heart was beating about 400mph, I watched almost as if the cars were moving in slow motion, when the front row of Brian Jackson and Leon Brindle rolled thru the middle of 3 and 4 I saw them pick up the pace and then it happened, the green came on the flag started waving madly, just as I was soaking that up 16 limited late models came roaring at me at over 100mph, I got to tell you that even now, the next day I still get chill bumps thinking about the feeling of watching all those race cars roar by me at my feet!

I was snapped out of my trance as I realized that I had a flag in my hand! I quickly handed the yellow to Steve and took the green, again I was almost in a trance as I realized I was holding the very flag that had just started this race!.but as the cars roared by once more, I quickly put the green in its holder, and I thought to myself what can I do to really help instead of just standing here looking like a goof? I reached down and grabbed the move over flag, and got it ready to had it to Steve, and good thing too, because Brian Jackson was on a rail, and in just 6 short laps he was coming up on lapped cars, when Steve turned to get the move over flag I placed it in his hand, he smiled, seemed like he was glad to have an extra set of hands helping .I quickly made myself familiar with the order the flags were in, and tried to become Steve’s second set of eyes looking for spins and crashes, it didn’t take long and I was tapping Steve pointing to a spin, it all seemed to come so natural, as I got settled in. I watched as the race wore on lap by lap and soon I looked up and there was 2 laps to go, so I reached for the white ready to hand it off, soon as I did , I grabbed the checkered getting ready for the last lap, a certain pride swelled up in me when I grabbed that checkered flag, it is really hard to put into words, and lots of people would not understand, for years I had chased that very flag, from down on the track, and now , I had it in my hand, but that was short lived as Brian Jackson came roaring off of turn 4 as Steve waved the checkered, I was glad that a very dear friend of mine Brian Jackson had just won….it was great to see him win, and knowing that I had handed Steve the checkered made it that much more special.

I stayed in the flag stand the rest of the night helping when I could and watching when I couldn’t, learning and soaking up the thrill of being in the flag stand.

I think it was one of those special moments in life, where you come to realize that there is another side to a coin, one where you get to see it first hand and know that you are a small part of history. I will never ever forget last night, and the joy it brought me. The thrill, the rush, it was a very special night.

I want to thank Steve for the chance to experience it first hand, and I am ready and willing to do it all over again! Except next time I am bringing my goggles!!!

CYA@THERACES

the dr.

May 1st NGS Ellis Wins Again!

With rain on the horizon the night started out with 2 broke down pack cars, so the officials asked the hobby drivers to come out and help, a few did. So when the drivers meeting started Timmy Millwood told the drivers, “thanks to the ones who came out and helped pack the track, but we have to get started, and it is still pretty wet, but it is what it is, you will just have to race on it” seems the only ones who really had a problem with the track tonight was the wreckers, causing delay after delay due to the muddy inside of the track, but they got the job done…. it just took them a while.

Just as the hot laps started word come down that the “other” track up north of NGS got rained out and there was a slew of cars headed south.

The 2 heats in Modified hobby were good races with Devin Dirt Demon Stuart winning the first one and Larry Higgins winning the second one putting those 2 on the front row for the feature.

From there it was all Larry Higgins as he lead wire to wire .

1 #11 Larry Higgins

2 # 20 Devon Stuart

3 # 1 Jr. Whitner

4 #10 John Clark

Econo Hobby was a 4 car show, with Mike Fletcher taking his second  win, after Joe Dockery dropped out leaking fluids

1 #72 Dave Fletcher

2 #19 Jeff Jacobs

3# 20 Joe Dockery

4 # 64 Glen Grimsley

The crate’s lined up for the crate feature with Darrell Owenby and Chip Brindle on the front row, and at the drop of the green it was the 12 of Owenby on a rail followed by the 38 of Chip brindle, Patrick Harvey and Craig Burrows fought for the next two spots, but at the checkered it was the 12 of Owenby for his 3^rd win of the season, followed by the 38 of Chip brindle and the A-1 of Kenny Kizzar, who was protested at Boyd’s Friday night and refused to tear down, so it seemed he had a score to settle with Brindle,but he could not get around him even with a  ( please note that the word Questionable, has been retracted, the Engine in the A-1 was found legal last night at the Memorital Day race, and since I said I would retract it he was found legal , I have done so, I try to be a man of my word. the dr.) motor, so he had to settle for 3^rd followed by the 23 of Burrows.

1 #12 Darrell Owenby

2 #38 Chip Brindle

3 # A-1 Kenny Kizzar

4 # 23 Craig Burrows

Then came the limited feature with Leon Brindle and Brian Jackson on the front row and the brothers Burke on row 2 the 37 of Kevin and Brian Burke in the Chip Burke #11at the drop of the green Brian Jackson flat checked out, leaving the 38 of Leon Brindle the 11 of Brian Burke and the 71 of Spenser Singleton to fight it out, Burke and Brindle put on a good show fighting for second with the 71 of Singleton giving Burke all he wanted, but the 71 finally retired with a locked up right front brake. and Devin Dilbeck made a good run coming from deep in the field to run 4^th with the finishing order at the checkered, B4 of Brian Jackson, the 38 of Brindle, the 11 of Brian Burke and the 30 of Devon Dilbeck.

1 # B4 Brian Jackson

2 #38 Leon Brindle

3 #11 Brian Burke

4 #30 Devin Dilbeck

The Late Model feature was another Derrick Ellis show as he lead wire to wire, it was good to see the M29 of Gary MacPhearson back with his car, the battle was good behind Ellis, with the Coach David Payne and the 66 of Knowles getting together and bringing out a yellow, but no one had anything for the Ditchdigger Derrick Ellis so at the checkered it was

1 #99 Derrick Ellis

2 #44 Rogers

3 # 29 Gary Mac Phearson

4 #60 of Gar Dickson

In the Mod Pony feature there were some cars that came down from that other track and I am sorry I did not get the names, I was in the flag stand having the time of my life, I do know that Grady Stokes and Ralph Langston were really going at it until something happened and Grady was sent to the back, then he broke while trying to move back to the front, and Ralph Langston ran a super race but got snookered on the last lap by the 24 car,Caleb Howard was making a good run until he tangled with the 38 car and flattened his front tire.

In Stock pony the 1x of Grady Garrett was bad fast and made a good run at the front until he had a flat and had to pit, then he came back out and on his way back to the front he had another flat…. not a good night for Garrett, but the 41x of Lamar Cook held off a late race charge by the hard charging Matt McCollum in the 17 who tried every way he could to get around but had to settle for second. At the checkered it was

1 #41 Lamar Cook

2 #17 Matt McCollum

3 #14 Donald Stone

4 #1x Grady Garrett

It was a great night of racing since all surrounding tracks got rained out, and other than the mud, it was pretty fast too, good to see some new faces at the track this week, and I got to meet a few new fans.

Watch for my blog highlighting my time in the flag stand on Monday!!

CYA@THERACES

the dr.

Mid Week Ramblings…… or rumblings…

Mid week ramblings……. or rumblings.

News for the week….

Grady Stokes will be back in the #27 Mod pony car this week, and his daughter Natasha Stokes will be in the N27 again, since the damage she got last race has been fixed.

Charlie Stokes will be driving next race too.

Seems the pony drivers are chomping at the bit to go racing!!!

Caleb Howard who was recently profiled here at top of the box, has got his leaky oil pan fixed and he just may be a force to be reckoned with…..

Davy Davis has his 50 lbs in place and is ready to go…

Still waiting on word from a few drivers who are waiting on motor parts to have a car ready, so it is looking good for a god car count next race, if mother nature will be nice,

Seems like the rules seem to be the hot topic the past week with the rain dampening everyone spirits. Everyone has a different view on how rules should be, but the fact of the matter is.. rules are rules, they need to be followed and enforced. I think the track has been trying to just get the show to run smooth and will get to the rules soon, you can’t do everything at once.

Some of the rules I think could use some tweaking, and some just need to be enforced. But as I said the crew at the track have come along way from the first night, and things are progressing nicely, so I see the rules issues being fixed next.

The last time out the track was “super super” fast, but some didn’t like it, trust me I will take mud over dust any day!!!! the crew done a AWESOME job with the track last week.

I really would like to see North Ga Speedway and Boyd’s team up and get the rules more in line with each other, and use the nights these 2 tracks run to a huge advantage. NGS runs Saturday nights, and Boyd’s runs Friday nights, now this could really be a huge boost to both tracks, with car count, and fans in the seats, which is the name of the game….

Well thats about it for the news this week, if any one has anythingelse please send it to the dr at thedr@charter.net and we will get it mentioned, and on here so every one will know!

New profile  coming tomorrow!!

CYA@THERACES

the dr.

Caleb Howard , Pony Driver

To win you must have dedication, and the driver we are looking at today has it. Caleb Howard, pony driver of the #7. Caleb is 21 and works for Dalton Utilities, but Caleb gave up a career with the Fire Dept to chase his dream of racing. The men at station #9 sent a message to Caleb, “should he ever get tired of racing they would love to have him back.” one quote that stood out in my mind was “I would be proud to follow you in a house fire.” from
Lt. Jackie McCorkle. That is something not many people can say. But Caleb gave that up to drive a race car.

Caleb graduated from Northwest Whitfield High School in 2006, he is single, but Caleb says he looks forward to having children some day.

His goals for this season are to finish all the races and win a few, I think we all can see that happening. In his 3^rd year of driving he says his favorite driver locally is Grady Stokes, who Caleb says helped with his car his favorite big time driver is the Chattanooga Flash Ronnie Johnson

. North Ga. Speedway is his favorite track but wants to try Green Valley Speedway one day. If Caleb isn’t racing you will find him in the woods, hunting, which is his second love. Don’t matter what he is hunting he just loves to hunt.

When asked who he would like to race against he says” I want to run with the best, that is where you learn everything” smart kid! Caleb went to the races for the first time when he was about 5 or 6 with Lee Gray who he went to school with, and the first time he went with his hero Grady Stokes Grady won. He says he don’t have any superstitions, “I got a black and green car and I have eat peanuts at the track” says Caleb. I asked him what he likes least about racing and he said “ money and time, because it takes all I got”. Driving in NASCAR Caleb says he would want to drive for Joe Gibbs so he could have Kyle “Rowdy” Busch as a teammate.

Caleb has Hayes Radiator and Garrett’ss Gas Lines as sponsors and his crew list is a long one, Grady Stokes, Ralph Langston, Lamar “bones” Cook, Bryan Cook, Alexis Cook, Natasha Stokes, Pete, Wendell, Milk Money, Player, Nathan Howard ,Jamie Hayes,Gradyy Garrett, Jeff Garrett, Mikie Silvers and his Dad, John Howard.

When I asked Caleb where he would like to race his answer was simple, “on the big tracks with the big boys”.

Caleb would like to give a big special thanks to the following:Dad&Beverly, Mom& Wayne, Nathan, Stokes Racing, Langston Racing and the guys at Dalton Utilities.

Caleb says his favorite saying is” It’s only money, cheat a little, lie a lot, and win a few”. Caleb really likes talking to the fans,and see’s them as one of his favorite things about racing.

So next time you see the black and green #7 roll into the track you know a little about him stand up and wave at him when he goes by, let him know his fans are watching, I know I will be.A special thanks to Mike at Mikessportsimages.com  for   some of the  photos used in this story.