STAFF REPORT
The Holidays flew by about as fast as the rest of the year did. The Real Racin’ USA gang has been busy with family and getting batteries recharged, an action that is so important in the media game. Getting burned out when you take the role as seriously as we do, is not all that uncommon.
Tuesday January 9th the Snook River Grill in Bradenton once again hosts the fastest moving 2 hour racing show anywhere. But more about that in a minute. Oh, did we tell you John Sarppraicone and Bobby Diehl have a return engagement. If you were shocked the last time these two were on our show, better bring your antacid supply for this one.
You can learn more about the guests and other plans for 2007 in an article here tomorrow.
But onto the 2006 Fan Survey. We asked Florida race fans to to tell us the the top story in the Sunshine State for 2006. You answered in large numbers and here they are. How large? KARNAC, which is the site that has helped you to find us here at Short Track America, has about 15,000 Florida race fans alone who regularly read their news and inhabit their message boards. It was an all day job tabulating the results.
We were asked “why people couldn’t see the results as they happened” by one fan. The answer is simply that any of these types of surveys on race sites gets spammed in the form of repeat posts or votes and it is almost impossible to prevent it. Our method gave us the ability to DQ almost all the spam attempts and thus have a more realistic view of what you think.
Here is what you thought about 2006:
The biggest story in 2006 according to fan voting was Jeff Choquette, one of Florida’s most accomplished young Super Late Model stars. Though Jeff has his detractors, he is one of Florida’s most popular drivers and has impressed many far beyond our state boundaries.
In the Driver of the Year for Dirt Track, Ivident Lloyd was a strong contender for the top vote getter, but was edged out by Earl Pearson, Jr. You can’t go wrong with either choice there.
The ashpalt driver garnering the most votes was no contest as Rich Clouser, even with a huge number of votes cast out, as his faithful tried to unduly influence the results, well to put his bluntly Rich won hands down. It seemed the entire FASCAR Nation turned out to support Rich, including high profile officials and other drivers.
Rich has been a real “working class hero” the last two or three years, no doubt he is very capable and has a very loyal following of fans.
33% – Jeff Choquette returning from the “Roush Gong Show”, looked like he was unbeatable in the early part of 2006 but had to rally at the end of season to take he All American Challenge Championship. He also finished second in the FASCAR Sunbelt Series.
18% – This driver from Zephyrhills cut his teeth on nearly every track in the state of Florida. After using up nearly all his resources his racing career might have been over. But by sticking to it and with the support of family and friends, David Reutimann gives hope to all the young racers on the way up, as he gets the nod to drive the Waltrip Racing Toyota “00” in Nextel Cup 2007.
11% Jeff Scofield wins Sunbelt Championship, Triple Crown and Governors Cup. After losing the Guaranteed Concrete ride mid-season Scofield comes back in his own car for a win at DeSoto. He then regains the Guaranteed ride and redeems himself by winning the Triple Crown then topping off the season with not only the Sunbelt championship but the Florida Governors Cup.
8% FASCAR dominated the Florida racing news much of the year with new partnerships with Bright House Network, Disney and a new weekly television series. By the end of year, in a fairly controversial move, FASCAR added three more traveling series to their growing list of racing assets, taking over the Mini Stock tour, Sportsman and Modified tours.
7% The youth movement took over Florida racing in 2006, with youngsters from 12 to 19 dominating many aspects of Florida racing. In the dirt arena, 14 year old Dakotah Stephens, one race at Ocala had three winners and not a drivers license among them. From Anthony Campi to Patrick Staropoli to David Wilson, the list is long. We even have the Mini Cups dominated by a ten year old Daniel Miller.
7% Florida saw a much need resurgence in the area of dirt racing in 2006. North Florida Speedway, formerly Lake City Speedway, returned under the able leadership of Mike Partin and is quickly becoming a major player. Putnam County Speedway returned to a weekly show this year and drew some of Florida’s finest for some well promoted shows, and by year’s end, yes Hendry County Speedway is racing. All this is great news for dirt track racing in the Sunshine State.
6% What was thought unthinkable a year ago came together as Jack Smith, Bill Green and Rick Anges, three of the sports biggest rivals, take over the air waves with Real Racin’ USA. Joining forces for the resurrection of LIVE audience shows and special coverage of major events on Short Track America.
5% Picking the winner of this race almost became as confusing as keeping track of the entry list. A huge field of racers showed all that Super Late Model racing is alive and well when well promoted. Bobby Gill won. No, he didn’t. Johnny Brazier won. No, he didn’t. Clay Rogers won. Yes he did. One monster of a racing event.
4% Lake County, Florida Sheriff Chris Daniels was tragically killed in a School Bus race accident at New Smyrna Speedway in October. Daniels was a nationally prominent member of the law enforcement community, thus throwing the spotlight once again on safety issues in racing. This incident made national headlines and devastated FASCAR for a time.
2% others….lead by the late year sale of Charlotte County Speedway and Rich Clouser winning the Goodyear challenge as a repeat.
Note: the above percentages may be greater than 100% as multiple votes were allowed.
Your pick for the top Dirt Driver of 2006:
Earl Pearson Jr. 28%
Ivident Lloyd 22%
Dakotah Stephens 11%
Sport Allen 5%
Buzzie Reutiman 5%
Paulie Milum 5%
Other drivers receiving less than 2% of the votes 24%
Your pick for top Asphalt Driver of 2006:
Rich Clouser 39%
Jeff Choquette 21%
Jeff Scofield 10%
Dave Steele 4%
Other drivers receiving less than 2% of the votes 26%
