Florida 200 - Through the Years

[Jimmy McKinley]

Some OUTSTANDING talent in the annual 200-lapper held at Tampa's Golden Gate Speedway. Going through some old programs, and *LOOK at the field of cars*.

I believe this was the 1977 field, when Hamke won his second 200 over "the Green Hornet", Ed Howe:



I *believe* this was the 1975 field:



The *best* from around the state. Then, you had guys like Howe, Eddy, Senneker, Gregory, Malcuit, Rodney Combs, Larry and Lee Schuler. NASCAR stars like Glotzbach, Lindley, Ruttman, Gant, Stick Johnson, Randy Tissot, and Dan Daughtry.

Would *LOVE* to see Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Kenseth, or any of today's NASCAR "stars" come up to New Smyrna on that last Cup weekend to try and run the Governor's Cup.

[Matt Albee]

Shouldn't be hard to get those guys to come to NSS during Speedweeks or for the Governors Cup. Or any other track in the state. All it takes is a good promoter. Why do you suppose those drivers show up at short track races all over the country, but not Florida?

[fred23]

Promoter Matt.......its not quite that easy.......and there have been numerous cup guys that have run at NSS......they used to have a charity race where about 10-12 guys would come and run local guys' late models........I also know some guys have run the mods during speed weeks......

I have actually talked to a few drivers in the past and in the modern day NASCAR a lot of drivers have stuff in their contract that says they can't drive anywhere else or that whatever they do drive has to be their own cars or have their sponsors......not all but a lot.......

Yes short track racing was much better in the 70's, 80's and even 90's than it is over the last 6 to 8 years......it had nothing to do with promoting a track......it was just a different era and a different generation.......most people that are 30 and under did not grow up gear heads.......and they have way too much to do these days also......500 channels on tv, internet, video games, movie theaters not drive ins, even more youth sports that are now year around etc...etc.....plus I would have to say that well over half of the guys that race or raced were tied professionally in some way to the construction industry........when that crashed 8 years ago or so it took a lot of car owners with it.......

[Matt Albee]

Promoter Matt.......its not quite that easy.......and there have been numerous cup guys that have run at NSS......they used to have a charity race where about 10-12 guys would come and run local guys' late models........I also know some guys have run the mods during speed weeks......

I have actually talked to a few drivers in the past and in the modern day NASCAR a lot of drivers have stuff in their contract that says they can't drive anywhere else or that whatever they do drive has to be their own cars or have their sponsors......not all but a lot.......

Yes short track racing was much better in the 70's, 80's and even 90's than it is over the last 6 to 8 years......it had nothing to do with promoting a track......it was just a different era and a different generation.......most people that are 30 and under did not grow up gear heads.......and they have way too much to do these days also......500 channels on tv, internet, video games, movie theaters not drive ins, even more youth sports that are now year around etc...etc.....plus I would have to say that well over half of the guys that race or raced were tied professionally in some way to the construction industry........when that crashed 8 years ago or so it took a lot of car owners with it.......

You're right, i've read about various Cup drivers showing up at NSS. YEARS AGO. And I know some Cup drivers have a contract that prevents them from racing at other venues. But most don't and many race all over the US on any given weekend.
My point was that Kyle, Matt, David, Tony, and many others race everywhere except Florida now days. And the interesting thing is that they're just a few miles down the road from NSS in Feb. and again in July. Not to mention during tire tests at Daytona, and they even test at NSS at times I've heard. So why are those guys racing in Milwaukee last week, and 5 Flags among many others, but NSS can't seem to get them? The promoter would seem to be the only reason left.

[Rick Williams]

Most of them require show money, free tires, entry fee, etc. it comes down to $$$ if the track can recover the cost for appearance then it works but most FL tracks couldn't. We asked last year for some top names to race a few different events, prices ranged from $3,000.00 to $10,000.00 and in most cases they win and take the purse home to. What FL racing needs is all of you who sit home and have the fix all solutions need to come out to the tracks and support them. Introduce yourself to the track owners/promoters offer your time, volunteer try to help not bash these people. With all that being said, Hope to meet you real soon!

[ancrdave]

Back in the '60s and '70s, most tracks had shut down for the year by the first week of November... This was Golden Gate's last event of the year and they made sure everyone knew about it... It was great for the top names in racing... a last chance to make some money and put laps on your car one final time before heading to the shop to get ready for next year... It was like one big party and a chance to "hang out," have some fun and get one last race under your belt for the season, unless you also ran the Snowball Derby... That was reserved mostly for the Trickles, Eddys, Sennekers etc. as most of the Tampa/St. Pete, Orlando/New Smyrna and Hialeah/Palm Beach guys rarely went to Pensacola back then...

[Matt Albee]

Most of them require show money, free tires, entry fee, etc. it comes down to $$$ if the track can recover the cost for appearance then it works but most FL tracks couldn't. We asked last year for some top names to race a few different events, prices ranged from $3,000.00 to $10,000.00 and in most cases they win and take the purse home to. What FL racing needs is all of you who sit home and have the fix all solutions need to come out to the tracks and support them. Introduce yourself to the track owners/promoters offer your time, volunteer try to help not bash these people. With all that being said, Hope to meet you real soon!

Give all those people who sit at home with all the solutions a decent race to watch, and i'm sure they'll be happy to support the tracks and series. Throw open the gates and expect people to just show up and give you their money for whatever you feel like providing, you'll get exactly what you have now.
The tracks and promoters don't need volunteers, they need to stop believing they already have all the answers. They need to stop pretending they're headed in the right direction and notice they have very few fans and very few cars. They need to , for once, pay attention to the people who lay out very detailed and very innovative ideas on this and other sites to help revive racing in Florida.
With that being said, people and series that deserve bashing will always receive it. As they should.

[MW68SS]

What is also cool is if these were 2 years apart they picked almost 3 seconds a lap on average. Must have been a transition time with a Late Model during those years.

[tom77hmstd]

The times that are in the 14 second bracket were from the Gulf Coast Classic at St. Pete in 1977 I am fairly sure.
Most cup drivers back then also wanted show money,in 1975 at Auburndale they paid Bobbie Allison $2000 he flew in on his plane. Donnie and Neil Bonnet were also there.

[Jimmy McKinley]

The times that are in the 14 second bracket were from the Gulf Coast Classic at St. Pete in 1977 I am fairly sure

I didn't even pick up on that, Tom. You're probably correct. A lot, if not all, of the same guys ran time trials at Tampa Saturday afternoon, changed the gear and maybe a tire or two, hauled butt across the Howard Franklin, and ran the Gulf Coast Classic that same day. Change the gear again, and back to Tampa on Sunday afternoon for the 200.

[Frasson118]

Something I found pretty cool is that David Rogers and Mario Maresca are both listed.... and both were at New Smyrna about 2 weeks ago...!