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FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE TO NEW SMYRNA... SANDY LEE JUST WANTS TO RACE
His name is David Lee II but to race fans at New Smyrna Speedway he is simply
known as "Sandy" Lee.
Lee's residence is in Barrington, New Hampshire and he has two well-known race
tracks within ten miles of his house (Lee Speedway and Star Speedway) yet he
chooses to fly all the way to Florida every other Saturday to compete in the
Sportsman division at New Smyrna Speedway. Lee and his friend/business
partner Jim Daley own a fleet of "Outlaw" Sportsman cars that are housed at
the big Sheppard Racing Enterprises shop just west of Deland. Alan "Gadget"
Sheppard looks after the 8-9 cars that are kept in Florida and makes sure they
are race-ready for their twice-a-month contests on the high-banked half-mile
New Smyrna track.
"New Smyrna is like Daytona to me," says Lee. "It's a fast race track and
draws a great field of quality Sportsman cars. I could stay at home and race
the two tracks near me but right now they only draw 6-8 cars per race and the
competition is nowhere near that of New Smyrna," he says.
Lee is 49 years old and just recently married his new bride Kimberly. He has
four children from his previous marriage. Lee followed in his dad's footsteps
as a racer. His father was a top competitor at such tracks as Star and Hudson
Speedways in New Hampshire along with the Norwood Arena in Norwood,
Massachusetts. Sandy Lee started out his career driving a Strictly Stock
Chevy Nova at tracks near his hometown in 1994 but quickly moved up to the
Sportsman-style cars that he still competes in today. Lee met Jim Daley in
1996 and Daley offered him a ride in one of his cars. They've been together
ever since.
Lee has been a constant winner and took home the 2008 Sportsman championship
at Star Speedway's quarter-mile track. "Back then Star got anywhere from
20-30 cars a week and we had a ton of fun," says Lee. "But the fields have
dwindled recently at home so I've made New Smyrna my "home" track for now," he
says. He hasn't won a feature yet this year at New Smyrna but he has several
podium finishes and is currently third in points behind Patrick Thomas and
Junior Beckner. "Winning a feature here against guys like Thomas, Beckner,
(Scott) Bramlett and my teammates would be a real feather in my cap and I sure
hope that one night I can get the job done but I guarantee it's not easy
here... no one is going to roll over for you," says Lee.
Sandy has driven two different cars this season, the #10 machine that is his
primary car and the #77 that has also been driven by Derrick Wood. On opening
night this year, Lee opted to run the #77 and gave Michael Seay a chance to
drive the #10. The race was a wild one and Seay avoided all the carnage and
took home the feature victory. "That was a fun night even if it wasn't me
holding the trophy," says Lee. "Michael is a great guy and has helped out our
team a lot so it was neat to see him get that win," he says.
With the Sportsman cars off at New Smyrna Speedway for the Fourth of July last
weekend, Lee was back at home and the team took a car to compete in the PASS
North Series Sportsman race at the one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, NH. Lee had an outstanding weekend culminating with a big victory in
the Sportsman headliner on Sunday, July 5, one of the biggest wins of his
career.
Racing is not all Lee does, though. He and Daley are partners in Prime
Storage Trailer Rentals and Lee manages the business that deals in storage &
container rentals. The business is based in Lee, NH (Sandy Lee is not named
after nor was the town of Lee named after him, by the way) but Lee and Daley
would like to expand the business to Florida. "If anybody is in need of a
really top notch portable storage trailer or container, all they have to do is
get with us at the track and we'll get everything set up for them," says Lee.
Lee says that for the near future at least, you'll see him using his "frequent
flier miles" to be at New Smyrna Speedway when the Sportsman class is in
competition. "It can be a bit tedious with the travel," says Lee. "But it's
all worth it when I'm at the track with my friends and fellow competitors.
I'm having the time of my life," he says.
Photos:
1) Sandy Lee gets set to race at New Smyrna Speedway...
2) Sandy Lee after his win last Sunday, July 5, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway...
3) Sandy Lee (center) and Jim Daley (2nd from left) in victory lane at NHMS...
4) Just some of the fleet of Sportsman cars lee and Daley own at Sheppard Racing Enterprises in Deland...
His name is David Lee II but to race fans at New Smyrna Speedway he is simply
known as "Sandy" Lee.
Lee's residence is in Barrington, New Hampshire and he has two well-known race
tracks within ten miles of his house (Lee Speedway and Star Speedway) yet he
chooses to fly all the way to Florida every other Saturday to compete in the
Sportsman division at New Smyrna Speedway. Lee and his friend/business
partner Jim Daley own a fleet of "Outlaw" Sportsman cars that are housed at
the big Sheppard Racing Enterprises shop just west of Deland. Alan "Gadget"
Sheppard looks after the 8-9 cars that are kept in Florida and makes sure they
are race-ready for their twice-a-month contests on the high-banked half-mile
New Smyrna track.
"New Smyrna is like Daytona to me," says Lee. "It's a fast race track and
draws a great field of quality Sportsman cars. I could stay at home and race
the two tracks near me but right now they only draw 6-8 cars per race and the
competition is nowhere near that of New Smyrna," he says.
Lee is 49 years old and just recently married his new bride Kimberly. He has
four children from his previous marriage. Lee followed in his dad's footsteps
as a racer. His father was a top competitor at such tracks as Star and Hudson
Speedways in New Hampshire along with the Norwood Arena in Norwood,
Massachusetts. Sandy Lee started out his career driving a Strictly Stock
Chevy Nova at tracks near his hometown in 1994 but quickly moved up to the
Sportsman-style cars that he still competes in today. Lee met Jim Daley in
1996 and Daley offered him a ride in one of his cars. They've been together
ever since.
Lee has been a constant winner and took home the 2008 Sportsman championship
at Star Speedway's quarter-mile track. "Back then Star got anywhere from
20-30 cars a week and we had a ton of fun," says Lee. "But the fields have
dwindled recently at home so I've made New Smyrna my "home" track for now," he
says. He hasn't won a feature yet this year at New Smyrna but he has several
podium finishes and is currently third in points behind Patrick Thomas and
Junior Beckner. "Winning a feature here against guys like Thomas, Beckner,
(Scott) Bramlett and my teammates would be a real feather in my cap and I sure
hope that one night I can get the job done but I guarantee it's not easy
here... no one is going to roll over for you," says Lee.
Sandy has driven two different cars this season, the #10 machine that is his
primary car and the #77 that has also been driven by Derrick Wood. On opening
night this year, Lee opted to run the #77 and gave Michael Seay a chance to
drive the #10. The race was a wild one and Seay avoided all the carnage and
took home the feature victory. "That was a fun night even if it wasn't me
holding the trophy," says Lee. "Michael is a great guy and has helped out our
team a lot so it was neat to see him get that win," he says.
With the Sportsman cars off at New Smyrna Speedway for the Fourth of July last
weekend, Lee was back at home and the team took a car to compete in the PASS
North Series Sportsman race at the one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, NH. Lee had an outstanding weekend culminating with a big victory in
the Sportsman headliner on Sunday, July 5, one of the biggest wins of his
career.
Racing is not all Lee does, though. He and Daley are partners in Prime
Storage Trailer Rentals and Lee manages the business that deals in storage &
container rentals. The business is based in Lee, NH (Sandy Lee is not named
after nor was the town of Lee named after him, by the way) but Lee and Daley
would like to expand the business to Florida. "If anybody is in need of a
really top notch portable storage trailer or container, all they have to do is
get with us at the track and we'll get everything set up for them," says Lee.
Lee says that for the near future at least, you'll see him using his "frequent
flier miles" to be at New Smyrna Speedway when the Sportsman class is in
competition. "It can be a bit tedious with the travel," says Lee. "But it's
all worth it when I'm at the track with my friends and fellow competitors.
I'm having the time of my life," he says.
Photos:
1) Sandy Lee gets set to race at New Smyrna Speedway...
2) Sandy Lee after his win last Sunday, July 5, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway...
3) Sandy Lee (center) and Jim Daley (2nd from left) in victory lane at NHMS...
4) Just some of the fleet of Sportsman cars lee and Daley own at Sheppard Racing Enterprises in Deland...
Attached Files