Bristol Motor Speedway
Notebook: Cleveland, North Georgia try again
From track and staff reports
Weather hasn't been the kindest to two Monty Morrow-promoted tracks, North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth, Ga., and Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway, but the Southern ovals will try again on April 11-12 with a pair of special events. Each track will pay $3,000 to the winner of Super Late Model events with North Georgia's action on Friday and Cleveland's action on Saturday. Cleveland's race is the fifth annual Lamar Lowry Memorial. — Steve Hixson
NEAR-MISS FOR SHELTRA: Patrick Sheltra of Indiantown, Fla., focuses on his ARCA program these days, but he had a near-miss in his Dirt Late Model at Florence Speedway's Spring 50 in Union, Ky., on April 5. Sheltra took command early in the unsanctioned $5,000-to-win race and was out front with fewer than 10 laps remaining when a tangle with a lapped car knocked him out of the lead. “We should have used our head a little more," Sheltra said. "We had seven or eight laps to go. I think we should have waited a little bit longer to get by them. We started fifth there and the car was little tight at the beginning, then it really started to come into it." — James Essex
NO CHEATERS ALLOWED: Only at a dirt track, where everyone's looking for an edge, does a track like Toccoa (Ga.) Speedway have to spell out specific rules for a wheelbarrow race. You know cheating minds are at work when the track has to outlaw two-wheel wheelbarrows, motorized wheelbarrows and specify that "homemade wheelbarrows will be allowed but must pass tech." The other clue you're at the dirt track? You can't participate without a $10 entry free. — From track reports
SUPR PURSE INCREASED AT GREENVILLE: The first stop for the O'Reilly SUPR tour at Greenville (Miss.) Speedway at April 12 will see a purse increase for the series. Most events pay $2,500 to the winner, but Greenville's event will pay $3,000 to the winner, $1,500 for second and $1,200 for third. — From track reports
BONUS FOR MACK: With his second-place finish in the April 5 O'Reilly MSRA event at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., Joey Mack of Benton, Mo., received a $500 bonus from GRT Race Cars as the highest finishing GRT driver. — Ben Shelton
MITCHAM MEMORIAL SET FOR MAY 2: The second annual Kenneth Mitcham Memorial is scheduled for May 2 at Dixie Speedway in Farmerville, La. Details of the race haven't been firmed up, but call the track at (318) 366-4582 for more information. Mitcham, a long-time racer from Strong, Ark., was killed in a April 29, 2007, Dirt Late Model accident at Greenville (Miss.) Speedway. — From track reports
