Persistent rains in recent weeks have caused numerous cancellations and postponements in the local motorsports world, and one major casualty is the 28th annual Augusta Southern Nationals drag-boat races that were set for July 19-21.
Race organizers say the unusually high water flow in the Savannah River would make for unsafe racing conditions. They say the normal river flow during the race is about 7,000 cubic feet per second, but current flows are in the 40,000 range and are expected to continue for several weeks.
The increased water flow is in large part because of releases by the U.S. Corps of Engineers from rain-swollen reservoirs upstream.
The race will not be run this year, but the drag-boat circuit will return to Augusta on July 18-20.
After a water-logged Fourth of July weekend that saw local races washed out right and left, local short-track drivers and fans are hoping the clouds part for this weekend’s scheduled events.
At Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, the Fayetteville-based United Sprint Car Series will headline a racing program that includes Dixie’s regular stock-car drivers.
USCS President Pete Walton said he expects drivers from at least nine states to compete at Dixie. Among them are defending series champion and current points leader Tim Crawley from Benton, Ark., and second-place Derek Hagar from Marion, Ark. Hagar leads the series with six wins this season, and Crawley is next with five.
The World Crown 300 Late Model race, washed out last week at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson has been rescheduled for Aug. 10.
The Southern Super Series already was set to run that day at Gresham, so the change means a net result of one fewer race at the track, but the series has added a race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Sept. 7.
Daniel Hemric, who lives in Kannapolis, N.C., but drives for the Woodstock-based Carswell Racing team, is the series points leader after eight races, with Senoia’s Bubba Pollard in second place, 19 points behind Hemric.
Age record: If there are no late entries for this weekend's Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire, Morgan Shepherd is set to drive his way into the NASCAR record book as the oldest driver to run a Cup race.
Shepherd, 71, is entered as the driver of Brian Keselowski’s No. 52 Toyota, and because there are only 43 drivers entered and there are 43 starting spots, Shepherd is virtually assured of a starting spot.
By taking the green flag Sunday, Shepherd, who several years ago towed his race car to New Hampshire with his motor coach, will break the record held by the late Jim Fitzgerald, who raced at Riverside International Raceway on June 21, 1987, when he was 65 years, 6 months and 20 days old.
Fitzgerald was an accomplished road racer, an instructor at Road Atlanta in Braselton and a teammate of actor Paul Newman. He was killed in a Trans Am race at St. Petersburg, Fla., on Nov. 8, 1987, just months after setting NASCAR’s age record.
Fitzgerald made only two Cup starts, both of them on the former road course at Riverside, Calif. On his record-setting run he drove a Chevrolet owned by Rick Hendrick and finished 17th in a race won by his Hendrick teammate, the late Tim Richmond.
Late Model Busch: Kyle Busch made a triumphant return to Late Model racing this week as he ran away from the field to win the Howie Lettow Memorial Late Model race at the Milwaukee Mile on Tuesday night. Other NASCAR drivers in the race included Johnny Sauter, who finished third, Joe Nemechek (sixth), David Ragan (ninth), David Stremme (14th), Kenny Wallace (26th) and Matt Kenseth (41st).
