Regional Touring Series

Short-track racers in the eastern United States can hone their skills in at least two viable, thriving touring series.

The UARA-STARS tour in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Tennessee, and the FASCAR Goodyear Late Model Challenge Series in Florida draw veterans and youngsters alike to Late Models, offering a nice blend of experienced drivers and up-and-comers.

UARA-STARS is an acronym for United Auto Racing Association-Southern Touring Auto Racing Series, while FASCAR stands for Florida Association of Stock Car Racing.

Goodyear, the tire manufacturer, is a thread, make that tread, that runs through these two series. Goodyear is the tire supplier for the UARA-STARS, which started in 2002, and is obviously title sponsor of the FASCAR series.

The UARA runs a 16-race series over a wide swath in the Southeast. Kerry Bodenhamer is president of the series, which competed at half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway this summer.

Jake Crum, a 15-year-old driver from Statesville, North Carolina, pilots a Chevy in UARA.

"I feel like the series is great for me because I will get the feel of running with older and good race car drivers," says Crum. "I have been running in the Summer Shootout Series [in a Legends Car at Lowe's Motor Speedway] and my dad and I feel like we needed to move to the next level. Hopefully we can come out with a championship this year."

Then there's 16-year-old Casey Holt of Greenville, Tennessee.

"When moving up, we looked at all the other series and felt like the UARA was the best series going for the cost and competition level," says Holt, who drives a Chevy. "After moving from the Allison Legacy Series, where I did very well, the UARA touring series runs tracks all over the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee. Coming to Bristol and running a track that the Craftsman Trucks, Busch and Nextel Cup [cars] run is to me just an added bonus."

Scott Bishop, a 15-year-old from Inman, South Carolina, says, "I feel like the series is great for me because I get to run with older drivers and really good race car drivers. I was running Pro Trucks in Florida with Matt Martin and Jamie Skinner. We wanted to start racing close to home. For my start of UARA, I just want to make the races and hope to start winning. UARA is a lot harder than racing in Florida."

One name that is probably familiar to racers is Debra Renshaw Parker. She's 27, a Chevy driver from Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the only female in the series.

The Bristol race was her first appearance with the UARA this year.

"I have run with the UARA one other time at Nashville Fairgrounds a few years back," Renshaw says. "Bristol is a great track to go for a rookie and a veteran alike. For the rookies, they will learn how to gain valuable seat time and learn from some of the veterans who have been to Bristol.

"Also, it's very important for them to give respect while soaking everything in like a sponge. Eventually, they will get it back. For me, being at Bristol is great. I have raced in truck races at the 'Bowl' and have loved every second.

"Racing with young racers, like 15-year-olds, makes me a little nervous, but I was 15 once myself and would have dreamed of racing at Bristol."

And here's the series champion from 2003, 37-year-old Lee Tissot, who drives a Ford.

"UARA is a great division to race in," says Tissot. "It's a good place for young drivers and crews to gain valuable experience. Bristol is a track where things happen before you can react to it. You need patience, spotters on top of their game, and a lot of luck. And don't forget, if you give respect and courtesy, you'll get it back."

FASCAR
Now to the Sunshine State.

The 14-race Goodyear Late Model Challenge Series is in its sixth season under that label. It started some 12 years ago when FASCAR's Don Nerone was then associated with Hooters, and it carried the somewhat contradictory label of "Late Model Sportsman" under the banner of Jackaroo.

The series runs 12 races each year around the Florida peninsula with stops at USA International Speedway (Lakeland), New Smyrna Speedway, Columbia Motorsports Park (Ellisville), Ocala Speedway, and Bronson Motor Speedway, with distances ranging from 11/43 to 11/42 mile.

Joe Winchell, a 50-year-old veteran from Dade City, explains the attraction of the series.

"I've done the Super Lates where you come to practice a day early [and] throw on new tires, but I very seldom come a day early and I put on one set of tires for the weekend," he says. "It's a good way to run and you can make your money back if you run in the Top 5."

Winchell says it's the end of his career, basically, and it's something to do on the weekends to have some fun. And five career wins in the past several years doesn't hurt.

Another competitor in the Challenge Series is 43-year-old Chuck Burkhalter, a 26-year racing veteran and a track champion who started out driving for his dad, who also drove for 30 years. His brother, Don'l Jr., is his crew chief.

Does Chuck feel uneasy with the youngsters?

"No, not really," he says. "A few of them you kind of watch when you get started and stuff like that. I'm not going to say I do drive a little bit different, but somebody like Joe [Winchell] I would pull up alongside of and not think about it and, yeah, with the younger guy I would think about it and see how comfortable they are before I commit myself."

Probably like a Cup driver going to Busch and running against young competitors.

"Yeah," says Burkhalter, "we see that every week on TV and when the Busch drivers come into Cup."

Then there's 14-year-old Monte Carlo driver Drew Brannon from Miami, who started in go-karts at age 4 and moved up the ladder, including Pro Truck two years ago.

"We wanted to run a series that stays in Florida, and a lot of people we know from back when, they were into it and it's been good to us," says Brannon, who is third in the rookie points.

Justin Larson, from Safety Harbor, Florida, might, at age 19, be classed as a veteran beginner, if we may use an oxymoron. He's in his second year of Late Models and won an event in Orlando last April.

So, what's it like running in a series like this, where you have veterans such as Joe Winchell, Chuck Burkhalter, and others?

"It's good. I mean, you can learn from them just as well as in the Super Late Models," says Larson. "I actually find these cars harder to drive than the Supers because these things are so heavy (2,700 to 2,900 pounds).

"It's a traveling series, so you get to run at a bunch of different tracks and you get to run with some of those veteran guys. Most of the tracks we run in this series, we also run in the Super Lates."