The ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series moved to the superspeedway at Talledega, Alabama for the Winn-Dixie 300. The race, which featured nine cautions and included injuries to four drivers, ended under yellow flag conditions with David Keith in the VisualBible.com Ford in the lead. For Keith, it was his first ever race at Talledega and only his 14th ARCA start.
Keith, who had previously won races at Daytona and Michigan, has now won three of his four superspeedway starts. With a record like that, I wonder when someone in the NASCAR Busch Series or Winston Cup might be picking him up for next season. Tim Steele, currently second in the season points standings finished third and inched closer to points leader Frank Kimmel, who finished 13th. Crowd favorite Shawna Robinson finished 6th and ran as high as 3rd during the race, however it appeared that no other drivers were willing to draft with her, and she was unable to take advantage of the outstanding performance of her Ford. The implication from the Official ARCA website is that this may have been due to her sex, and if this is the case, it would seem that ARCA's drivers have not yet reached the level of sportsmanship that drivers in some of the other series have reached.
Off the track, ARCA announced that for the 2001 season, sponsorship will shift from Bondo/Mar-Hyde to Re/max Realtors. The ARCA Re/Max Series, as it will officially be known will kick off the 2001 season at Daytona on February 11. I'm sure a lot of fans will miss Bondo/Mar-Hyde's sponsorship, but at the same time welcome Re/Max into the world of stock car racing.
American Speed Association (ASA) Update
Veteran Butch Miller won the final ASA event of the 2000 season, the BF Goodrich 200 at Gateway International Raceway, but season belonged to Gary St.Amant, who won the Season Points Championship at Winchester on October 1. Miller fought off rookie Scott Wimmer for the final 43 laps to take the checkered flag.
In the race for Rookie of the Year, Joey Clanton edged out Robbie Pyle. Clanton, who took the pole position for the race, had mechanical problems and finished 27th, while Pyle came up just short of the title by finishing 8th.
In a side note, Scott Wimmer will be leaving ASA to begin running the Busch Grand National Circuit next season. After finishes like this one at Gateway, it seems certain that Scott will stand a good chance of being in the running for Rookie of the Year in that series.
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