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Press Releases about Zack
Boys & Girls Start Your Engines!
By George Diaz
Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
June 17, 2003
SAMSULA -- A full moon dots the black sky as drivers scramble for position.
They clutch their steering wheels firmly in this fast-paced parade of cars,
engines humming as they gather speed around the track.
Suddenly, there is trouble on Turn 3. Two cars collide, sending one of them
spinning into a retaining wall of wires along the edge of the track. The
driver appears unhurt, but instinctively, he looks around for Mommy or
Daddy. Then he starts crying.
Dad pulls him out
of the car, unhooks his helmet and kisses the top of his head. An emergency
paramedic jumps the short wall to make sure nothing hurts besides feelings.
All the cars are
red-flagged to a stop until the situation gets sorted out, and the driver's
car is dragged into pit road. Then a man positioned above the starting line
drops the green flag again. Kids are racin' again at the Lil' New Smyrna
Speedway.
Spinning in circles at 40 mph around a 1/20th-of-a-mile track
definitely stretches the boundaries of recreational sports for little ones.
But since Jan 1,
2001, anywhere from 60 to 80 kids, ages 5 to 15, gather at an adjacent track
to the one where the big boys play to race quarter-midget cars (a miniature
sprint car). Everyone is welcome: from clumsy beginners who play bumper
cars, to kids with great potential, to the son of a NASCAR veteran with his
own sponsors and Web site.
Whatever the experience level, the scramble of speed is more exhilarating
than haphazardly kicking a soccer ball around the pitch or standing in right
field daydreaming while a fly ball whizzes over your head. For most folks,
anyway.
"It makes me more
nervous when she leaves the house on her bicycle," race dad Mark Goodrich
said.
He is the "crew
chief" for his 10-year-old daughter Mary Clare Goodrich ("just like the
tire!"). Her quarter-midget car includes a few personalized fashion
accessories: Tweety Bird holding a mallet on the front of the car, "but my
favorite is Sylvester in the back," she said.
Mary Clare has been racing for four months. Goodrich, a divorced dad from
Daytona Beach, brought Mary Clare to see the show one Wednesday night. She
nudged his arm, asking whether she could take a spin. Daddy has a hard time
saying "no."
He bought a used
car and the mandatory safety equipment. "You can probably get in for $2,000
[without a trailer]," he said. "We're doing the best we can on a working
man's budget."
And there was another critical investment: Signing Mary Clare up for lessons
at Finishline Racing School.
It's a family business for Mike and Kristal Loescher. He has been teaching
since 1988 after retiring as a NASCAR modified driver. Kristal, formerly
Mike's "all-girl pit crew," wound up getting behind the wheel herself,
making her racing debut in 1987, winning rookie of the year and finishing
second in points in the Florida Modified division.
After moving to the
Daytona Beach area in 1978, they set up a "big school" (adults) for racing.
Their clientele included four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon -- then
a 14-year-old kid driving sprint cars -- and Jamie McMurray, who emerged as
a top rookie at the end of the Winston Cup season in 2002.
The Loeschers then decided to expand their scope of influence in 2002
shortly after the little ones started racing at Samsula. An introductory
session is $200, allowing kids to test-drive a quarter midget before parents
have to dig way deeper into their wallets.
School's in every
Saturday morning. After a brief orientation, "Coach Mike" -- the kids
following him like the Pied Piper -- puts stripes of masking tape down on
the track as visual reference points. The stripes are essential to follow
the "line" -- the spots along the track that give a driver the least amount
of steering necessary to get the car through the corner. The kids then push
the cars without the motors running, following the line set by Coach Mike.
The key is
repetitive reinforcement, hoping that on race night -- without the aid of
markers -- the kids will visualize the proper line. Finally, it's time to
rev up the motors.
Katy Muir, the Loeschers' catch-all assistant, gives the kids Q-tips to
clean their ears. She then puts a small, foam roll in each ear. Coach Mike
will use radio communication with each individual during his or her 10-lap
session, just like NASCAR's big boys do on Sunday afternoons.
"Pick it up! Watch your line!" he tells Robbie Schneider, a student who
started in the spring. "We're going green the next lap."
Practice runs are
kept at 10 laps to avoid drops in attention spans and to ensure a smoother,
more enjoyable run. Muir keeps a fan on the drivers after their runs while
Mike and Kristal gather time sheets to evaluate every lap.
After the practice
sessions, Mike Loescher gathers the kids in a semi-circle. He grabs an
aerial picture of the track, and using Hot Wheels as props, he demonstrates
where the trouble spots are for the kids -- whether they went too high or
too low on the track.
Sitting in plastic chairs and sipping drinks, the kids listen to Coach
Mike's on-the-spot analysis. His style is upbeat, managing to filter
essential information without going over their heads. "You can go from a
hero to a zero," Coach Mike said, "just like that."
There are no Little
League parents in the stands. If Coach Mike hears an adult yelling at his
kid, he gives him a fire suit and helmet. "Show me how good you are,"
Loescher tells him. That usually gets him to shut up. Everyone will gather
back at the track in 10 days for Wednesday's race night. This time, they'll
be racing for real.
Mary Clare is
racing her scooter around the track, burning off nervous energy with the
other kids before the races start at 7 p.m. Folks filter into the concession
stands for the usual assortment of burgers, fries and hot dogs.
Zack Donatti arrives with
his father, Tom, driving a trailer that includes the names of sponsors of
Donatti Racing (mostly friends and business associates who chip in a couple
of hundred bucks a year), and a picture of Zack.
The Donattis are
hooked, big-time. Zack
was struggling, and on the verge of quitting, until he signed up with the
Loeschers. "We need help," Tom Donatti told them.
Zack became their first
student. Within three weeks, he pushed himself to the front of the pack. Now
Zack is the points
leader in the Junior Honda division here and in Apopka, where there is
another track for quarter midgets.
"You can see here
safety is my main issue," Tom Donatti said. "Everything is top notch."
Donatti estimates his start-up costs between $3,000 and $3,500. They since
have escalated to about $30,000 for a setup that includes two race cars.
"Once you get hooked on it, you want more speed, and you start buying," Tom
Donatti said.
Zack has justified his
father's investment by winning 23 races to become the Junior Honda champion
last season.
Kids race in eight
divisions, starting at Junior Novice and progressing to Heavy 160
classification. There usually are qualifying heats in each division, then a
final race featuring an average of six or seven cars. The prize is the
competitive rush and a little sticker for the inside of the car.
Every Wednesday, a
racer is picked randomly to drive around the track with a flag waving atop
his car while someone sings the national anthem. "We all got five minutes
for this country," said Bob Stoekel, president of the New Smyrna Quarter
Midget Association.
Stoekel, whose sons
Kyle (15) and Cory (14) compete in quarter midgets, is the point man on race
night. About a half-hour before races begin, he grabs a microphone and goes
over racing protocol from a small wooden tower above the track.
Ten minutes before
the show, Stoekel gathers all the kids in the middle of the track for a
group photo that will be put in the yearly program.
As the heats begin, Zack
prepares for his first run, strapping on his helmet as his father offers
last-minute instructions.
"Leave some room
between you and the other car, you hear me?" he said.
Grandpa Dennis Kirsch gives Zack
a thumbs-up as Zack
clicks on the engine. Zack
goes from the third starting spot on the inside to take the lead in his
heat, and he holds on to win.
As he pulls into pit road, Zack
gets a kiss from Dad and a "good-job" affirmation. Grandpa then slips a $20
bill in Zack's
palm. "A little payola," Kirsch said.
Mary Clare is next.
She struggles, qualifying third in her heat.
"I talked to
Kristal, and she was squaring the corners," Mary Clare said before going off
on her scooter again with a couple of friends.
After eating a
granola bar, Zack
gets into his car again for the final. He slices inside and takes the lead
on the fifth lap, but as the cars go three-wide on a narrow turn, another
driver bumps into Zack's
car, bringing out a caution.
Zack tries to take the
lead once the race resumes but can't get past a driver continually blocking
him. Zack finishes
second by a nose as Tom Donatti implores race officials to call an
infraction.
"Are you guys going
to do something about this?" he said. "This is ridiculous!"
Stoekel brushes off
the passionate plea. "This happens in any sport when children and parents
are involved," he said. "It's the heat of the moment, but folks usually calm
down."
Zack goes to the family
trailer and grabs a sip of Gatorade, not particularly bummed out over the
circumstances. There's always next week, and there's still $20 tucked inside
his race suit.
He's away from the
track when Mary Clare -- after snacking on an apple and a peanut butter and
butter sandwich -- stalls on the first lap of her final race. After a
restart, she spins and is involved in a three-car accident. Nothing is
bruised but egos. There have been no major injuries here since they started
running in 2001.
But it's also the
end of the night for Mary Clare. She grabs her scooter while her crew chief
tries to repair the front end of the car that has a bend in it.
"As they
say," Mark Goodrich said, "that's racin' " |
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May
27, 2003
For Immediate Release:
Lil’ New Smyrna Speedway, located inside of the “Big”
New Smyrna Speedway in Samsula, FL, hosted this years Quarter Midget
“States” Race. This event started on Sunday; May 25, with the finals taking
place on Monday; May 26, 2003. On Sunday the 2002 Jr. Honda Champion, Zack
Donatti, set a new track record in the heat of the day. Donatti blistered
the track with a record run of 6.560 seconds, blowing the old track record
out the window. This qualified him for the pole position in the A Main which
ran on Monday. QMA Rules mandate that the top 4 positions have to be
inverted, that relegated Donatti to the outside of the second row.
After maneuvering his way to the front, an altercation
with another race car resulted in Donatti being forced to the pits with a
flat tire. Before the checkered flag fell on lap 30, Donatti had to fight
his way from last place “twice” and finally took the win in the 2003 States
Race.
The States Race qualifies drivers to participate in the
National QM events.
The Donatti Race Team will be attending the Eastern
Grands and also traveling to Gasoline Alley for “Mini Indy” from July 10-13,
2003.
Zack Donatti is a 2002 graduate of the FinishLine
Quarter Midget Race School.
For more information about the school visit
www.quartermidget.biz.
For more information about Zack Click Here to
contact Donatti Racing.
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