Published: March 30, 2006 11:59 pm      

House does good by honoring Earnhardt

Congratulations to the Mississippi House of Representatives for passing a resolution designating April 29 as “Dale Earnhardt Day.”

It’s hard to believe it has been more than five years since Earnhardt died in a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500. That was a signature event for a lot of people (me included) because, love him or hate him, he meant so much to race car fans. Lawmakers in Mississippi and in other states realized that and have picked April 29 because it was Earnhardt’s birthday.

“Dale Earnhardt was a hero that we could all look up to,” State Rep. Eric Robinson, R-District 84, of Quitman, said. “We were proud that we could honor him in this way.”



To cold to race

The two races scheduled this past weekend in the Mississippi State Championship Championship Challenge Series were postponed due to cold weather.

The Friday night race, which was set for the Simpson County Motorpark near D’Lo, has been reset for April 7. The Saturday race, scheduled to be run in Byram at the Swinging Bridge Raceway, will be run on another date.

No MSCCS races are scheduled for this weekend but two will be on tap the following week. After the Simpson County race, the series moves to the Pike County Speedway near the McComb on April 8.

Chris Wall is the early leader in the MSCCS standings with 260 points, followed by Scott Dedwylder of Clarke County with 230 and Jay Blair with 225.



State series for Go-Karts

If the Late Models division can have a state-wide series like the MSCCS, why can’t there be one for go-karts?

That’s the question Randy Rawson, the owner of the Causeyville Raceway, asked late last year. Then he went to work to get one going.

The Mississippi Dirt Track Series for go-karts kicks off April 8 at the Causeyville Raceway. It will be a seven-race series that will make stops in Tupelo, Columbus and Stateline, and will wrap up in the Neshoba County Coliseum in Philadelphia on the first week of November.

“They were having state series for go-karts in Georgia and Florida,” Rawson said. “If they can do it, so can we.”

It is hoped the number of stops on the series will increase as interest builds next year. For more information, go to www.causeyvilleraceway.com on the Internet.

The local racing season got under way with the Ice Bowl races last Saturday at Causeyville. There was more than $10,000 to win among the divisions.

The top finishers were as follows:

- Rookie Purple: 1) Jarret Poole, 2) Sean Datuscin.

- Rookie Blue: 1) Blake Miley, 2) Johnathan Warnreke; 3) Terry Taylor.

- Rookie Gold: 1) Logan Blake; 2) Forrest Grifford; 3) Kyle Jimmerson.

- Stock Lite: 1) Randy Harrison, 2) Stephen Clifton; 3) Daniel Bridgmon.

- Stock Modified: 1) Stephen Clifton; 2) Jeffrey Maxwell; 3) Anthony Rawson.

- Stock Heavy: 1) Jeremy Barnes; 2) Bill Moffette; 3) Dwight Mosley.

- Super Heavy: 1)Jeremy Barnes; 2) Scott Williams.

- Open: 1) Marc Furrier, 2) Clint McCombs.

- Junior Pro: 1) Blake Miley, 2) Joseph Faulkmer. 3) Johnathan Warnreke.

Pro Class: 1) Randy Harvick; 2) Stephen Clifton; 3) Michael Palmitter.

There will be a regular season points races Saturday at Causeyville with the gates opening at 5 p.m. and the first races starting at 7 p.m.

Steve Swogetinsky writes a weekly racing column that runs Thursday in The Meridian Star. Please send any local news you might have or other comments to swog@hotmail.com.