Story By: ANDREW REIGEL / SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES – LAKE CITY, FL – Florida Bound. After wet weather nixed the scheduled event at Lake View Motor Speedway in Nichols, S.C., Feb. 2-4, the 10th anniversary Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco season now gets underway in the Sunshine State.
All-Tech Raceway in Lake City, Fla., hosts the annual ‘Sunshine Swing’ Feb. 7-11 with an open practice on Tuesday and racing nightly Wednesday through Saturday at the Wendell Durrance-promoted facility.
Many of the top names in dirt-track Modified racing will be in STSS Modified action including:
- Last season’s leading winner Matt Sheppard of Savannah, N.Y.
- Stewart Friesen of Sprakers, N.Y.
- Larry Wight of Fulton, N.Y.
- Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y.
- Alex Yankowski of Covington Township, Pa.
- Billy Pauch Jr. of Frenchtown, N.J.
- Danny Bouc of Pipersville, Pa.
- Marc Johnson of Guilderland, N.Y.
- Danny Creeden of Wurtsboro, N.Y.
- Jordan Watson of Milford, Del.
- Darren Smith of Binghamton, N.Y.
- Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y.
- David Schilling of East Greenbush, N.Y., and many more.
Austin Hubbard of Federalsburg, Md., returns to Florida competition, this time in a Modified, driving the Blades HVAC No. 65. Hubbard is a past Super Late Model star in February Speedweeks competition with victories at Golden Isles and Screven in Georgia.
STSS Modifieds from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and Quebec have already filed entries.
Wight is the defending ‘Sunshine Swing’ STSS Modified champion. Wight, Sheppard and Mike Maresca picked up victories last February.
STSS Modifieds compete for escalating purses throughout the week: $4,000-to-win for 30 laps Wednesday (Feb. 8), $5,000-to-win for 35 laps Thursday (Feb. 9), $6,000-to-win for 40 laps Friday (Feb. 10) and $8,000-to-win for 50 laps Saturday (Feb. 11).