WE ARE ...
LATE MODEL STOCK CARS!

Rockingham Felt Like Old Times for Corey and Many More ...

WE ARE ...
LATE MODEL STOCK CARS!

Just Like Old Times....

Rockingham. In my opinion, the most competitive track that NASCAR has ever raced at. The track was almost forever lost, but thanks to Andy Hillenburg and his staff, what was old is new again. And they did it just right.

On February 22, 2004 Matt Kenseth edged Kasey Kane at the line by a mere 2 feet to claim the win in the Subway 400. We all saw the writing on the wall though, with NASCAR hosting races at the super tough mile track in the dead of Winter, it was destined to fail. And so it happened. With the combination of the Ferko lawsuit and low attendance, "The Rock" lost it's lone racedate and looked to fall in the same category as North Wilkesboro, wasting away. But just a little over 6 months ago Andy Hillenburg bought the track at an absolute auction for just a tick over 4 million, and promised that withing 6 months there would be

Fans show their excitement or racing's return to Rockingham Motor Speedway in Rockingham, NC, a track that sat idle for four years after NASCAR pulled away racing in the top three NASCAR series.

racing there again. May 4th, 2008 comes along and there we were, sitting in the grandstands once more for the running of the first event of a new era, the ARCA Remax Series "Carolina 500".

As I pulled into the speedway, it almost gave me chills. Remembering the epic battles between Petty, Yarborough, Earnhardt, Elliott and Allison, it almost seemed I was at hallowed ground, and really I was. I parked the car and just stood out beside it for a moment looking around. Everything there was better than before. Fresh paint on eveything. The flags that are in the starters stand are now flying above the grandstands all the way around the track. Campers on the backstretch, and all throughout the drag strip parking area across the street. It was 3 hours before racetime but I had to go in and just sit down, after all, this was where it all started for me 28 years ago.

As racetime approached, you could see the effort that the track was putting into the event was something to behold. Tony Stewart along with Bobby and Donnie Allison had some good banter in the infield on the PA, with Tony calling Bobby his hero, and saying that Donnie was kinda "shady". It was classic. A local High School marching band played a few songs, some Harleys made a lap and then it was time for pre-race activities.

The pre-race rivaled that of a CUP race in every way. Josh Gracin sang the National Anthem, and right on que, 3 Blackhawk

Andy Hillenburg(center) is the man behind the rebirth of Rockingham Motor Speedway and he's gained the respect of thousands of fans by giving us racing back in Rockingham!

helicopters flew overhead. I was ready for racing at Rockingham, and it was gonna be new for all of us in so many ways. We had short sleeve shirts on, and that has NEVER happened at a race there before. It was time to drop the rag and I didn't even have thermals on, this was great.

As Gibbs Racing sensation Joey Logano led the field into turn one, another added surprise happened. As the leaders approached each turn, cherry bombs went off high in the sky behind the wall. I thought that in itself was one of the coolest things ever. The cars fanned out from the wall to the apron in the turns and were racing hard. The fireworks were awesome, but the fireworks on the track were just starting.

One thing about ARCA that i've never understood is the quality of cars from top to bottom. While Joey Logano was clicking off fast laps, he was catching the rear of the field by lap 5. With cars running 20

Joey Logano(25) does a burnout after burning out the rest of the 46-car ARCA Re-Max Series field in the seasons biggest race for the top tier series.

m.p.h. slower than the leaders, the first and biggest wreck of the day happened off turn 2, taking out some lappers and 2nd through 4th in the process. It was the first of many.

As the day wore on, it was clear that Logano was in a league of his own. Back in the pack, the experience factor came into play as Ken Shrader went from 31st to the top 10 in under 25 laps. And the 9-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel was coming with him. I thought they might have something for Joey, but I was extremely wrong.

Logano may have ran away with the lead, but that doesn't mean there was not good racing to be had. 3 and sometimes 4 wide was seen on nearly every lap. This and having drivers with limited experience resulted in 13 cautions on the day, and even with that Logano almost lapped the field at one point. It didn't matter, it was still better than anything i've seen on the TV in a long while.

As the laps clipped off in the 312 lap race, the winner was pretty much known. But that thinking almost changed with 10 to go. A late race caution and Logano headed to the pits for new rubber. ARCA had limited the teams to 6 sets of tires, and with the abrasive surface, all the teams had used their sets, except for Logano, he was so fast he still had a set saved. He said after the race he never ran the car hard and what he did at the end proved it. Starting 5th, he took the green and by turn 2 he was leading again. That was domination.

Joey may have stunk up the race, but it didn't affect the overall perception of the day. It was a success. Some newspapers gave

"The Dream", "The Next Big Thing" or "Sliced Bread", whatever you call him, Joey Logano has set the racing world on fire over the last couple of years and his fire continued at Rockingham where he scored the biggest win of his career about two months before he climbs aboard a NASCAR Nationwide car.

them some flack about the grandstands not being full, but hey, the place holds like 40,000 now with the removal of the back grandstands, it's still massive. I'd say counting the suites, infield and grandstands there was 25,000 give or take. Very good for any ARCA race and Rome wasn't built in a day. And the presentation and effort the track put into it was second to none. The staff made you feel at home, and truly loved whatever it was they were there to do. The fans loved it, the drivers loved it, and I loved it. I was back at home once more. As I walked out the gate after nearly everybody was gone, a lone track worker was at one of the ticket gates and said " God bless you and hope to see you soon". You don't have to worry about that one.

Photos by Doc Love & Corey Latham

Audio Below by Kick'n Asphalt's Doc Love ...

Joey Logano on his impression of "The ROCK"!

Joey Logano talks about ARCA's limitation on tires ...

Joey Logano tells us who he learned about Rockingham from

Joey Logano on adjusting to racing at Rockingham ...

Joey Logano talks about racing Ken Schrader for the win ...

Andy Hillenburg talks about his impression of Joey Logano ...