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MacD Racing Partners Celebrate at the I-77 Speedway Banquet Myrtle Beach, SC (September 2, 2008) – Ronnie and Velma Mosley hosted the 2008 I-77 Speedway track and driver’s awards banquet this past Thursday night at the packed Chester Shriner’s Club in Chester, SC. We all enjoyed a delicious dinner with fried chicken and ham and it was terrific. The award ceremony was emceed by Mr. Joe Todd, who kept the audience laughing with his outrageous and funny commentary. Joe, along with Ronnie and Velma, presented awards to their dedicated and hardworking track staff. It was a nice opportunity to put names with faces and to applaud this dynamite team who make it possible for us to race at I-77 Speedway. I was extremely surprised and very proud that MacD Racing Partners received a special award from Velma thanking us for our continued support for the fans and the racing program at I-77 Speedway. I could not have been more shocked. The award was for the team and honored us for being “Ambassadors of Fun”. My sisters, Sue Murphy and Maureen Caine, along with our families and the teams we sponsor do what we do because we love it. We race because we love racing and we are fans for the same reason. The Mosleys have fostered an atmosphere of good family fun at I-77 Speedway and we are very proud to be a small part of it. Thank you, Ronnie and Velma. My family is very proud of our award. The evening progressed to the awards to the drivers. For MacD Racing Partners, awards went to Greg Murphy for 3rd place in Stock 4, David Scott for 2nd place in Stock 4 and Donnie Tanner for 2nd place in Limited Late Models. We might not have had the wins we’d hope for this season but we raced clean and had a lot of fun doing it. We can not wait to get back on the track in 2009. I have added some pictures from the banquet to the Friends of Team 65 Gallery and to the Team 65 and Sponsored Teams galleries.
Myrtle Beach (August 25, 2008) – The 2008 I-77 Speedway championship points season drew to a close this past Saturday night. David and Greg were settled on claiming the second and third place in the points race but who would finish where was not known until the checkered flag flew on the last Main. David finished second to Jerry Oliver in the heat race and Greg finished third. This started them fourth and sixth in the Main where Mark Towell (51X) started on the pole. Jerry quickly got to the front with David moving into second place, Towell back to third, Travis Greene, Jr. fourth and Greg fifth. The race continued like that until two laps to go when something in Greg’s motor broke and he coasted to the pits, ending his bid for a second place finish in the points. The race went to the checkered flag with Jerry Oliver winning for the umpteenth time, David Scott second (also for the umpteenth time), Mark Towell third, Travis Greene Jr., fourth and Mike Thomas (58) fifth. The championship goes to Jerry Oliver with David finishing second and Greg third. We are very proud of our guys for the awesome job they did this year. It was not the most winning season we have had but we had a lot of fun and loved being back at I-77 Speedway. Donnie Tanner was working on holding down second place in points in the Limited Late Model division points race. The championship was awarded to Billy Thompson (00) so Donnie was working to hold down the #2 spot for the season, his first in the late model. Donnie started the Main in 8th place and needed to finish 8th or better to secure second place for the season. Donnie got the car to 7th and advanced no further but that was all that was needed. Team 65 and MacD Racing Partners are so proud to have Donnie Tanner in our racing family. Donnie put his team together with parts bin specials and we think he did a fantastic job. We are very proud of his second place finish in the points.
MacD sponsored Jeff Graves had a good night in the Crate Late Model, getting a good fourth place finish in the main, which was won by Timbo Mangum (T1), followed by Ross Bailes (87) and Ray Dockery (8D). The third place finish by Dockery assured him the Crate Late Model division Championship! Our team congratulates Ray and Lee King Racing for their awesome run this year. Sam got a good picture of a truck full of drivers heading out for an autograph session.
This concludes the 2008 points season for Team 65. We will be back at I-77 Speedway for the Shriner’s race on September 6th and may show up at a few other races elsewhere after that. I will not be at the Shriner’s race because I will be at the World 100 at Eldora again this year. Good luck to everyone at the Shriner’s race!
Murphy Boys Time To Shine Myrtle Beach (August
9, 2008) Saturday was a disappointing but fun filled night for
Team 65 at I-77 Speedway. Our favorite late model driver, Donnie Tanner, had a tough night, dealing with handling issues, but managed to pull of a respectable 5th place finish. Donnie started and finished 3rd in his heat race, putting him 5th to start the main, and that is where he finished. There were a number of wrecks and cautions, Donnie raced hard but just couldn't get Cletus to do any more. Donnie is currently 2nd in the points race, not too bad, for his first year at this track driving a worn out old car with a worn out old motor!!!! There were 2 very special racing events at I-77 this week. The kids got to race there bikes on the track. This was so much fun for everyone. The kids loved it. There were about 60 kids racing in 3 divisions. The Murphy twins and the Tanner kids all participated and we are very proud of how well they did. The Murphy twins took their training wheels off the morning of the race, learned how to ride without them, and did a great job.
The other event was a race between our own, Donnie Tanner, Ray Dockery, driver of the 8D crate model, and Lee King, owner of the 8D. They lined up at the start line on the tricycles. Lee King cheated and had a bicycle, he was allowed to race it because it was so small and he tried to really ride it. Donnie and Ray were just a bit smarter and put a foot up and pushed the trikes to the finish line. Ray won the race, Donnie placed 2nd and Lee place 3rd. The racers were all sporting lovely handbags and Donnie matched his with a beautiful hat made by his daughter. Julia.
A Crushing Disappointment Myrtle Beach, SC (July 28, 2008) – After taking last week off Team 65 was ready to hit the track running this week. David and Greg lined up 1st and 3rd in their heat and quickly set the pace with David winning and Greg following closely in second. That set them up to start 2nd and 4th in the Main. The car both reported to the line up but when it came time to move out onto the track, David’s car would not start. Greg pushed David onto the track and half way around before the car finally had to get pushed by the track officials back to the pits. The crew tried everything they could but they could not get the car to start. There was no electrical power at all. Unfortunately, the track officials could not wait for David and the race started without him. Greg moved into second place on the start and followed leader Jerry Oliver (#51) the entire race. It was Greg’s best finish of the year but the disappointment of David’s inability to start was overwhelming. Not only did he not finish, he did not get any points for the race and lost the point lead. With just two points races left in the season the championship is now all but out of reach. The team will regroup and try again on August 9th and hope for the best.
Donnie Tanner (#22) looked good again this week in the limited late model. Donnie started 4th and fell back a few spots to settle into sixth place, where he finished. There is still some work to be done to get that car just right so good; solid finishes are helping to get there. A Welcome Rest Myrtle Beach, SC (July 21, 2008) – David Scott and Greg Murphy took the weekend off from racing this past weekend so there are no racing results to post for Team 65. In addition, the Late Model division also had the weekend off this week so Donnie Tanner did not race. David had the opportunity to work this weekend so was not at the race track but the rest of us packed up our stuff and took our usual spot in the pits with the race trailer. With just a few weekends of points racing left in the season we opted to not risk any damage to our race cars. I know there were a lot of puzzled looks because we were there without our race cars, but you have to remember that we are also race fans. We love what we do and we are there to support our racing friends and the race track even on non-points race weekends. We have attended and raced in each of the prior non-points weekends but with David Scott working this weekend we took the opportunity to give our drivers the night off and we were all able to be just fans for a change.
Sue and Greg Murphy were extremely proud to be able to sponsor Ray Dockery (#8D) and King Racing this weekend with some tires for their late model. Ray was one of the fastest qualifiers for Saturday night’s big $2,000 to win, 40 lap Fastrak Racing Series crate late model race. Ray’s car was strong the entire race and he finished an awesome second place, right on the bumper of winner Owen Osteen (#20). We could not have been more happy for Ray had he been one of our own cars. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful but fun. MacD Racing sponsored Jeff Graves finished a very strong second place to Ben Watkins (#71) in the Super Street division. Way to go Jeff! We get back to the real deal this coming weekend with a full night of racing and we can’t wait. Our buddy, Clifford Zerfoss, recovered from two disastrous weekends of racing at Jennerstown Speedway (www.jennerstown.com) in Jennerstown, Pennyslvania this Saturday night to post is his first win of the season in the Hobby Stock division. Our team congratulates Cliff on his win!!
Myrtle Beach, SC (July 14, 2008) – Good, solid finishes for both David and Greg this week capped off another great night of racing at I-77 Speedway. With a disappointing 6 cars in the Super Stock 4 field this week the track ran just one heat race. The finishing order of that one heat set up the starting field for the Main. Jerry Oliver (#51) won the heat race followed by David Scott (#65), Greg Murphy (#65M), Bill Hyatt (#21) and Elizabeth Still (#12). Oliver was given the option of starting inside or outside pole and he selected the outside. Oliver quickly got to the front but David pressured him hard for the first few laps. After Jerry got the handle on his car he stretched his lead to three our four car lengths and never looked back. Jerry got the win followed by Scott, Murphy, Hyatt and Still. After finishing 2nd to Oliver just about every week this season we opted to protest the #51 car. The parts we protested were found legal and Oliver’s win stood. Our team remembers when we were on a winning streak at Carolina Speedway a couple of years ago when Jerry’s car owner, Vernon Skidmore, protested us at least 8 or 9 times out of the 13 times we won that season. We guess it’s time to give Vernon some of his money back. Nobody likes to do it but sometimes you have to look. We obviously have some work to do to make our cars more competitive and we plan to do just that. This was the weekend that Donnie Tanner brought back the rebuilt Cletus. After a terrible crash two weeks ago Donnie and the boys worked long days and late nights to get the car back together and ready to race. The car looked awesome in the heat race and Donnie finished a strong third. In the main, Trey Baucom (#93) was unable to start so Donnie moved up from his fifth place starting position to third. He dropped back to fifth after the green flag and was getting his groove when something obviously broke on the car. He slowed and drove a few more laps but eventually brought the car to the pits. He was scored with a 7th place finish. Not exactly the stellar performance the team was hoping for but a good night for points and a safe, clean finish. Sometimes things change
in racing so that old rivals can become friends. Greg started racing in
the Rookie 4 division and for several years competed against veteran 4-cylinder
driver Henry Duffield. Henry drove the “sheriff” #92 car.
Henry’s son Josh is driving the race car in the family these days
and the car is the pink #20. Young Josh has looked up to “Mr. Greg”
for advice and assistance and it’s our pleasure to be able to help.
On Saturday night Josh had a run in with the wall during the heat race
and needed some help so brought the car to our pit for Greg to lend a
hand. They managed to get the car good enough to start the Main and finish
in the top 10.
Maureen, with the help of Donnie and Elizabeth's daughter, Julia, did the kid's candy drop in the pits again this week. This week's candy sponsorship was in memory of Elijah Bowles, a close friend of the anonymous candy sponsor. This week the kids got fun glow sticks and jewelry in addition to all the candy they could cart away.
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Storm Clouds Brew at I-77 Speedway Myrtle Beach, SC (June 28, 2008) – We have faced a chance of rain just about every Saturday night this race season, but nothing like this past Saturday. With heavy showers all around the speedway, including directly across the street, teams and fans took a chance and headed out for a great night of racing. They were not disappointed. As news came in that rain had cancelled the show at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney and then Lancaster Speedway in Lancaster, it seemed almost certain that we would also get soaked. Except for a few drops of rain here and there and a couple of bolts of lightning the weather slowly improved as the sun even arrived for a beautiful sunset. Along with the sun came a lot of fans and race teams from Cherokee and Lancaster. It could not have been a better night for them to join us as the Scottish Rite “Rite Care” race presented by the Shriner’s was about to get underway. With the pits full and the stands crowded a night of racing got underway.
David Scott started on
the pole in his heat race and won, setting him up to start on the pole
in the Main. Greg started outside pole in his heat but did not have
the chance to finish. Coming out of turn two Greg was unceremoniously
bumped by Jerry Oliver (#51), sliding him right into the path of oncoming
Jamie Seymoure (#55). The resulting damage was too much to repair during
the short heat race so Greg limped the car back to the pits, setting
him to start last in the Main. The resulting fireworks in the pits between
the #51 crew and our #65m crew escalated into a pretty heated shouting
match. Our team was frustrated that Oliver popped Greg in the turn,
giving him no chance of recovery, when he could have made a clean pass
on the backstretch. Oliver told Greg “I have a fast car”
as his reason for the bump. This is obvious as Jerry has won practically
every week at I-77 Speedway and Carolina Speedway this year. After the
incident Seymoure came to our pit and apologized to Greg for the contact
even though the wreck was clearly not Jamie’s fault. We have competed
against Oliver and the Vernon Skidmore race team for years and after
tempers cooled Sue and I talked to Vernon about the incident and while
we may disagree on how things transpired, we shook hands and agreed
to put it behind us.
In the Main event David started on the pole but was unhappy with the way his car was handling. He could not get any good grip from the track and his car was burning up the tires. Oliver got by David on the green flag and then Shannon Barnhill (X) did as well a few laps later. Barnhill had his Toyota running very fast this week and he was able to get by Oliver with just two laps to go, getting the well deserved win. Oliver finished second, followed by David Scott, Sammy Carter (#18), Dustin Sweatt (#s1) and Greg Murphy (#65m), who rallied from last place to finish sixth. Unfortunately, Greg’s misfortunes were just the tip of the iceberg for the evening. There were 18 late models in the pits this week and they time trialed them instead of heat racing. Donnie did not get the best lap and lined up a disappointing 14th. The first attempt to start the race was waved off as the flagman was not happy with the line up. The second attempt resulted in a chain reaction crash in turn two that caught Donnie and he had to come to the pit for a flat tire. He rejoined the field for the third attempt at the green flag, this time the field lined up single file. With 18 cars in the field 18th place was already half a lap down before he even took the green flag. In about 8 laps the leaders caught the back of the field where they were fighting for position. Leader Jay Sessoms (#84) got by Donnie clean but second place running Chad Paxton (#16) did not. He caught Donnie in the right rear, turning him head on, full speed into the third turn wall. The #22 late model flew up in the air, spun around and landed hard on the track, thankfully right side up. Donnie was pretty shaken up, getting an ambulance ride back to the pits. The car was not so lucky. It came back to the pits on two wreckers. What was a beautiful car was now a mess.
Donnie is okay. He is battered and a bit bruised (suspender bruises from the seat belt straps) but is otherwise doing fine. The Rocket chassis race car, roll cage and safety seat did their jobs and he pretty much walked away. Donnie put his heart and soul, not to mention a lot of hard earned money, into his car (“Cletus”) and the wreck is a heart break. After the wreck the team was sure that the car was junk. It took about an hour just to get the car into the trailer. The next day, after settling down and getting a good look at the car the team is confident that it can actually be fixed. It may not be perfect, but it will get Donnie through the remainder of the season. Having Donnie Tanner, his wife Elizabeth and their kids Julia and McKinley in the MacD Racing Partners family has been a joy for us this season. We plan to do everything we can to get Cletus and Donnie back on the track and wrap up his first full season in a late model in style. Speaking of Donnie and
Elizabeth, this weekend was their wedding anniversary. What a way to
celebrate!
The Tanner’s were not the only couple with an anniversary this weekend. It was also the anniversary for Hope and Jeff Graves!
The rain blew in some nice surprises this week. While we missed our Front Row Crew members Chris Steele (who won the Crate Late Model race at Harris Speedway Saturday night!!) and Johnny Starkey (attending a wedding), we had the pleasure of having Trey and Michelle Baucom (#93) join us on the front row this week.
A late arriving surprise was the addition of Jeff, Ronda and Josh Harwell who managed to get the last spot on the front row, right beside us. We were sad to see that Ronda’s mom and dad, our good friends, Ron and Tonda Thompson did not make the trip with them this week. Josh’s crate late model (#17) had engine trouble and he was not able to compete but it was awesome to have our friend’s back in the pits at I-77. Apparently, hell did freeze over.
What a week it was at I-77 Speedway. The rain held off and the crowds filled the speedway, giving the Rite Care race a big turn out. There was plenty of action on and off the track, some of it unwelcome and unpleasant but that’s racing. We are getting a much needed weekend off to celebrate the 4th of July. We are going to need it to get Donnie’s car back together. We’ll be back on July 12th for another exciting week of racing. With just a few races left in the season Team 65 and MacD Racing Partners has a few surprises left so don’t count us out yet!
Consistency Mixed with Frustration Myrtle Beach, SC (June 24, 2008) – Another Saturday night, another 2nd and 4th place finish for David and Greg. That finish, or some similar combination, seems to sum up much of the season so far. With just one win on the books but a lot of second place finishes David made some changes to his car this week and was looking for the win. He started strong with a win in his heat, with Greg finishing second, right behind him. That set up the boys to start outside pole and fourth in the Main. The pole in the Main event was again set by Jerry Oliver (#51) who also won his heat. David had a pretty serious issue with his car, discovered only when he was getting the car to the starting line up. A pretty serious crack was found in one of the header pipes and it required some quick action and some welding before he could start the race. The guys, with help from the Front Row Crew, got the car repaired and ready for the Main.
The flagman was not pleased with the first attempt at the green as Jerry was a little to eager to get started and was pushing David up the track. The second attempt at the green was even worse as Oliver again pushed David up the track, this time cutting his own tire down, causing a caution flag. The race was restarted with David in first, Travis Greene, Jr. (#131) second and Greg Murphy (#65m) third. Jerry managed to get his tire changed and rejoined the field at the back of the pack. David set the pace out front as Jerry started picking off cars lap after lap. With five to go he passed Greg for third, with four to go he got by Greene for second and then drove side by side for two awesome laps of racing with David, eventually taking the lead with just a lap and a half to go. At the checkered flag the win went to Jerry Oliver, followed by David Scott, Travis Greene Jr., Greg Murphy and Bubba Albert at the wheel of Elizabeth Still’s #12. It looked like it might be a night of heartbreak in the Limited Late Model feature. Donnie Tanner (#22) drew the outside pole in his heat but at the drop of the green flag he was driven very high by Johnny Pursley (#09) causing contact with several other cars and breaking the front end. The car was not able to compete in the heat but with the help of Front Row Crew teams Jeff Graves, Lee King and the Team 65 boys they got the car back together and ready for the Main. Donnie started last and got a very respectable fifth place finish. We are very proud of Donnie and his first year efforts behind the wheel of his limited late model. His consistent finishes have him up to second place in the points and looking for that first win. Way to go Donnie!
The Super Street races had a bunch of caution flags this week, frustrating the Graves Racing Y44 and X44 cars. Jeff Graves (x44) and Jerry Oliver (Y44) battled hard in the main but in the end Jerry managed to get 5th place and Jeff a disappointing 10th.
My buddy, Cliff Zerfoss, joined us in the pits this past weekend. Cliff races a front wheel drive 4-cylinder car at the Jennerstown Speedway asphalt track up in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania (www.jennerstown.com). This was his first time visiting a track with Carolina red clay and he really enjoyed it.
After a two week vacation it was great to get back to my family and racing friends this weekend. The weather was perfect, the drinks were cold and everyone had an awesome time. I managed to bring a small gift for my buddy, Lee King and Cliff brought some of his special recipe drink that many got to enjoy.
Saturday, June 14, was a disappointing night for Team 65. The night seemed to start off on a good foot, Sue drew David the pole position for his heat, her draw for Greg wasn't quite as good, he would start his heat in the 5th position. David was in the first
heat and easily pulled ahead of Ted McDaniel (67) at the start but a
driving mistake in turn 1 allowed McDaniel to pass him and McDaniel
took full advantage and earned the win. David finished a close second. The main wasn't any more
successful for either of our drivers. At the start, Jerry Oliver (51)
followed by Sammy Carter (18) and David pulled away quickly. Just past
midway through the race a caution came out for a wreck mid pack in turn
1, David saw the light, and went low to slow and hit the wet at the
bottom of the track, this caused him to slide up the track and into
the back quarter panel of the 18. David came out the worst in the incident
with a flat, he had to come in. Restarting toward the back, David made
quick work of the pack and made it back to a decent 4th place finish.
The MacD sponsored Team
Yeller, Graves street stock cars had a much better night. Jeff Graves
(x44) won his heat race, and Jerry Oliver (y44) took 4th in his. The
street stock main had some of the best racing, even with too many cautions,
of the night. Finishing, Timbo Magnum (T1), Jerry, Jeff and John Kline
(69X), they put on a great show. Team 65 was proud to be asked to park our cars out at the front gate this week for the fans to get a look at the cars to meet the drivers. Greg and David had a great time talking to fans and signing autographs for the kids.
Thank you to Jenni King, (Mrs Freck), for stepping in as photographer. She is such a good sport, she crossed the mucky muddy track in flip flops to take these for us.... We would like to say a big WOOHOO!!!! to Timbo Magnum for his win in the crate race. There were a few cautions at the beginning but once these guys got going, there was some awesome racing. It was really nice to see one of our regulars take the money. The Front Row Crew was represented by Ray Dockery (8D) and Chris Steele (2), who finished 8th and 9th, and without too much damage. There was some tough competition and hard racing for the big money. We happily welcome MacD and Sam back to the track this coming week. We missed them and can't wait for them to be back with us.
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