Sprint
AVSS 2003 season review
The Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprint Series enjoyed an incredible 2003 and the newly crowned National Champion is Leslie MI racer Tom Fedewa. The season started and ended at Baer Field Speedway in Fort Wayne IN. The season opener ...
Published: Nov 23, 2003, 8:07 PM
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The Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprint Series enjoyed an incredible 2003 and the newly crowned National Champion is Leslie MI racer Tom Fedewa.
The season started and ended at Baer Field Speedway in Fort Wayne IN. The season opener went to Jason Blonde in his first of four feature wins all in the Hoosier State. He had three at Baer Field and one at Salem Speedway. This would place Blonde the Litchfield MI driver in the runner-up position to Fedewa for the final driver points.
There were seven different drivers taking at least one feature win with Tom Fedewa leading the way with ten, Blonde had his four, Gary Fedewa had two, 2003 rookie of the year Brian Lay had two, Kevin Newton, Dave Baumgartner and Kevin Feeney also took feature wins.
In 21 AVSS races there were eight new track records set, there were 11 different drivers set at least one Hamilton trucking fast time award. There were nearly 60 different AVSS cars competing in at least one event and 70 different drivers. An amazing 26 different drivers won at least one heat race during the 2003 season. There were drivers from five different states and Ontario that raced with AVSS in 2003.
The season started on April 27 with Blonde taking Baer Field, on May 3 it was Tom Fedewa taking the first of four consecutive AVSS races at Auto City Speedway in Flint MI. The race at Owosso on May 10 went to rookie Brian Lay in his first ever AVSS feature victory. The 17th of May went to Tom Fedwa at Kalamazoo Speedway as Lay broke they track record there at a blazing 10.928! The May 31 show at Baer Field was Brian Lay's second win of the year. The Fastest Short Track Race in the World lived up to its name at Toledo on June 13 when Tom Fedewa took the honors and Kevin Feeney broke the track record again and the AVSS cars were 2/10 of a second faster than the ISMA Supermodifieds. The next night at Auto City Tom Fedewa picked up yet another AVSS feature win.
The June 21 race at Baer Field had Jason Blonde back in victory lane and on June 28 at Berlin Raceway with Nascar star Johnny Benson watching it was Tom Fedewa taking the trophy. The return to the greatly improved Dixie Motor Speedway on July 3rd was a huge success as Gary Fedewa beat his son Tom in capturing the AVSS feature. The long drive south to Salem Speedway on July 12th was worth it again for the AVSS teams as Jason Blonde lowered the track record again and picked up the prize at the ultra high speed oval.
The July 19 race at Auto City went to Tom Fedewa again as he fought for the point's lead with Blonde and Kevin Newton. Blonde took the July 26 race at Baer Field and on August 2nd it was Tom Fedewa visiting victory lane at Owosso. The second visit to Kalamazoo on August 9th saw Kevin Newton pass Ryan Katz on the third turn of the final lap to take his only AVSS win of the year. On August 23 it was Tom Fedewa, where else in victory lane at Auto City Speedway.
The Labor Day Saturday visit to Berlin Raceway will be a memorable one for Toledo OH driver Dave Baumgartner as he snared his first ever AVSS feature victory. The next day at Angola the race was rained out but rescheduled for Friday September 5th and Tom Fedewa won his ninth race of the year. The next night at Auto City it was Kevin Feeney breaking the Fedewa streak as Feeney captured car owner Arthur Payne's first ever AVSS win. The season closed with returns to Dixie and it was Tom Fedewa hitting double digits in feature wins with ten and then on October 12 with the rescheduled Baer Field race going to Gary Fedewa in an incredible race with fellow legend Hank Lower.
These 21 races entertained over 100,000 race fans over the long season were even more exciting than this press release can really explain.
The champions were all honored at the 2003 AVSS National Championship Banquet at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Lansing MI on November 1. This completes the 2003 AVSS season and now it is time to prepare for 2004.
The great news is title sponsor Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores have signed on for 2004 and 2005 as the major supporter of AVSS racing. Many more of the sane great sponsors, tracks and especially racers will be back in 2004. The official AVSS website is www.supersprints.com for more information on the fastest asphalt short track cars in the world.
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