DeGRAFF – Weather permitting, Shady Bowl Speedway will try once again to host a full program of stock car racing on Saturday.
Last week’s action was cancelled due to cold temperatures and wet grounds.
It will also be Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club night with all active members admitted for half price to the grandstand area. The Dave Nagel Excavating late models, Biggins Small Engine Modifieds, The Hanger 18 hobby stocks, the Buckeye FWD mini stocks and spectator drag cars are scheduled to run.
Racing will start at 7 p.m.
Dayton’s Don Mahaffey Jr. will be on hand to defend his 2017 late model championship.
Mahaffey, a 30-year veteran, has claimed a total of seven championships in his career. He is a second-generation driver who followed his father, Don Sr., to race the local ovals.
He is starting the season in last year’s car with an all-new Lefthander car waiting in the wings.
He lists his biggest thrill was finishing second to his son Tyler at a big race at Ona, W. Va.
Kil-Kare Speedway has been a mixed bag for Mahaffey as he won his first feature there and had his worst crash, hitting the wall flush with the driver’s side into the wall. He was uninjured in the hard crash.
Tyler Mahaffey serves as crew chief for his father when he is not racing. Hanger 18 Race Cars, Quick Parts, Cs & SS LLC and Duncan Oil serve as sponsors for the team.
Don Mahaffey Jr. says that Dale Earnhardt Sr. was his favorite NASCAR driver.
Mahaffey has “rattled a few cages” in the style of Earnhardt.
