DeGRAFF – Shady Bowl Speedway will welcome the employees of Emerson Climate Technologies for tonight’s race. It will make for a great night of racing for stock car fans as they are advised to arrive early as this event annually draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. It will also be a fund-raiser for Relay For Life for the American Cancer Society.
The highlight of tonight’s racing action will be the second annual Kenny Stookey Classic for street stocks. The event will honor the memory of Springfield driver Kenny Stookey.
Stookey began his racing career in the early 1970s at the Springfield Fairgrounds. That started a career that spanned nearly 20 years and included over 100 feature wins plus several track championships.
He began his career in what would now be a hobby stock. The early years saw the C&A Auto Parts logo on his racers. Carl and Arnold Poole (C&A Auto Parts) played a huge part in his racing career.. Stookey also drove for Donnie Long, Dick and Doug Ater, Bob Korn and Dick and Dennis Kelly.
He ran on nearly every race track in southwest Ohio. He also did some traveling to New Smyrna (Fla.) and Winchester (Ind.) and was a contender to win anytime his car pulled in. A heart condition slowed his career and he returned where it all started when he drove his final race in 1992 in a car owned by Carl Poole. The heart issue took its toll as he passed away in 2003.
The race will be a 62-lap feature for the Street Stocks paying $2,000 to win. The winner of the first event was Piqua’s Josh Sage. The Late Models, Modifieds and Buckeye FWD Mini Stocks will also be in action, along with a meet and greet for the fans.
Racing will start today at 7 p.m. – weather permitting.
