'Hulkamania' Runs Wild At Bubba Raceway Park

Hulkster, meet the Outlaws. Outlaws, meet the Hulkster.

Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan made a special appearance during Saturday night’s Bubba Army Late Model Winter Nationals finale at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., sending a dose of ‘Hulkamania’ through the stands and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series pit area.

Hulk Hogan directs the field. (Butler photo)

A close friend of BRP owner/radio show host Bubba ‘The Love Sponge’ Clem, Hogan visited the three-eighths-mile oval to serve as the Grand Marshal of the biggest event that Clem has hosted since taking over the facility in the spring of 2011. He watched time trials from the infield and qualifying events from the roof of the scoring tower before heading trackside for one of the most unique pre-race driver introductions in the history of the WoO LMS.

After the 25-car starting field for the 60-lap A-Main was parked in double-file formation on the homestretch, Hogan walked from the back to the front of the pack, shaking hands and posing for a photo with each driver. The pictures were Clem’s “Hogan-themed” gift to the race’s competitors; he said he would get each driver an autographed print of their meeting with the Hulkster.

Judging by the excited looks on the drivers’ faces, they all enjoyed their photo-ops with the 58-year-old Hogan. Wearing a sleeveless ‘Bubba Army Racing’ shirt and a blue do-rag, Hogan provided them some of his trademark bravado, pointing at each driver as the photos were snapped and telling them, “Good luck, brother.”

Jason Feger with the Hulkster. (Butler photo)

Hogan seemed to be most impressed with DIRTcar UMP Late Model star Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., who struck a Hulkster point-to-the-sky pose as the wrestler approached. Hogan smiled and gave Feger a hand-clasp rather than the handshake everyone else received.

Once the feature lineup was introduced, Hogan stood alongside WoO LMS announcer Rick Eshelman – a huge professional wrestling fan who, with his pre-race interview of Hogan, had the opportunity to picture himself as famed WWE Hall of Fame announcer Mean Jean Okerlund – and put his own twist on the most famous words in racing.

“Gentleman, start your engines…brother!” yelled Hogan.

Finally, Clem enlisted Hogan to throw the green flag for the A-Main. But rather than have Hogan squeeze his 6-foot, 7-inch body into the flagstand, Clem parked a golf cart in the infield grass at the edge of the homestretch racing surface so Hogan could wave the flag and then ride away.

Rick Eckert meets Hulk Hogan.

Standing so close to a charging pack of dirt Late Models did concern Hogan at least a little bit. When WoO LMS director Tim Christman suggested to Clem that Hogan should back away from the track surface, the Hulkster quipped, “I’m with ‘ya brother.”

Mark & Josh Richards's Top 10 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Tracks

Here’s two more Top 10 lists of World of Outlaws Late Model Series tracks, these from the father-and-son combo of Mark and Josh Richards.

Josh & Mark Richards (www.thesportswire.net)

Mark, of course, has fielded at least one car in 312 of the 313 WoO LMS events contested from 2004-2011; the only race he sat out as an owner was on June 18, 2011, at Winchester (Va.) Speedway, when his son ran the Ernie Davis-owned No. 25. (Mark attended the race, however, keeping his personal WoO LMS perfect attendance record intact.) Josh, meanwhile, has entered every WoO LMS event since the start of the 2005 season (he ran just over half the schedule in ’04 during his first season behind the wheel) and now stands as a two-time champion and the tour’s winningest driver since ’04, with 37 wins.

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Below is Mark Richards’s Top 10 WoO LMS Tracks List in his order of preference. The number of WoO LMS events each track has held since ’04 is in parenthesis and Mark’s comments about each track are in quotes.

1) Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway (one race, in 2007) – “The alltime raciest racetrack there is. It’s a driver’s track. No matter where you start, if you’re good you can go to the front. Number one track in the country in my book.”

2) Volusia Speedway Park/Barberville, Fla. (17 races) – “I’ve always loved to race at that place. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best track in the south. Actually, I consider it not even being in the south because it races like a northern track. It’s a great track.”

3) The Dirt Track at Charlotte/Concord, N.C. (18 races) – “For us, it’s the type of track we like to race on. Anywhere that’s aggressive and nobody can hold you up on it, we like.”

4) Cedar Lake Speedway/New Richmond, Wis. (three races) – “It’s a neat place for me because it’s where we won two of our biggest races as a car owner (2000 and 2011 USA Nationals with drivers Davey Johnson and son Josh Richards, respectively). Now that we’re running there with the World of Outlaws again, we always look forward to going there. The atmosphere there is always good, the people around that area are real race fans and the racing is the way we like it.”

5) Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, Ohio (two races) – “If it’s the ‘old’ Eldora, I’d move it up to number one. But I guess we’ll average it out and call it number five, because the ‘new’ Eldora I don’t really like as much. Eldora today has gotten to where it’s tough to race on, but it was number one for me so long I have to have it on a Top 10 list.”

6) Lernerville Speedway/Sarver, Pa. (18 races) – “It’s always been a great place to go to. Track conditions are always great there. The guys who take of it do a great job and it always provides great racing.”

7) Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway (10 races) – “Unless it’s rubbered, nobody’s gonna hold you up at Hagerstown. You can race there. One thing about Hagerstown – nine chances out of 10, it’s gonna be smooth, and unless it’s a daytime show it’s not gonna rubber.”

8) Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (five races) – “It’s just a neat little place to race. There’s a lot of action. When I went to Farmer City years ago I didn’t really like it, but going back with the World of Outlaws the last few years, I’ve really enjoyed it.”

9) River Cities Speedway/Grand Forks, N.D. (six races) – “That’s probably one of the most awesome little quarter-miles there is in the United States. It’s so racy. If a guy’s interested in building a quarter-mile, he should go pattern River Cities.”

10) Deer Creek Speedway/Spring Valley, Minn. (nine races) – “Just an awesome place. The people who take care of it do an unbelievable job. Everybody in the United States could take lessons from Deer Creek. They probably have the best track prep in the country.”

Honorable Mention: Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55/Pevely, Mo. ( ) – “Ray Marlar does a great job at that place with track prep. Most every time we go there, you know you’re gonna get a race. It’s mini ‘old’ Eldora, a downscaled version of the old-type Eldora where you’re racing multiple grooves and not just pinned up against the wall.”

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Below is Josh Richards’s Top 10 WoO LMS Tracks List in his order of preference. The number of WoO LMS events each track has held since ’04 is in parenthesis and Mark’s comments about each track are in quotes.

1) Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway/Imperial, Pa. (three races) – “It’s my favorite place to race at by far. That place has always meant a lot to me. You go fast there, it’s close to home, growing up I went to the Pittsburgher every year, and I feel like I should’ve won my first race there (in 2004).”

2) Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway (one race, in 2007) – “It would be number one for me if Pittsburgh wasn’t there. It’s just an honor to get to race there. It would’ve really meant a lot to win that Outlaw race there, but we broke leading.”

3) Volusia Speedway Park/Barberville, Fla. (17 races) – “I’ve always loved that place. My cup of tea is being aggressive and keeping speed up, and, like at Pittsburgh and Knoxville, you have to keep you speed up but still be real smooth at Volusia. That’s what I enjoy the most.”

4) The Dirt Track at Charlotte/Concord, N.C. (18 races) – “It’s just a phenomenal facility and a great place to race. It’s another fast track that fits my style.”

5) Lernerville Speedway/Sarver, Pa. (18 races) – “In my book it’s the coolest short-track you can go to as far as a weekly show, with the best crowds and great racing all the time.”

6) Atomic Speedway (former K-C Raceway)/Alma, Ohio (four races) – “It’s a place we always seem to run well at. I just wish we got to race there more.”

7) Cedar Lake Speedway/New Richmond, Wis. (three races) – “I remember going there back in 2000 when Davey (Johnson) won the (USA) Nationals for us. Ever since that day, I’ve just been like, I can’t wait to go there and race. Winning the USA Nationals there (in 2011) for my first crown-jewel makes it an even more special place for me.”

8) Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway (10 races) – “I used to dread going to that place because it was such a tough racetrack I couldn’t understand how to get around it. It frustrated me as a driver. But you just have to learn to respect the track because it’s so different from any other places we go to. Now it’s one of the best places for me.”

9) Deer Creek Speedway/Spring Valley, Minn. (nine races) – “Those guys (the track promoters) deserve to be up there on my list just because of all the hard work that they do to make the track racy. They treat you well, and they do all they can to get the track good. It’s the whole package there. It really meant a lot to finally win there (in 2011).”

10) Eldora Speedway/Rossburg, Ohio (two races) – “It’s definitely one of the tracks I enjoy driving at the most. Just in terms of qualifying, just going as fast as you can by yourself, it’s probably right below Pittsburgh for me. But in terms of racing, I gotta put in number 10. It’s tough to pass there. I guess if I would’ve ever won a big race there, I would move it up my list.”