Later this week I am going to do something that I never thought, or even imagined that I would do in my life. I never thought that my first trip out of this country to another continent would be to South Africa. And on top of it, its a trip to South Africa for a race.
On Sunday, January 31st, the American Speed Association, where I work full-time as the Director of Public Relations, is putting on the first ever American style stock car race in South Africa. The event will take place at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit in Welkom, Free State, South Africa. The track is located about two hours south of Johannesburg in the middle of the country at an elavation of 4,000 ft.
The track itself is a 1.5-mile (2.5 km) oval designed under the same plans as the original Las Vegas Speedway. The unique thing is that the track was built ten years ago and has never had a race on it. In fact, until last month only two drivers have driven around the track. Sarel van der Merwe did at the time of the official opening and Danie Correia completed some 20 laps in his Chevrolet Corvette this past October. Last month, 1986 Daytona 500 Champion Geoff Bodine and former NASCAR competitor Ron Barfield Jr. traveled over to Phakisa for some advance promotion of the event. They were the third and fourth drivers to go around the track and the first to be on the track at the same time.
The two gave the South Africa media an example of the side-by-side racing they will see on the 31st. They also gave some two-seat stock car rides as well.
As of this writing, cars are starting to arrive by boat to the Port of Durban and be transported over to Phakisa where they will wait for the teams to arrive at the track on the 28th.
There has been a lot of interest for this event and it is showing by a strong advance ticket sale for the event.
A 24-car field is planned for the event featuring drivers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa. In fact, some of the South African drivers interested in competing have been attending a certification school ran by Drivetech Driving School to become eligible to participate. Last weekend, five drivers received their certification and another school is planned for this upcoming weekend.
The drivers going over to compete may not be well known in every household around the world but they are in each part of the United States or a different part of the world. The Midwest will recognize the names of Steve Carlson, Chris Wimmer, Tim Olson and Russ Blakeley. The Western part of the U.S. will recognize the names of Gary Lewis, Rick McCray, Toni McCray. People who follow road racing and ovals in Arizona will know the names of Don Uhlir, Dustin Dudley, Mark Shaffer and Ron Norman. Or maybe young up and coming drivers like Tiff Daniels and Marc Davis. ARCA followers may recognize the names of Lance Fenton and Greg Barnhart. Fans who follow oval racing in the United Kingdom will recognize the names of John Mickel and Shaun Richardson joining Bodine and Barfield.
Add in the South African competitors, you have a true world stock car racing event.
This will be a spectacle. Some of the events leading up include the Miss Free State 500 event which the winner will win a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. Even the Honorable Donald H. Gips, Ambassador of the United States to South Africa, will give the command to start the engines.
For me, I am getting excited and yet nervous as like I stated earlier, this is my first time adventuring into a different country, especially at takes a 14-15 hour plane ride to get too.
While we will be focused on the racing, we will also have time enjoy what South Africa has to offer. This includes a visit to The Savannah Africa, a safari reserve that is one of three places in the world to breed the Cheetah.
I’m looking forward to this adventure and invite you to watch our progress on www.asa-racing.com and my personal blogs on my site www.kevinramsell.com.
