Vinson’s Variety: ARCA circuit filled with talent
I put the receiver to my ear: “Hello.”
“Mike-Mike! You’ve got to get our here, right now!” encouraged the voice on the other end.
“Well ? OK ? what’s ?”
“Just be quiet and listen to me. Get dressed and get out here to Jack’s as fast as you can. I’ve got a heck-of-a story for you. This is the real deal.” – CLICK!
Realizing I hadn’t been left much choice, I slipped on some clothes, got in my car, and drove out to Jack’s – Jack’s Club, that is, the old Starlite Club, located off Highway 70, on Shady Rest Road (not to be confused with the old Jack’s, just past the VFW on Highway 70, now a big equipment supply place).
The event was a private promotion party for an ARCA race car team that is based out of Soddy-Daisy, Tenn. ARCA is an acronym for: Automobile Racing Club of America.
There, at Jack’s, that night, I met ARCA team members, Ron Cox, 35, Eric Martin, 32, both drivers, and team leader and chief mechanic Wayne Hixon, a strong-looking, yet well-spoken, gentleman. Hixon explained to me, “I suppose you could say that ARCA is to NASCAR like a Triple AAA farm club is to a major league baseball team, a kinda breeding and feeding ground.
“We run approximately 22 to 23 races a year, and our crew is composed entirely of volunteer help. We on the ARCA circuit always run in Daytona the Sunday before the Daytona 500.”
Former ARCA drivers who went on to NASCAR superstardom are: Kenny and Mike Wallace, Bennie Parsons, Jeremy Mayfield, and Kyle Petty. That’s pretty fair credentials, wouldn’t you agree?
Driver Ron Cox, Hixon’s stepson, in fact, was the 1999 ARCA Rookie of the Year. Talking to him, I saw a steely-eyed, no-nonsense expression and a steadiness of hand that told me die-hard NASCAR fans will be hearing his name before too long.
Driver Eric Martin, in his first year of actual ARCA competition, is making a strong bid for the 2002 Rookie of the Year. Hixon and Cox assured me that Martin, indeed, is in possession of the “right stuff” to accomplish such.
Says Wayne Hixon, “We’re looking for sponsors to keep this thing going. We run two cars. Ron drives the main car, No. 23, and Eric drives our other car, No. 56. This is our fourth year in a row running without a main sponsor. It costs a lot of money to keep up two race cars, but we’re all one big family, and we love and believe in what we’re doing, and we sure appreciate all the help we’ve thus far received.”
Now, for some race car fan memorabilia, there is currently on display on the bandstage at Jack’s the whole right panel of car No. 23. And I am not talking about a cardboard facsimile; I am talking about the actual right panel, a leftover from a wreck in Daytona.
So, for you “1 percenters,” those select and special disciples who adhere to the doctrines of NASCAR, just take a ride out to Jack’s Club and put your hands on No. 23. You will have touched what just could eventually be a major NASCAR winner.
I was there. I saw. I touched. I know.
(Mike Vinson is a Warren County columnist. His e-mail is: vinsonmike_b_@hotmail.com.)