Florida Winter Tour

Florida Winter Tour - Homestead - January 10-13, 2008

	Jesse Seeley places 3rd for Raceway Motorsports in the first race of the Florida Winter Tour Series, held at Homestead Raceway just south of Miami! Thanks go out to kart and engine owner Carl Cottrell, chassis tuner and engine builder Rick Sweeting, and our RM teammates, the Sikes family. Special thanks go out to the anonymous person who gifted Jesse a proper 'freem racing' driving suit to wear on his next podium. Congratulations Logan Sargeant (1st) and Juan Manuel Correa (2nd) on providing the motivation we need for Moroso in February.
What a difference from the previous image. This one was taken in Ocala, Florida (Ocala Gran Prix) after the final race of the Florida Winter Tour Series. With a proper Jackie Stewart haircut, the new driversuit presented to him by an anonymous admirer, and a newfound confidence that was earned through serious racing, Jesse has grown in many ways. He turned nine years old at this race, I know we'll always look back on the 2008 series with fond memories. There are many highlights and stories to tell, a brief overview is in order. Nobody expects Lake Effect Racing, or Raceway Motorsports. A kid wearing jeans, sneakers, and an old Bell jacket, driving a chassis rescued from the trash standing on the podium of the first race? Security at Homestead didn't want to allow us into the paddock, too small of a trailer? Bill Wright kicked me out of Homestead by accident :-) Junco and other teams started scraping tires in Moroso, just like us. Tire warmers were banned in Moroso and Ocala, after we used them in Homestead. Total budget for the series, including gas, motels, and the purchase of a used trailer big enough to get through security, $3200. Less than $2K without the trailer. F-16 flyover at Moroso for Jesse's Saturday race.
	Mad Max Papis at the top of the podium, with local driver, Brent Harper in the #2 position. Papis owns all. We'd like to thank Carl Cottrell, Rick Sweeting (Raceway Motorsports), Brad Smith (RH2Way.com), Jason Jones of Kicker Audio (Kicker.com), Clint Slack of VIO (vio-inc.net), Chris Daniel (Rotax Seniors competitor), Dave Davies (SSC East), and Jeff Sikes for all of your help and support during this series. We look forward to returning in 2009 with our sights on the #1 spot.
World Champion Pier-Luc Ouellette (1), Kyle Herder (2), and Redbull F1 driver Scott Speed (3) showing off the hardware from the hotly contest DD2 race. Careful Scott, Jesse wants your old job.










	See the little black trailer and mismatched canopies? That's us... surrounded by the Factory Teams. Luckily, the kart doesn't care how it gets to the track, just that a driver puts it up front.
But seriously, we had everything we needed to get the job done. This is also a rare photo of kart and engine owner, Carl Cottrell on the right. When we called him in December to make the proposal for our use of his equipment for the Florida Winter Tour, his only request was that we put it up front. We're just doing our job.

	This is Simon Sikes, 7 years old, our teammate and very good friend.





	Simon and Jesse showing off the trophy after a long day of racing. They may be small, but they're racers through and through. Below is Simon's dad, Jeff. Another hardcore racer, not only willing to drive all night to the track, but ready to work all day once we're there.
We're all looking forward to the Moroso event. I admit that getting to Homestead was a bit of a rush job when it came to getting the equipment together. We worked hard, the boys drove as fast as they could, and we all learned a lot about top level competition and what it takes perform well at that level. Bill Wright, his brother, and all of the people associated with the Florida Winter Tour did a great job at running an amazing event.