Florida Corvette Club Inc. - The Most Active Club In Florida

Desoto Speedway
June 22, 2002
Story and Photos by Carl Smith
Additional Photos by Jim Bott

We all met at 9:00 for our trip to Bradenton at the rest area on I-4. The weather was initially unaccommodating but as the morning wore on it became pleasant. We arrived at the hotel about 11:30 and were informed we could not check-in until 2:00. So having a couple hours to kill we all decided that food would help.
We ate at a pleasant little Bar and Restaurant just down the street from the hotel. The food was good and service was exceptional. Upon finishing we decided to take in the local scenery being the Manatee River. We returned to the Hotel and checked in and then relaxed for a few hours. We all gathered at 4:00 and left for the track.
Upon our arrival our hosts John and Camile and their friend Bob Green signed us in and gave us VIP passes. We all watched as qualifying began for the races. Some of us paid a visit to the concessions and the food was pretty good. Once qualify ended we were instructed to line up for the parade lap. Once we got on the track it was very hard to keep your foot off the accelerator. We all felt pretty good making that trip around the track an getting to show off our cars.
The crowd was pretty appreciative and the announcer did a nice job introducing our club. We had lined up the cars in chronological order with 3 C-3's 4 C-4's and 5 C-5's.
After returning and parking our cars we all enjoyed the Races which were pretty exciting with a few smash-ups which is what everyone comes for... right? The Races ended about midnight and we all returned to the hotel and hit the sack.
Rise and shine and meeting at 9:30 we hit the road for the return home stopping at Cracker Barrel in Lakeland for lunch, departing afterwards. We all had a great time and the weather really helped.