Super Shoe Nationals - 2007

The infamous Super Shoe Nationals 2007 is ready to take on the legendary high banks of Kalamazoo Speedway, this upcoming weekend.  This race has garnered as much history as any short track race in the nation, in its21st consecutive year of operation.  As you will read below, the winners of this race are a who's who list in short track racing spanning over the last two decades.

Back in 1987, a young scraggly looking kid from Indiana took home the top prize; this unknown kid's name was none other than Scott Hantz.  Then this old guy put a whoopin on everyone for 3 years in a row, his name being Gail Cobb.  Jeff Vochaska took over as the Top Shoe in 1991 and 1992, with Bob Schippers winning in 1993.  In 1994, Andy Bozell picked up his first Super Shoe Crown, with Rick Sexton nailing it down in 1995 and 1997.  It was Eddie Payne winning it all in 1996 and 1998, as Brandon Lyons took his first of his 4 wins in 1999.  In 2000, Jerry Drake captured the coveted prize and Alan Vochaska took the prize in 2001.  The Bozell brothers of Andy and Jeff won the Shoe in 2002 and 2003, while Mr. Lyons has taken the top prize the last three years in a row.  Other names like David Stremme, Mike Van Sparrentak, Tommy Martin, Tim Curry, Gary Terry, Burney Arnett, Lee Slaton, Jeff Ganus, Shawn McLaughlin, Tom Thomas, and yes, even Al Heritz have all tried to nail this one down, but like so many, it has eluded them all, and even iron man Rich Hardy, who is the only racer to have raced in all 20 of the previous Super Shoe events, hasn?t won the big one yet.  Who remembers the time Joe Clayton drove away from an accident scene with a complete car and driver still on his roof?

The stories and names could go on forever, especially if we want to talk about the ?legendary back 40 campground stories.?  With over 250 drivers and nearly 400 camper units out in the camp area each year, you could only imagine (well, maybe you couldn't) the stories behind the scenes of this great event, the Super Shoe Nationals.

New for 2007 will be the addition of the Modified Nationals.  This end of the year event could see 50-60 of the best open wheelers in the Midwest, all vying for the $2,007 top prize.  Many if the USA Modified drivers will hand, as well as the Kalamazoo regulars.  Modifieds from 8-10 area tracks are also expected, making this perhaps the largest Modified event in the Midwest.

This year?s spectacular will take place on September 28th-30th .  Log onto  www.kalamazoospeedway.com for all the information you will need, and we hope to see you all at this year?s Super Shoe Nationals.


Gary Howe
Kalamazoo Speedway