[Joe Pinkston]

First off, let me say that I'm sorry for being a .90 racer hijacking this thread. I would love to race a stocker , but right now the .90 classes fit my budget a little better. Anyway, I am glad I was there to witness the first race of the Southern S/SS Association. Other than the clean up that was required after the first pair of bracket cars went down the track (and I realize that is something that will happen from time to time and can't be helped), what a great day it was. Jim Woods deserves a big "thank you" for organizing the association and promoting the race yesterday. Gene Garmany and the staff at Lakeland Motorsports Park did an outsanding job of being the host track for the first race and making it run smoothly throughout the day.And last, but certainly not least, John "Hammer" Leichtamer. That man teched all the cars and then worked the staging lane area all afternoon, and I know he had to be tired at the end of the day. A great job was done by everyone involved in this effort.

I'm just glad I got to be there to see it happen and improve my image by hanging out with my "low life" Mopar friends from Grand Island.

Also, I should say "thanks" to Sean Haning for photographing the race and posting the great pictures here for everyone to see. That must be a tough camera you have because I see that you got Sean Ward in a couple of the pictures and the camera still worked after that. Simply amazing.

All of you involved should be very proud of what you have created, and best of luck to you in making this organization a success.