HEY! WHO PUT THAT RACE CAR ON TOP OF THAT BEER BOOTH?

Source: Dave Grayson
Date: 06/12/2008

There's a lot of reasons why I enjoy visiting the Havasu 95 Speedway. First off the show there, presented by Dennis Rudin and Bill Rozhon, is first class. It has healthy car counts in all of their divisions and the racing features a high level of competition that makes the fans jump to their feet.Throughout the track's midway area there are special events and contests that provides a great deal of family themed fun for the fans. Also there's the factor that says anytime you can spend a weekend in beautiful Lake Havasu City-Arizona it's a good thing.

As you walk through the midway you can't help but notice the full sized NASCAR stock car sitting on top of the beer booth. It's a 2002, Kodak sponsored, Chevrolet Lumina that was build and campaigned on the then NASCAR Winston Cup circuit by Morgan McClure Motor Sports. Explaining how the Havasu 95 Speedway acquired the race car Dennis Rudin said "Tim McMillin, who is a friend of my partner Bill Rozhon, found it and asked Bill if he wanted it. Bill immediately said yes and there it is. That race car on the roof is much better than any sign that we could have bought or have made." Rudin also pointed out that this particular Kodak Chevrolet was a super speedway car driven by Mike Skinner.

Before they could put the race car on top of the beer booth they had to address some concerns from the local Fire Department regarding the weight of the car and whether or not the roof could hold it. Average weight for a NASCAR stock car is approximately 3,400 pounds. For Rudin and Rozhon to get permission to put the car on the roof they had to reduce it to what is termed as skin status. In other words remove the engine, transmission, drive train and literally everything inside of the car that carried a considerable amount of weight. That process reduced the car's weight to approximately 300 pounds and they were able to use a loader to easily install it onto the roof of the beer booth.

Official records from NASCAR's archives states that 2002 was not exactly a banner year for Morgan McClure Motor Sports, Mike Skinner and their Kodak Chevrolet. The team made 36 official starts that year and finished the season with no wins, no top fives, one top ten and they ranked 35th in the final points standings. Truth be known, this car likely garners more attention on any given Saturday night at the Havasu 95 Speedway than it did on any given Sunday back in 2002.

Meanwhile the speedway staff is very busy getting ready for their 2008-2009 winter racing season which begins on September 20th. The new schedule should be released within a matter of days.

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