HARRISBURG, N.C. — A change in the way the state of Florida is enforcing federal regulations concerning the towing of vehicles into the state has caused at least two sanctioning bodies to rethink whether they will stage races in the state in the foreseeable future.
“It ruined my races at (Southern Raceway) Milton, Fla.,” said Keith Johnson, director of the American Sprint Car Series Coastal Region. “I had to get on the PA at the track and explain to fans why we had so few cars there… I don’t know if I can race there. Right now, I can’t book a race there.”
Nine cars made it to the scheduled ASCS event two weeks ago. A United Sprint Car Series event scheduled for Southern Raceway was cancelled altogether. Another in Volusia is still on the schedule.
“With the problems we had getting to that particular track, I don’t think we’ll be going back right now,” said United Sprint Car Series President Pete Walton, whose series also had problems in Florida.

“I hate to lose a race track. But unless things change, we’re just going to stay out. If they’re targeting racers, maybe we shouldn’t race in Florida.”

— Keith Johnson, ASCS Coastal Region Director

According to Johnson, some racers attempting to tow into Florida from neighboring states were told they would face heavy fines if they continued from the weigh station farther into the state. That was enough to turn several teams around.
Another ASCS official said he felt racers heading into Florida are the victims of “profiling” by the state’s Department of Transportation.
Florida is enforcing the statutes of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which state that the tow vehicles are commercial vehicles rather than personal vehicles, even if licensures from other states have approved them as personal vehicles.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration statute, persons who use a commercial motor vehicle to transport, even occasionally, “cars, boats, horses, etc. to races, tournaments, shows or similar events” are viewed as operators of a commercial vehicle. There are exemptions, but because most race cars have some sort of corporate sponsorship and prize money is involved, those exemptions do not apply to most race teams.
It is unclear, however, why Florida is so tightly enforcing the federal regulations, while other states are not.
Tim Bryant, general manager of Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., said state DOT officials have assured him that they are only doing their jobs.
“The DOT has assured us that they aren’t on a witch hunt and they’re not picking on racers,” Bryant said. “The biggest problem I see is just a lack of communication with the racers. I believe we need to be given a chance to educate them on what they need to do.”
To that end, Bryant said he has been sending information to his regular drivers and those who plan to visit for the track’s big winter races.
He said drivers need to have proper licenses for the length and weight of their haulers, but the classification of many of these as commercial vehicles could be an ongoing problem for some racers who are only hobbyists with, perhaps, only a little, if any, sponsorship.
Even so, both Johnson and Walton see potential problems on the horizon with several large races, including the annual Snowball Derby late-model race and other Blizzard Series events at Five Flags Speedway and the Mopar PRI Sprint & Midget Classic at Orlando SpeedWorld, all of which attract racers from across the country.
At the moment, Florida will be off the schedule for some national and regional series, including the ASCS.
“I hate to lose a race track,” Johnson said. “But unless things change, we’re just going to stay out. If they’re targeting racers, maybe we shouldn’t race in Florida.”