Showtime (Sunshine Speedway) Fl, Reopens after 8 years

[Rick Day]

PINELLAS PARK – Brian Solenberger – grilling fat kebabs from his truck, pulled up against the back fence of the Showtime Speedway July 4 – summed up the sentiment of the many race fans that night.

 

“I’ve been waiting for this for eight years,” he said.

 

The Clearwater native was sorry to see Sunshine Speedway shut down in 2004. Since then, he and his girlfriend Diane Leavitt have driven to Ocala, Bradenton and Gibsonton to get their racing fix. But when the speedway, renamed by its new operator Robert Yoho, hosted its first race on Independence Day, Solenberger made sure he was there.

 

“To be home again, to watch it here – nothing like it,” he said. “It is the best place in Pinellas County. You like racing? It’s here again.”

 

The Yohos began renovating the property after winning the bid to lease the dragstrip and speedway in January. In May, they restarted the drag races, which had continued even after the state bought the property for future road construction back in 2004.

 

But prepping the speedway took more time. Even during the “soft opening” July 4, the track was missing a scoreboard. The Showtime Facebook page warned fans that there wouldn’t be enough bleachers to seat everyone.

 

But the crowds came anyway. They filled the bleachers that had been installed, designed to fit about 2,000. They stood along the edges of the track and filled the spaces in between the bleachers with lawn chairs. Robert Yoho opened the far side of the track to fans who wanted to pull their trucks, SUVs and recreational vehicles right up to the edge of the fence.

 

In short, Showtime Speedway was full of spectators.

 

“We thought we’d max out at 2,500. I think we’re over 4,000,” Robert’s wife, Danielle, said that night.

 

Ricky Butler, who played an instrumental part in petitioning the state to lease out the property, said he was pleased with the turnout.

 

“The amount of people that showed up, it was humbling actually,” he said.

 

The atmosphere of the night mirrored that of Sunshine Speedway, which first opened in 1960.

 

“It had that old time feel,” Butler said. “Everybody seems to be pretty happy.”

 

In the pits, waiting to find out when the street stock car he helped build would race, Randy Trim of St. Petersburg was enthusiastic to be participating in the opening night of Showtime.

 

“A lot of people would like to see this place succeed,” he said.

 

At last count, 105 cars had signed up to race, Danielle Yoho said. The opening races would be “another learning experience,” she said. After several weeks, the races on the dragstrip were going smoothly. She expected the speedway would work the same way.

 

Larry Hill of Pinellas Park, watching the races surrounded by a number of people who helped renovate the speedway, was convinced of the speedway’s future success, given the community support it’s had so far.

 

“Robert and them, they know what they’re doing. They’ve been around racing for a long time,” he said. “They’ve done so much out here. It’s a great turnout for the first night.”

 

Butler said he shared a retrospective moment during the races with Shari Phillips and Rick Day, who together lobbied to get the speedway back into the hands of a local operator.

 

“There were a lot of people that said it couldn’t be done,” Butler said.

 

Danielle Yoho credited the speedway’s opening to her husband’s tenacity.

 

“He gets it done,” she said.

 

 

 

The speedway will be open for Saturday night races starting July 14. A formal grand opening will be held July 21.