1999 Season Archive Results Page for Driver Sunny Hobbs

September 27, 1999

Due to lack of funding, Sunny and SHE Racing will not be competing in the Late Model stock car at Caraway Speedway for the remainder of 1999. However, Sunny and the team are busy working in the race shop on a new car for next year, as well as pursuing sponsorship for the 2000 season. We'll keep you posted as things develop. Thanks for your support!

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Saturday, June 12, 1999

The 250 lap race at Caraway last weekend was a disappointing one for the She Racing team. After several weeks of continued improvements Sunny felt the car was showing signs of a Top 5 performance this weekend. But, the 250 lap race turned out to be a struggle, with unexpected braking problems, with Sunny racing for almost 100 laps despite reduced braking. Sunny was the first to qualify with a 17.53. The first three cars to qualify were given the chance to requalify but Sunny passed and stood on her time. The other two qualified about .4 better the second time. Out of 28 cars, she started 16th, outside 8th row behind the #1 car of Gene Kepley and she finished 22nd. The first 30 laps the car was doing well. She passed three cars for position and said "the car was strong." Then her left front tire started going down. Trying to hold on, she got a break when the caution flag came out, and came in the pits for a tire change, and just in time. The tire had just 9 pounds of air left in it. Then, the brake problems set in. With front rotors glowing red almost all the way around the track, she managed to stay out of trouble until the 125 lap mid-race competition yellow. During the pit stop, we attempted to adjust the brakes, but it was only a temporary fix. With reduced braking ability Sunny tried to finish the race but was bumped coming out of turn 4 into the front inside wall and hit with a SMACK, with damage to the whole right side of the car. The extent of damage includes: bent tail clip (rear frame), bent trailing arms, rear end housing, transmission busted, drive shaft bent, not to mention wheels, suspension, etc. With very limited sponsor help, that damage will take at least a couple of weeks to repair - we will post an announcement here when Sunny expects to return to Caraway or possibly another track.

Stay tuned and thanks to Racing Images and Sunny's fans.

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Chat with Sunny, Wednesday, June 9, 1999 at 9pm EDT on http://www.racecomm.com/ Here is the announcement posted on the RaceComm message board. Ya'll come join us!.
"Racer Sunny Hobbs Will Chat at RaceComm - Sunny Hobbs, a female racer from North Carolina will chat with fans on Wednesday, June 9th at 9 PM EDT here at RaceComm in the chat room."

To find out more or read the whole announcement, go to RaceComm and click on the left hand menu on the Message Board. The announcement was posted June 7. The chat is scheduled to be on either their chat room or their message board. Instructions are posted there. The chat room is really easy to use, I just tried it out. You just give yourself a chat name and and (optional) email address and click the Enter Chat button. Just below the "Enter Chat" button is a link to help pages. I went there just to check out how it worked then I went and practiced. Works really easy. Come "chat with us" Wednesday night online at 9pm EDT. That is 6pm for those of you on the left coast and 8pm for our family in Louisiana and Texas.

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Saturday, June 5, 1999 Race Results
Gatorade Night (50 lap)

SUNNY BRINGS HOME A STRONG 6TH PLACE FINISH AT CARAWAY SPEEDWAY -

Wow, what a great race! Sunny qualified 9th and put in a great performance to finish 6th. And in between she had her best race thus far this year. Race started tight, 2 x 2 and Sunny jumped to the outside lane on the back straight. A few laps into the race the two cars directly in front of her got tangled up in turn 4 and she went high as they spun to the inside wall. Race went back to green and she ran consistent fast times, holding off challenges from behind and working on the racers in front of her for 25 caution free laps until a competition yellow. Sunny then raised some heartbeats by passing in between 2 cars, making it three-wide going into Turn 3. On lap 32, she made a quick pass for position coming off turn 2 and went on to clinch a strong finish in 6th position. After taking the checkered flag, Sunny came over the radio, thanking her crew for giving her such a good car. Sunny is now in the hunt for a Top 5 finish next week.

Thanks again to Sheryl at Racing Images. Especially want to thank Tommy Moody, Bub and Dale, of Moody Racing, for all their help and support - and Brandon for being such a good fan.

NEXT WEEK: DISCOUNT FURNITURE WAREHOUSE NIGHT - 250 LMSC

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Monday, June 1, 1999, Featured Driver

Sunny is the Featured Driver for June on the NEW Thunder Valley Racing page, Distant Thunder. There are new pictures and a write up about her racing career. Check it out.

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Saturday, May 28, 1999 Race Results
M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers ) NIGHT (150 L LMSC)

Full Moon Saturday Night! To say that Sunny qualified 15th and finished 11th just doesn't get it. She qualified 14th due to a too-hot lap in qualifying, in which she got on the gas hard and broke the car sideways costing her valuable tenths of a second. 2nd lap of Race - she got spun, ripping off left front fender, nose, and hood. Came into pits. Crew Chief, Jason Turner went to work pulling off what sheet metal was left hanging, and with Sunny, re-strung rear end and she buckled in and went back out.

In the pits we discovered the damage, though extensive, was superficial. No suspension or frame damage, although the toe was off. She lost about 9 laps but we got her back onto the track looking for all the world like a modified with no front fenders or hood. First laps back out she turned low 17:60's (not far off what the leader was turning). She was back with a vengeance. She passed everything she could find. She passed on the outside, on the inside, on the straight-a-way and in the turns. Course this had to be done between the cautions, we only got to race about 5 or 6 laps between most of the cautions.

Sunny had another small incident when passing on the outside of a car out of turn four and on the front straight-away. He didn't know she was there and washed up into her. She was able to continue on with only donuts on the left side of her car.

What an unbelievable race, 150 laps of pure excitement for the fans, but not for the drivers who sustained a lot of damage. The field started with 21 cars and finished with only 14 cars and if there was a car in the race with no donuts on the side and an intact paintjob and no dented fenders, I missed it. Almost every car had been involved in some incident. We actually got off lucky. Some friends lost engines, one driver said they had over $4,000 structural and body damage and I know there was lots more. The infield probably looked like a racer graveyard when everyone pulled out and left all the body parts lying on the ground. So, we were happy with 11th place and an emotional victory. But that's short track racing, and part of the show. The #32 Monte Carlo was fast and we'll be back next week. Ya'll come out and see us and remember FREE Night June 19th. No admission charge.

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Saturday, May 15, 1999 Race Results

News from Caraway Speedway May 15, 1999 weekend. Another Wild Night at Caraway Speedway for the Carquest Road to Charlotte. Two different crew members were checking the sky to see if it was a Full Moon. That's how crazy the race was. There were certainly more caution laps than racing laps. At one time the most successive number of laps run was 5, all the rest were two or three laps, caution - clean up, two or three laps, and caution again. What a night! Sunny qualified 12th with a 17:53. Missed those numerous wrecks only to get spun out. A car ran up under her in the middle of turns 1 and 2. It raised the back end of the car up off the ground and she did a 180 going onto the back straight-away and ended up in a cloud of dust at the bottom of the track. She kept her foot in it to keep the motor running but it stalled out and being hot, would not immediately restart so she went a lap down and had to go to the rear of the field, and fought back to finish 12th. In the process, she got the wheel and right front shock bent but she kept racing and made a pass on the last lap, coming out of turn 4 to take the checker flag. Wild night. Fun was had by all and we look forward to seeing ya'll next race, a 150 lapper in two weeks on May 29.

Caraway isn't racing this weekend, May 22 because of the Winston in Charlotte. Hope to see you at "The Winston". If you aren't there in the pits, watch to see if you see Sunny and crew on the tv screen in the background. We will be wandering around Charlotte Motorspeedway the whole weekend. Most likely catch us around the #22 Ward Burton, Bill Davis pits. So long 'til next time.

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Saturday, April 24, 1999 Race Results

News from Caraway Speedway April 24, 1999 weekend. Sunny qualified 14th in the 50 lap race this weekend and missed the big wreck early in the race that took out Jamie Skinner (son of Mike Skinner, Winston Cup driver of the Lowe's Chevrolet # 31). Her spotter got her through the blinding clouds of smoke and she had a strong re-start. Later Sunny and the driver who was directly behind her at the time of the wreck said that they couldn't see a thing because of the smoke. Sunny just followed the spotter's voice on the radio ("go low, go high, stay high") and the other driver just followed her and they both got through without a scratch. She brought the #32 home to a 10th place finish. Not a bad race, especially considering that she was racing on old tires. Sunny said that before the race the team went back to the car set-up from practice two weeks ago, and felt that it "really freed up the car" - "not tight and not loose, feels good." "We also made a change to the rear gear to help coming off the corners.

For Complete April 24, 1999 Race Results straight from the Caraway site click here.

Sunny is currently 12th in points at Caraway Speedway.

Take a look at the Previous LMSC track champions from Caraway. I think you will see some really familiar names.

See you soon, Sunny is not racing this weekend, May 1, saving $$ for tires but she'll be back at Caraway Speedway May 8 for ...

8 SAT GOODY’S DASH SERIES 125 (125 L GDS) --- GDS;LMSC;LS;PS;BGS;SMT

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Sunday April 26, 99 "Sunny at Talladega Super Speedway"

Sunny was hired as TV celebrity/personality to interview top Winston Cup teams and crew at the Diehard 500 at Talladega, Alabama, about the popular Chevrolet trucks "Like a Rock" . The video footage includes interviews with the crew of the #22 Caterpillar sponsored Bill Davis team, the Budweiser team, the Goodwrench team, the Lowe's team and much more. See the teams talk with Sunny about their Chevy trucks - video clip coming soon... so check back and we will have the clip available here.

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April 17, 1999 WGGT Atlanta Race News

The first weekend of competition for Sunny Hobbs in the Women’s Global GT Series started off very well, but ended with disappointment. Sunny gained valuable experience in the Panoz GT-RA race cars, and in the techniques of qualifying and racing, and plans are underway for the second race at Sears Point Raceway.

Thursday’s 20 minute practice session started off with a wet track. The combination of first time in new race cars with more horsepower, less torque and better brakes than the Panoz school cars resulted in cautious track time. After practice Sunny said, “It’s too bad that we had a wet track because we were all looking forward to really push the new race cars and see what they would do.”

Friday’s two practice sessions served as qualifying for Saturday’s heat races with 16 cars per session. Despite consistent and fast practice times at the track in earlier tests, Sunny was unable to get a fast time in the qualifying session because she couldn’t get a clean lap. The combination of slower cars and extended yellow flag conditions minimized her qualifying time. “It’s really frustrating to not get any times even close to my earlier test times. This is when I miss NASCAR style qualifying.” Hobbs said. The result was Sunny qualified for Saturday’s heat race in 11th position.

Hobbs was optimistic about the race Saturday, commenting that “All I had to do was move from 11th to 8th position to qualify for Sunday’s race. No problem.” The first eight cars in each heat race would transfer to the 16 car race Sunday. She quickly moved from her 11th place starting position into 8th, then 7th within four laps only to be bumped into 9th position, one spot away from transferring. On the next to last lap, Sunny made a pass of the 8th place car on Turn 10, the chicane, only to be bumped again into and through the gravel trap by a car behind her. “I was really surprised by the car behind me trying a 3-wide pass under braking through the chicane and I paid the price by being knocked into the gravel trap.” With only one lap left, Sunny was unable to regain the 8th place spot and missed the Sunday race. “I learned a lot about road course qualifying and racing that I will take to Sears Point, although I won’t be going if I can’t get the sponsorship together before then.”

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Web Site Award Friday April 9, 1999

Click here to vote for us in the 1999 Internet Sports Awards.

We owe it all to our fans, Thank You and keep coming back. We will be having updates of results, videos and interviews, and calendars to download and printout coming soon.

www.sunnyhobbs.com became a 1999 ISA ALL PRO SITE AWARD WINNER We received the following email telling us our website was honored as a 1999 ISA All Pro Site for the sport of auto racing.

"I want to congratulate you on your website being honored as a 1999 ISA All Pro Site for the sport of auto racing. Our ISA website judging committee has selected only the very best auto racing sites to receive this coveted award. Every year, we review the top sites in each of the major sports and honor the very best based on content excellence. Your auto racing website will also be eligible for the 1999 Internet Auto Racing Awards. Congratulations again and good luck in the 1999 Internet Auto Racing Awards."

Commissioner of the Internet Sports Awards (ISA)

 

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For Immediate Release

February 22, 1999

Sunny Hobbs to Compete in Women’s Global GT Series

High Point, NC, —After three days of qualifying sessions at Road Atlanta, Sunny Hobbs was invited to compete in the inaugural Women’s Global GT Series. This new series, featuring female drivers on a seven-race circuit will be launched on road courses in April.

Conceived as a support series to the American LeMans the Inaugural Women's Global GT Championship will bring together leading women race car drivers from around the globe to compete in a one hour endurance race format. Tracks for the series include Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Portland, Sears Point and San Diego. The drivers will compete in identically prepared Panoz GT-RA tube-frame cars with over 400 HP Ford 4.6 liter dohc Mustang Cobra V-8 weighing 2500 pounds, riding on Michelin Street tires. Indianapolis 500 veteran and renowned road racer Lyn St. James has been named executive director of the series.

Sunny Hobbs, a five-year veteran of stock car and road racing, was notified of her acceptance on February 4, 1999, National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Tryouts for the series consisted of timed qualifying laps, strength and endurance tests and mental readiness /concentration tests. 58 women drivers participated in tryouts in Braselton, Georgia.

Hobbs recently relocated her race team, SHE Racing, from Richmond, VA to High Point, NC where she will compete in NASCAR’s Winston Racing Series in a Late Model Stock Car, beginning March of this year.

Hobbs will participate in both series.

Hobbs has been racing for five years working her way up through the ranks of local stock car racing including two years in the Pro Truck Series at Southern National Speedway in Kenly, NC and last year’s rookie effort in a late model stock car. Hobbs also has considerable experience in sportscars, with wins at Rockingham (on the roadcourse) and Summit Point Raceway in an Eagle Talon.

For more information on Sunny Hobbs, go to http://www.sunnyhobbs.com or contact Jim Hobbs at (804) 783-1191. For more information on the WGGT series, go to www.americanlemans.com/pages/info/wggt.html or call Lyn St. James Racing at (317) 244-9790.

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