PortsmouthRacewayPark
05-26-2012, 11:57 AM
Portsmouth Raceway Park is gearing up for the first-ever Boone Coleman Memorial "Gator 50" scheduled for Sunday, May 27th. Highlighting the evening will be a 50-lap Late Model Feature which will provide the winner with $5,000 as well as a highly-coveted provisional to October's Dirt Track World Championship.
PRP is in its 22nd year of operation and has been owned and operated by the Coleman family since day number one. The late Boone Coleman was instrumental in making Portsmouth Raceway Park the success it is today. Boone passed away prior to the start of the 2011 season, and is still and will always be sadly missed.
Mr. Coleman said many times that he loved a big Late Model race. Not only will Sunday's Boone Coleman Memorial be a big race in its own right, it is directly linked to the Dirt Track World Championship this fall, which will be the largest Late Model event PRP has ever hosted. The winner Sunday will receive an automatic starting position in this year's DTWC which pays $50,000 to win.
The term "Gator 50" comes from Boone's favorite means of transportation around the PRP grounds. Boone always traveled around PRP on a John Deere Gator...a six-wheeled cart with a small dump bed on the back. Boone would constantly serve as the runner - taking ice from the cooler to the concession stands, more tickets from the office to the ticket boothes, and running whatever errands needed to be ran. He would commonly give employees a ride from one end of the facility to the other. He would also assist fans in need from their vehicle to the grandstands and back at the end of the night. Some of Boone's more frequent hitchhikers were children. They all loved a ride in the Gator. Occassionally, Boone would raise the dump bed just to give the kids a little thrill.
Boone's fingerprint on PRP will be everlasting, and the stakes for Sunday's race along with the many friends and business partners Boone had are assured to make the Boone Coleman Memorial a staple on the PRP schedule.
Gates open at 4pm Sunday for this innaugural event. Racing will begin at 7:30. Along with Late Models will be Modifieds and Limited Lates. For more details, visitwww.portsraceway.com.
PRP is in its 22nd year of operation and has been owned and operated by the Coleman family since day number one. The late Boone Coleman was instrumental in making Portsmouth Raceway Park the success it is today. Boone passed away prior to the start of the 2011 season, and is still and will always be sadly missed.
Mr. Coleman said many times that he loved a big Late Model race. Not only will Sunday's Boone Coleman Memorial be a big race in its own right, it is directly linked to the Dirt Track World Championship this fall, which will be the largest Late Model event PRP has ever hosted. The winner Sunday will receive an automatic starting position in this year's DTWC which pays $50,000 to win.
The term "Gator 50" comes from Boone's favorite means of transportation around the PRP grounds. Boone always traveled around PRP on a John Deere Gator...a six-wheeled cart with a small dump bed on the back. Boone would constantly serve as the runner - taking ice from the cooler to the concession stands, more tickets from the office to the ticket boothes, and running whatever errands needed to be ran. He would commonly give employees a ride from one end of the facility to the other. He would also assist fans in need from their vehicle to the grandstands and back at the end of the night. Some of Boone's more frequent hitchhikers were children. They all loved a ride in the Gator. Occassionally, Boone would raise the dump bed just to give the kids a little thrill.
Boone's fingerprint on PRP will be everlasting, and the stakes for Sunday's race along with the many friends and business partners Boone had are assured to make the Boone Coleman Memorial a staple on the PRP schedule.
Gates open at 4pm Sunday for this innaugural event. Racing will begin at 7:30. Along with Late Models will be Modifieds and Limited Lates. For more details, visitwww.portsraceway.com.