Mike Stacy & JVM Racing Hoping To Roll At Columbus Motor Speedway
JEGS Bud St. Amant Memorial 174 Presented by CoughlinCars.com up next (Special from JVM Racing)
July 31, 2014
Columbus, Ohio (July 31, 2014) – Back in 1996 when Jeff Miller took a break from owning
and crew chiefing ASA race cars he decided to do some Super Late Model racing at
Columbus Motor Speedway. He knew immediately what number and what color would be
on his new cars. Out of respect for one of his childhood heroes, Don Gregory, and also
the assistance of another, Bud St. Amant, he vowed to try very hard to make them proud
that he had chosen a purple number 7 for his cars. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! With
Mike Stacy tapped to be the driver, and what is now a 20 year sponsorship in Sizzle
Marine on board, and a dedicated group of guys to work on them, together they won
about 25 Nascar features in less than 3 full seasons. The team also garnered a Nascar
Championship in 1998 in a class that had 28-35 cars each week. In 1997 JVM Racing
even brought one of the soon to be matriarchs of the purple number 7 dynasty that was
started in the 50's by Don Gregory-Bud St. Amants hundreds of wins, Gary St. Amant, to
Columbus for a Wednesday night Main Event Racing Series show. He climbed behind the
wheel of the purple 7 and drove it to victory. That was a few years ago. This weekend
means so much more to Jeff Miller. This is his chance to again honor his friend Bud St.
Amant.
"As the proprietor of the number 7 around here the last number of years, and on and off in
CRA for 10 or so years, its neat to be able to pattern things you do after those who were
truly legends of our sport." stated Jeff Miller. "While only running a few races a year now, this race, the "Bud St. Amant Memorial" was at the top of my list for this year. We have put extra effort into being ready to try and win this race. Talk of this race started quite a while back and I always wanted to be a part of it.Bud was a guy I talked to almost every week whether in person or on the phone. We talked about everything. We loved sharing race reports because lots of times we were in different places racing. One of the greatest racing experiences I have ever had came just last October at Winchester Speedway when after my daughter Taylor, James Thompson, and myself, as owners of Your Custom Graphics, wrapped our Jegs/CRA car in the old JEGS number 7 purple paint scheme that Don and Bud won with at Winchester, in honor of our friend Bud. It was truly awesome to see the happiness in his eyes and hear him say "thank you buddy" with his soft voice."
Miller went on to add, "So I assembled all of my old race team for a little extra shot of the old magic, my partner Nelson Kohman, our driver and partner Mike Stacy, and longtime sponsors Sizzle Marine, Howe Racing, Buckeye Power Sales, Agroscapes,Your Custom Graphics, and Stacy's Flooring to try and roll a 7 one more time. The car, driver and team is certainly able to do this. I can't even imagine how many times the purple number 7 has been to victory lane at CMS over the years. I would like to think that one more time Saturday would sure bring lots of smiles!"
