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2008 Auto City Speedway Champions answered a call to the Roundtable to talk about their past, present and future at the track: Super Stock/Pro-Late Models Champion Terry Bogusz, Modifieds Champ Nick Clemens and Duane Damon, Figure 8’s Champion

All three are looking forward to the 2009 season.

“This year will hopefully bring a lot of excitement to the track,” Duane said.

“That’s for sure,” Nick said. “I think a lot of great things are going to happen this year. The rules have been aligned with a lot of other tracks. It’s the first time in a long time that tracks have worked together on something. I think it will make traveling from track to track easier in the same weekend, and that should increase competition at each track.”

“I’m hoping to see an average of 20 cars in the field this year,” Terry said. “We (Super Stocks) only have 12 races at Auto City. With the way the economy is, I think guys are going to stay closer to home. Hopefully that will mean more cars on the track every Saturday night.”

Terry, Nick and Duane bring a ton of experience to the table and they all learned from the best.

“I started driving Go-Karts in ’96, but I grew up around racing,” Terry said. “My dad raced, built motors and taught me everything I know. My transition to Pro-Late Models has been successful because my dad taught me to always be prepared and to know how to work on my own car when I have to.”

“I remember riding in the back of the truck with Sam Fowler and my dad,” Nick said. “I learned so much from Sam on those trips to Crystal and I-96. He was my dad’s best friend and always the guy to beat. I started racing Quarter Midgets when I was eight, ran Thunder Trucks for a few years and then transitioned to Modifieds in 2003. Most of the success I’ve had was because Sam taught me to work hard, stay at it, and not to let anything discourage me.”

“I lived a couple doors down from Jimmer Daniels when I was growing up,” Duane said. “I used to help him with his car and I just stuck with it. I started on the circle track in ’02. Then I was lured by the craziness of the 8’s in 2006, won the Championship at Dixie Motor Speedway in ’07 and last year at Auto City Speedway.”

Every driver has a story about “the big one that got away” and these three champs are no exception.

“I was racing Go-Karts at Owosso for the 1998 Nationals,” Terry remembered. “I led most of the race, but got a little loose coming out of turn four in the last lap and got freight trained by two good friends. I dragged one of them to the finish line, but he had a bigger pusher and I got the number three spot.”

“Oh, man! One race I’ll never forget was at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis,” Nick said. “I didn’t qualify particularly well and started 24^th. I worked up to seventh with more than 20 laps to go and they cut the race 20 laps short because of time constraints.”

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“You think that’s bad,” Duane said. “In my very first figure 8 race at Auto City I was in front on the last lap, I was looking at the checkered flag. Then, bam, I hit a lap car in the last intersection! They had to finish the race by decision and they called it a tie between me, and the guy in the number two spot. I was so close!”

Switching gears, our 2008 Champs talked about great memories with their fans.

“Just seeing the smiles on their faces on autograph night and being able to interact with the people,” Terry said. “In the beginning of my career I traveled a lot, following the Super Pro Series. Now that I am at Auto City more often, I have a regular group of fans and I like that. I enjoy opportunities in public to show them that we’re all human, just like anybody else.”

“Autograph nights are the best,” Duane said. “My favorite fan has to be ‘Little B’ at Owosso on autograph night. I think he’s the world’s biggest little race fan.”

“When I’m not racing, I’m a teacher,” Nick said. “One night three of my students came out to see me race. They were all yelling from the fence the whole night and cheering me on. I won three out of four races that night and they came down and had their picture taken with me. That’s one I’ll never forget.”

Drivers don’t just get in the car for their own enjoyment, they do it for the fans, and they do it for the thrill of good clean racing. Our Champs told us a little about the competitors they most admire.

“I’ve probably run with Wayne Howe and Norm Wilcox the longest,” Terry said. “I admire both of them for the good clean competition they bring every night.”

“I have a lot of respect for Charlie Thom,” Duane said. “We race together and help each other out a lot.”

“I admire Tony Brabbs,” Nick said. “That guy has won 20 track Championships over his career. He’ll always race you clean, he’s the epitome of consistency, and he is always the guy to beat. You want to envy him, but you can’t, because he’s too nice to you.”

Finally, Terry, Nick and Duane took a peak into the future and shared their vision for their racing teams at the end of the season.

“We’re changing over manufacturers this year, from Chevy to Ford,” Terry said. “If we continue to do what we did last year we should have a prosperous season.”

“I’m shooting for two track championships this year; one at Auto City and one at Dixie Motor Speedway,” Nick said. “I know I will have at least five feature wins. I missed the Dixie Motor Speedway Modified Championship by 40 points last year. Now that the two tracks are racing on different nights I’ll have a better shot.”

And the ever-confident Duane Damon summed it all up, “I’m going to end 2009 on top. Number one. Two years in a row.”