Thomas: “We had a really good test Tuesday at Mobile and we’re going to try some different things Thursday night but our car was really good. After Lanier, Mobile seemed like a Superspeedway. I’m really pumped up about the movie on Friday. If the movie is half as cool as the preview it will be awesome. I wish we could get all the stuntmen back to Mobile for it but they are all spread out shooting other movies. I’m looking forward to seeing how what we shot all comes together in the movie.”

MOOSE GOES TO SCHOOL IN LANIER

Thomas Praytor, Lanier Georgia 8-15-09: After spending the season on the high banks of Mobile International Speedway the Moose loaded up his G-Force Impala for the flat 3/8^th mile bull ring of Lanier National Speedway and a 100 lap Georgia Asphalt Series race. Parking on Friday was the first indication of how steep the competition was this past weekend. Parked to the right was Chase Elliot, son of NASCAR driver Bill Elliott and on the left was current Super Late Model-Blizzard, Miller Lite and Viper Series points leader Bubba Pollard. They were the next-door neighbors and the rest of the neighborhood was just as tough. To go fast in Mobile you drive it in until you think it won’t hold and then you stomp the gas and hold on. Lanier is more touch than brute strength and more turning than going straight. The first few laps of practice got the better of the Moose as he struggled to adapt to the unique Speedway. The team thrashed on the Grill chassis while the Moose continued to learn. After less than 50 laps of practice the Moose lined up to qualify posting a lap more than a second faster than his first laps on the track and just 2 tenths off the pole. How tight was the field? The Moose lined up 16^thout of 20 cars. The team had little time to work on long runs and had more questions marks about the race than they did qualifying. With the drop of the green flag the Moose picked up a few spots but not many and the race settled in to a 25 lap green flag run before the first caution. Back under green the Moose was looking to pick up some spaces, 3 cars in front of the G-Force machine spun and the Moose locked up the brakes to keep from running over the cars in front of him. The move sent the Moose spinning and a light encounter with the outside retaining wall. A trip down pit road for a little duck tape and the Moose was back on track, still on the lead lap but at the tail end of the field. Under green he was picking up spots he lost in the accident. The Moose was making progress until he caught a lapped car that wanted to race the lead lap cars. The time spent getting around the lapped car cost the Moose valuable real estate as the leaders closed in. On a small 3/8ths mile track it doesn’t take long for the leaders to come around, at lap 60 the Moose went a lap down. As usual, a much needed caution flag flew shortly thereafter. The GAS Series does not use the lucky dog free pass like NASCAR, so the Max Force team used the last 30 laps to work on the handling of the G-force Impala preparing for a return trip to the North Georgia track. The weekend netted a 14^th place finish and a lot of valuable experience.

Thomas: “We really had a solid weekend, the level of competition was incredible and the track was hard to get a handle on. I really appreciate Mr. Rick (Crawford) and Grant (Enfinger) coming down from Charlotte to help me out. With the limited practice time we had, they cut my learning curve down big time. Every lap we made I felt like we got better I hope we can fit anther GAS race on the schedule before the end of the year.”

Picture: G-Force Impala on track at Lanier National Speedway. More pictures coming to the web site by the end of the week.

MOOSE MISSES SNOWBALL
FIELD BY A TENTH

BATTLES FOYT FOR TRANSFER

Thomas Praytor, Snowball Derby Pensacola, FL-12-7-08: The Mobile International Speedway US Army Rookie of the Year rolled into Pensacola’s Five Flags Speedway to line up against some of the best late model drivers in the country. Most teams had NASCAR ties with cars piloted by NASCAR developmental drivers or teams backed or owned by big name chassis and motor builders. The competition is so stiff that most of the local drivers that competed in the Lee Fields Memorial race just a month ago at Mobile International Speedway stayed at home, the Moose couldn’t wait to get to 5 Flags. After two days of practice, the odds for the Salvation Army Pontiac to make the Allen Turner Snowflake 100 looked slim. With 130 late models on the speed charts the Moose was no better than 70^th after any session. Our Salvation Army team spirits remained high because we knew that our team had limited tires to work off of during practice while other teams were bolting on new tires for almost every practice session. Fresh tires equal fast times and the Moose didn’t have those resources. What he did have was his hard working crew member Kyle McKay-Cox and a couple of Snowball Derby pickups Adam and Rick Crawford. Bolstered by our own NASCAR connection the Moose was up on the wheel for qualifying, turning a 17.58 second qualifying lap. Four tenths of a second better than his fastest practice time and just a tenth of a second out of the show (For the record it was 7 tenths of a second faster than a certain fat guy qualified the same car in 2007). To say the level of competition has stepped up would be an understatement. Last year the Moose’s time would have started him 19^th, this year he was 39^th and would have to race his way in through the last chance race. The Moose started 5^th, in front of Larry Foyt, son of A.J. Foyt, and soon moved up to 4^th but instead of looking for 3^rd he was busy holding off Foyt. The Moose and Foyt put on a show until there were 4 laps to go and Foyt was able to take the spot and end the Moose’s chances on getting in the race.

Thomas on the 41^st Annual Snowball Derby: “I wish we had made the race but it was a great weekend. Kyle, Adam and Mr. Rick worked their butts off to make our car better. Our qualifying laps and the last chance race, I was in the best car I’ve ever been in. What an experience to get track time with some of the best driver’s and teams in short track racing. Then to start in front of a Foyt for the last chance race, who would have ever thought I would meet a Foyt much less race against one. We were racing hard, he could have turned me anytime but didn’t. I went over to his hauler after the race to thank him, what a class act. We learned a lot about our car and we’re looking forward to the 95 KSJ 95 in 2009.”

MOOSE US ARMY ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Thomas Praytor Mobile 11-22-08: With heavy hearts our Max Force team made our final trip of the 2008 racing season to Mobile International Speedway for the annual awards banquet. The Moose bolstered by family, team members, sponsors and friends was awarded the US Army Rookie of the Year title for the Fausak Tire Pro-Late Model Division. The Moose completed every point’s race at MIS this season and earned his 3^rd Rookie of the Year honors in his 3^rd different division in his first 3 years of stock car competition. (MIS Super Stock 2006, Pensacola Super Stock 2007, MIS Pro-Late Model 2008) The countdown to the 41^st Annual Snowball Derby Continues this Saturday with an all day test at Pensacola’s Five Flags Speedway.

Thomas: “It’s been a tough week, losing Mame is hard. When you see the people who came out for her it makes you want to be a better person. In the middle of all that we’ve been keeping busy putting our car back together to test this weekend. Winning the US Army Rookie of the Year is special, it was one of our preseason goals. We learned a lot about late model cars this season and we’re going to need it to get in the Derby. I appreciate everyone who came to the banquet with me Saturday night and everyone who helped us this season.”

JAMIE PRAYTOR LOSES HER BATTLE WITH CANCER

11-14-08: Jamie Praytor lost her battle with cancer earlier today. Jamie is Tommy’s Mom and Thomas’s grandmother, below is the biography that was sent to the Newspaper. Her accomplishments are incredible. We felt like since we are posting this on our web site that we would tell a few racing stories about Mame. Like everyone else in Tommy’s family Jamie didn’t know anything about racing when she made her first trip to Mobile International Speedway. Everything was going fine until I took the track with 20 other guys, she couldn’t watch and ran under the bleachers until it was over. As I made my way to NASCAR Jamie made her first trip to Talladega Super Speedway. The first problem she had was the closed toe shoes and no halter tops in the garage. Once we got her apparel situated she made Talladega her personal playground and everyone was honeyed or darlined into letting her go wherever she wanted to go. The toughest place to get to at a race is the cars as the drivers get in to race. Jamie blew past those guards and proceeded to hug the drivers and wish them luck as she made her way through the starting lineup. The expression on Dale Sr’s face was classic as he got a hug and a good luck from this lady who had no idea who he was. Now it was time for me to run and hide until it was over. As Thomas made his way up through the ranks Mame made more trips to the racetrack, the final one was for the filming of Final Destination 4 at Mobile International Speedway this summer (Picture above). Unlike most race fans, all she wanted was for it to be over, she never really got comfortably watching either one of us racing. While she wasn’t a regular race fan she kept up with Thomas and her buddy Rick Crawford on a regular basis. While she was fighting cancer and as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months she kept up with what day it was by, practice (Thursday) or race night (Saturday) or when Thomas and I were going to the races with Rick. She always wanted to know how we were doing. She was extra proud of the all-Mobile front row in Texas with Rick and Cale Gale. She loved it when Mobile people did good. To say we are going to miss her would be an understatement. Tommy FOR COMPLETE BIOGRAPHY CLICK HERE

GREAT PAIR GOLDEN FLAKE AND THE MOOSE

Birmingham based Golden Flake Snack Foods will be the primary sponsor for Thomas “Moose” Praytor during the 2008 Lee Fields Memorial at Mobile International Speedway on October 11^th. In addition to carrying the Golden Flake colors for the MIS season finale, the Moose and Golden Flake employees will distribute 500 bags of Golden Flake’s new energy chip NRG Overload during intermission. “To be sponsored by the official chip of Talladega Superspeedway is awesome!” said the Moose. “When you look at the people who are sponsored by Golden Flake; Alabama, Auburn, the SEC and the Sunbelt Conference (Moose is a USA freshman) to be in that group is really special. I’m looking forward to Saturday night.” After a huge weekend at NASCAR’s biggest track, Talladega Superspeedway, Golden Flake heads to the fastest half mile in Alabama, Mobile International Speedway. “Our new energy chip, NRG Overload, is a big hit with the college crowd and the opportunity to team up with the Moose was too good to pass up,” said Chris Crosby, Sales Manager for Golden Flake. “Thomas and his race team exemplify the high standards we expect from the teams we work with. Golden Flake and the Moose, a great pair!”

The Lee Fields Memorial 100 is slated for Saturday night at Mobile International speedway at 8:00 PM. Coming in to the final weekend of racing at MIS the Moose is leading the US Army Rookie of the Year standings and sits 7^th in the Fausak Tire Championship points standings just outside of the top 5. A good night could move the Moose into the top 5 in the Championship point’s standings.

Golden Flake Snack Foods is a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden Enterprises, Inc. The Birmingham, Alabama based company was founded in 1923 and is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange, symbol GLDC. Golden Flake is a leading snack food supplier in the Southeast and is the official chip of Talladega Superspeedway, Auburn University, University of Alabama, SEC, Sunbelt Conference and the Rick and Bubba Show. For more on Golden Flake www.goldenflake.com.

TOMMY BACK TO THE BOOTH AT DEGA

In a surprising move, WTDR FM Thunder 92.7 invited Tommy back to the broadcast booth this weekend at Talladega for ARCA ReMax Series race on Friday afternoon. This year Tommy will share the booth with Thunder 92s Jim Jacobs and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Driver Rick Crawford. Broadcast will start at 4:00 PM and can be heard on Thunder’s web site http://www.wtdrthunder.com. Tommy on going back to the booth at Talladega, “This deal is really a continuation of younger guys like me, trying to help the older racers like Rick (Crawford) out. I came back to racing on Labor Day at Mobile to help build a crowd for him and now I’m going to help him get his feet wet in broadcasting. All kidding aside I’m pumped they’re asking me back. I’ve done a lot of broadcast for radio and TV but Talladega is special. Add to that to have
Rick in the booth for his first turn in broadcasting is pretty cool.”

GRUMPY OLD MAN DIVISION
GETTING BIGGER, OLDER AND GRUMPIER

8-20-08: The Super Stock Division has become Mobile International Speedway’s version of the Senior Tour or as some people like to call it the Grumpy Old Man Division. Howard Langham at 41 leads the top 4 of the geriatric set at MIS with fellow Grumpy Old Men James Alonzo, Shannon Jackson and Jimbo Devitt rounding out the top of the points standings. On August 30^th the Super Stocks are getting grumpier, older and bigger with the return of Tommy “Fatboy” Praytor. After taking a 2 and half year hiatus while the Moose drove the Max Force Racing machines Tommy is returning to action on Labor Day weekend. The team spent the last 4 weeks readjusting the interior of the car for Fatboy’s return (Readjusting is a nice way of saying making room for Tommy’s seat that is significantly larger than Thomas’s).

At 47, with a 48^th birthday looming on September 1, Tommy will become the senior member of the Senior Tour. “I looked it up and an over 40 fat guy has won almost every super stock race at MIS the last 2 years, I fit those requirements perfectly,” said Praytor.

Over the years race fans are used to seeing Tommy in his blue and white #28 Alltel racecar. For the first time in his racing career Tommy will not be driving the number 28 but the #6. Tommy will race the paint scheme unchanged from the filming of Final Destination 4. “Stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker drove this car filming the movie and we thought it would be cool for the fans to get a sneak preview of what they will see when the movie comes out next year. Plus I’ve done almost all the stunts he did for the movie during my career, of course I wasn’t trying to do a stunt at the time I did them.”

Labor Day weekend at MIS is huge (with Tommy racing it just got huger), The Moose will be in action with the Fausak Tire Pro-Late Models, Comp Cam Sportsman, the Bob’s Speed Shop Bombers and the Super Stocks plus a fireworks show and an autograph session with Mobile’s All American Cultural Icon, Rick Crawford. “I had several reason for picking Labor Day weekend to return to racing. First, I felt like if the fans knew I was going to race, it would help boost attendance for the Crawford autograph deal. It’s important for us younger guys to help the older racers out if we can. Second, it’s all about fireworks, every time MIS has fireworks I win a race.”

Testing is planned over the next 2 weeks combined with a strict conditioning program consisting of fried chicken, sweet tea and oreos.

FANS MAKE RONALD McDONALD HOUSE FUNDRAISER

Thomas Praytor Mobile, AL 5-31-08: Max Force Racing held its Annual Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser at Mobile International Speedway this past weekend. The event has become a fan favorite and with help from Mobile International Speedway and AIG American General the checks keep getting bigger. At intermission the Moose and his Cooper Tires team made their way into the grand stands to toss out Thomas McMoose t-shirts and sign autographs to help promote fan giving to RMH. We hope this year’s check will but our total contribution to Ronald McDonald House over $10,000.

After spending a couple of week as a stunt driver for the filming of Final Destination 4 at Mobile International Speedway the Moose was ready to get back to some real racing in the Fausak Tire Pro-Late Model division. An over aggressive setup for qualifying relegated the Moose to starting closer to the back of the field than the front in his 3^rd Late Model start. With the drop of the green flag the Moose used the stuntman skills learned over the last 2 weeks dodging wrecks and being wrecked. Before the day was over the Cooper Tires Pontiac was knocked out of the racetrack 4 times. Each time the Moose battled back on the track. Perseverance paid off and a bruised and battered the Moose’s Cooper Tires machine limped home 10th.

Thomas on his day: “The fans were incredible. I think the guys filming the movie had them extra pumped up. I can’t thank Mrs. Ida and AIG enough for helping us raise money for Ronald McDonald House. I wish we had a better showing on the racetrack. I felt like a real rookie out there, I either hit or got hit by just about everybody out there today. My Dad told me I got knocked off the track 4 times, it felt like 40. We’ll be picking grass out of the car all week. My guys never give up a thing and we kept digging and we ended up with a top 10.”

Picture: Thomas signing autographs in the grandstands for Ronald McDonald House night.

COOPER TIRES PRIMARY SPONSOR

FOR SUMMER SIZZLE

Thomas Praytor, Mobile, AL 5-22-08: Findley, Ohio based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company announced today that it will become the primary sponsor for the Moose during filming of Final Destination 4 and Mobile International Speedway’s Summer Sizzle. Since 1926 Cooper Tires vision has been, One Company…one team…one goal, that vision is mirrored at Max Force Racing. Final Destination started filming this week at Mobile International Speedway and will continue until Ronald McDonald House Night (Day) on May 31^st. The Moose will be making tracks in his Cooper Tire Pontiac for the movie and the Speedway’s Summer Sizzle that starts this week and runs for 4 straight weeks of racing. Currently 5^th in the Championship standings at MIS the Moose will only be making his 3^rd start in the Fausak Tire Pro Late Model division when the green flag drops on our annual Ronald McDonald House fundraiser.

Thomas: “I’ve been really lucky to have some great sponsors in my young racing career and adding Cooper Tires to our team is big. The list of racers Cooper Tires has sponsored is like a who’s who of open wheel racing, Juan Pablo Montoya and Mika Hakkinen are bad to the bone. I’m honored to be part of their stock car program. Cooper Tires is an American success story and I hope we can add to it.”

FINAL DESTINATION 4 READY TO START FILMING AT SPEEDWAY

Thomas Praytor, Mobile, AL 5-20-08: Filming for Final Destination 4 is slated to start tomorrow at Mobile International Speedway and will wrap during our annual Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser on May 31^st. Over the last few months our Max Force Race Team has been preparing cars for the movie, some will come back and some will not. You might recognize this car as the Moose’s runner up car from Mobile and Pensacola in 2007. The car received a new body and a new wrap job for the movie and will be driven by a stuntman for the movie. This car will come back but the car we showed you last week will not. Remember the Ronald McDonald House race will start early, 3:00 PM, to accommodate the filming of crowd sequences for the movie.

MOOSE TO DRIVE IN FINAL DESTINATION 4

Thomas Praytor 5-13-08 Mobile, AL: The Moose will be one of the drivers for the racing sequences of Final Destination 4. The 4^th installment of the Final Destination franchise will be filming at Mobile International Speedway starting on May 21^st. The Speedway was chosen by New Line Cinema for the opening sequence of the 4^th chapter of the popular Final Destination movies. With over 300 million in box office receipts, the Final Destination trilogy has been a hit with the under 30 crowd since it’s first premonition. For those not familiar with the movies, each movie starts with a premonition of a disaster and people being saved by the premonition. But you can’t cheat death and death spends the rest of the movie tracking down those who were saved or thought they were. In Final Destination 4 the premonition starts the movie at a racetrack. An open casting call for extras is being held at the Civic Center this Saturday from 11-2.

Filming will culminate on May 31^st during our annual Ronald McDonald House Fund Raiser. The race time has been moved from 8:00 PM to 3:00 PM to accommodate the film crew. The Speedway has created a special limited edition ticket for the 31^st and they are on pre-sale now at McConnell Automotive, Fausak Tires, Bob’s Speed Shop and Praytor’s Collectibles. In addition to the Moose driving in the movie Max Force Racing has been preparing cars for the movie. A car owned jointly with Rick Crawford was delivered a few weeks ago and the car pictured above will be picked up this week. We will deliver another car next week.

Thomas: “This is a really cool deal. I met one of the directors and the stunt coordinator a couple of weeks ago. Mr. Jeff (Danshaw, stunt coordinator) was really nice, he was Steven Segal’s stunt double in Under Siege. I tried to tell him the stunts he wants to do I’ve done without really trying. It’s going to be an awesome way to start the Summer.”

TESTING-MOVIE PREMIERE-RACING

BATTLES FOYT FOR TRANSFER

The Navy Drafts the Moose for Memorial Day Weekend