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Tag: Michael Epps

  • Showtime Speedway keeps grassroots racing alive in Pinellas County

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    PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Grassroots racing has a charm to it. Robert Yoho can recall working at Showtime Speedway in Pinellas County as a kid.

    What You Need To Know

    • Showtime Speedway is a grassroots race track in Pinellas County

    • Robert Yoho worked at the track as a kid, and now owns Showtime

    • The track hosted the Outlaw Figure 8 World Finals earlier this month

    • Showtime has overcome a number of challenges to stay open, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to natural disasters


    “I was a vendor here saying ‘Coke’ ‘Pepsi’ sold them for a quarter apiece and then I went in the military I did my time,” Yoho said.

    Yoho joined the Army, served four tours overseas and when he finished his service, he came back to what he knew best: Showtime.

    “Came back 20 years later and it was closed down… I made a bid… and I’ve been here since 2011,” Yoho said.

    Now Yoho owns the track in a joint agreement with the state of Florida, which owns the land.

    But the lights went out at Showtime a couple of times in recent years. COVID shut down the track during the pandemic.

    Then in 2024, after hurricanes Helene and Milton, Duke Energy took over the track for their trucks. Later, FEMA used the grounds as a landfill for 90 days. Yoho said the track still hasn’t recovered.

    “I understand it, but when COVID came in and killed your crowd and you’re trying to get back to where you were and then they stop and do that again, I still have people stop over here and dump garbage, out in the parking lot, anywhere, they think it’s a landfill,” Yoho said.

    Well, it’s not a landfill anymore. The track is open and hosted the Outlaw Figure 8 World Finals earlier this month.

    Mark Tunny has won this Outlaw Figure 8 title six times, the most of any driver. He wasn’t going to miss the chance to get No. 7.

    “$10,000 and the bragging rights, obviously,” Tunny said when asked what the stakes are for this race. “We come down from Indiana every year, every February, and we look forward to this. Grassroots racing — I don’t think you find anything better than that… I don’t care what NASCAR fans have to say. F1. IndyCar. No, the short track racing with the guys that got money on their line, whether it’s their bank account or their sponsors’ money — I think that’s where you get the best racing.”

    That is why Yoho worked so hard to re-open this track; there is culture here. These drivers take time off their day jobs to race.

    Yoho, the owner of the track, throws on a fire suit and races from time to time as well.

    “I didn’t get to race when I was little. Now all my friends that raced when they were little are watching me race as I’m older,” Yoho said.

    Auto racing is at a pivotal moment for the sport. It has been a struggle to attract new fans. But the fans they do have still absolutely love it. There were kids running figure eights around trash cans during the intermission.

    “We’re having a ton of fun out here at Showtime Speedway. It’s so much fun running around and watching the cars go round,” young racing fan Cooper Meyer said.

    “We love it here, you got the beach down the road and like I said we can’t do any racing at home in February so we come down here we all get sunburnt we all have a real good time and go racing,” Tunny said.

    This track, which opened in 1960, has entertained generations of race fans. Through multiple closures and name changes, Showtime Speedway keeps finding a way to put on a show.

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    Michael Epps

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  • Stefanie Ingram helped lead USF through late coaching change

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    TAMPA, Fla. — It’s a new era for the University of South Florida women’s basketball program, undergoing a coaching change late in the offseason.

    What You Need To Know

    •  The USF women’s basketball program had a coaching change just before the season.

    •  Jose Fernandez left for the WNBA, and Michele Woods-Baxter took over.

    •  Point guard Stefanie Ingram has helped steer the ship and keep the team together through that late change.

    •  Ingram is from Orlando, winning back-to-back state titles at Lake Highland Prep.


    Replacing a legend is not easy, but that is what interim coach Michele Woods-Baxter is trying to do, taking over for Jose Fernandez, who left USF after 25 years as its head coach.

    “It’s been a little bit crazy for us with Jose departing. But you know what, our group was resilient, I thought everybody came, and even after his departure everybody came together,” Woods-Baxter said.

    “It is what it is, we have players that get injured, and it’s next person up, and Coach B was the next person up. And she stepped up, and we’re all right behind her we all had to step up in a different role, and we’re all doing our best, which is exactly what we’re supposed to do,” USF redshirt junior Stefanie Ingram said.

    Fernandez left in October, just weeks before the start of the season, and jumped to the WNBA as head coach of the Dallas Wings. The program elevated Woods-Baxter to interim head coach after 17 seasons as an assistant.

    Ingram, the team’s point guard, transfered in to USF this offseason and just months after she arrived to campus, her head coach left. But she and the entire team did not skip a beat.

    “Just the competitive atmosphere, like, when I first got here in the summer when Jose was here, the competitiveness was huge, and even after he left, it maintained. Like, it’s in the people that are here, and that’s really what I love about this program,” Ingram said.

    “Stef’s a rock. I thought when it was tough for some of our players after coach left, I thought her and Karla both did a great job at pulling the team together and just letting them know hey we’re gonna be alright we’re gonna be fine,” Woods-Baxter said.

    Ingram is from Orlando, winning back-to-back state titles at Lake Highland Prep. She took her talents to the SEC, spending two seasons at Georgia before transferring to Florida Atlantic last season. Now, she’s closer to home, playing in Tampa.

    “It’s been great my family can come to the games. Yeah, it’s been really fun just having everybody here and I love Florida obviously,” Ingram said.

    She looked right at home on that court, shining in nonconference play with 27 points against Duke and 23 at Vanderbilt, two power conference opponents.

    “I’m a pass-first point guard, I’m not somebody that goes out there looking for my own shot specifically, but my teammates and coaches have said, ‘You gotta score, you gotta push, you have the capability for it,’ so I’ve been trusting them and trying to put the ball in the basket,” Ingram said.

    The Bulls will need her to keep doing that to accomplish their goal of winning an American Conference championship.

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    Michael Epps

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  • Nick Townley inspired by long line of Plant baseball legends

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    TAMPA, Fla. — Wade Boggs Field, the baseball stadium at Plant High School, has the footsteps of legends on it.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Plant baseball program has sent multiple players to the MLB

    • Jac Caglionone just got his number retired, meeting the current group of Panthers players

    • Nick Townley hopes to be the next guy in line

    • Townley is the ace of the staff, a senior pitcher who has impressive command on the mound


    “We’ve always had some pretty good players and there’s kind of a long line of tradition to that,” Plant baseball head coach Dennis Braun said.

    The program boasts an impressive list of alums on the outfield wall, which has numbers retired from left field all the way down to right field.

    “We’re one of the few schools that has a Hall of Famer in Wade Boggs and we might have a future couple more if they keep doing the things they’re doing,” Braun said.

    Braun is referring to 5-time MLB All-Star Pete Alonso and 4-time All-Star Kyle Tucker, both former Panthers who are two of the best hitters in baseball.

    The latest pro to get his number retired is Jac Caglianone, a 2021 Plant alum who was a two-way star for the Florida Gators and is already in the bigs with the Kansas City Royals. The current team was able to meet Cagnianone at the ceremony earlier this month, seeing a guy who sat in the same dugout they do move on to accomplish what he has accomplished.

    “Yeah, I think that’s what the motivation is, I think everyone wants to be them not all of them are going to be 6 foot 5 250 pounds and that’s a big part of getting to the level that they get to but I think that motivation is a big deal for them and I think it’s what makes the program grow,” Braun said.

    “It was really nice to see. Obviously, he’s one of the greats of high school baseball, and it was really nice to be able to see the impact he’s made here,” Plant senior pitcher Nick Townley said.

    Townley hopes to one day be the next guy in line.

    “Yeah it really does help my focus. It just helps me stay concentrated on my main goal here which is competing as a team and winning and focusing on getting better,” Townley said.

    Townley is the ace of the staff, a senior right-hander who doesn’t light up the radar gun with a ton of velocity but makes up for it with an impressive command on the mound.

    “Throughout the fall and early spring I’ve just been working on my pitch location and delivery, getting better at sequencing and finding out where hitters are weak against me so I can get them out in the best way,” Townley said.

    He got some preseason recognition from 813 Preps, a Hillsborough County high school baseball publication, ranking him as the 23rd best player in the area.

    “I thought it was pretty cool but the rankings don’t mean anything until we start playing games so I try not to focus on it much, yeah it for sure adds some pressure but I gotta go into games knowing that I still have a job to throw good pitches and compete with the hitters so that just helps me stay focused,” Townley said.

    “Being ranked means you’ve done something you’ve earned that and every year you’ve gotta earn it. Baseball is a tough game so I think it’s important for him to come back down a little bit and not get too caught up in that throw strikes rely on his defense and if he does those things I think he will have another great year,” Braun said.

    Of course, Townley dreams of making it to “The Show.” Every baseball player does. No program around here has sent more players to the pros than Plant lately, so he’s in a great spot to try and get that dream started here.

    “Even though you may not make it, you may not be them let’s do everything we can so if that day comes that we don’t you can hang your cleats up and say I did everything I could to be the best player I could and that’s what we’re trying to do every day,” Braun said.

    For now, Townley is focused on this season and getting his team to state.

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    Michael Epps

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  • Shane McClanahan ready to ‘enjoy the game again’ after 2 injured seasons

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    PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — There have been a ton of smiles this week at the Charlotte Sports Complex, the spring training home of the Tampa Bay Rays, as pitchers and catchers reported.

    Perhaps the brightest smile of all came from Shane McClanahan on Thursday.

    What You Need To Know

    •  Shane McClanahan is a starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays

    •  He has missed the last two seasons because of injury

    •  Prior to the injury, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball and a two-time All-Star

    •  McClanahan has rejoined his teammates in Port Charlotte, with pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training


    McClanahan has missed the past two full seasons because of injuries. Last spring, he could not feel his fingers in his left hand. Now, he’s throwing a baseball and doing what he loves here at spring training.

    “It’s crazy how much you miss this, just the little things like the playing catch, being around the guys, the working out and, you know, just enjoying the game again,” McClanahan said.

    After a strong rookie year, McClanahan caught fire in 2022, posting an earned run average under 2.00 in the first half of the season, and was the American League starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. In 2023, he had an 11-2 record until August, when he experienced forearm tightness. Tommy John surgery ended his season and started a long road to recovery.


    “It gives me a better appreciation for what I’ve missed,” he said. “I’ve missed the little things being in the clubhouse with the guys and the bus rides out to the fields, the plane rides, like you obviously missed playing, but you don’t realize, I think until you get it taken away from you, how special this atmosphere is.”

    McClanahan got off to a good start in last year’s spring training, but a triceps injury uncovered a nerve issue that required surgery, keeping him out.

    Now, the flame-throwing lefty is finally back. He told the media on Thursday that his arm feels good, he had a normal offseason workout program and is still being careful but is ready to get back out on the mound and in front of Rays fans.

    More Tampa Bay Rays spring training headlines


    “I mean they’re gonna see me on the mound, which is different from the past two years, but no, I think they’re still gonna see that same guy that loves this community loves this team, loves to win,” McClanahan said.

    His fellow pitchers are excited for him to play, too.

    “His presence and having that type of pitcher back in the rotation, that’s only gonna make us better, and we’re gonna try to do what we can so that he doesn’t have to take the brunt of the load and try to be the guy, the two-time All-Star that he is, and he can kinda ease himself back into it after not pitching for a while. But I’ve seen him throw a lot on TV and it’s nasty, so I’m excited to see it from the dugout,” Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepoit said.

    McClanahan is expected to lead a revamped rotation, with Drew Rasmussen and Pepoit returning and a couple new faces in Nick Martinez and Steven Matz joining them.

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    Michael Epps

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  • Rink construction begins for NHL Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium

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    TAMPA, Fla. — Two outdoor NHL hockey games are being played in the state of Florida this season, with both being a lot different from each other. 

    The NHL Winter Classic was played earlier this month in Miami at loanDepot park, the home of baseball’s Marlins. This was technically an outdoor hockey game because the ballpark’s roof was open at puck drop, but was otherwise completely enclosed.

    What You Need To Know

    • Rink construction is underway for the NHL Stadium Series game

    • The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1

    • NHL facilities workers will begin building the ice on Sunday, which will be protected by a tent all week

    • Refrigeration units will help keep the ice frozen through the warm Florida temps


    Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is not covered and is exposed to the sun and open air. This NHL Stadium Series game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins will be played out in the open, presenting a brand-new experience for hockey players and fans.

    There are naturally some concerns with playing a hockey game completely outdoors in Florida, but the NHL has a plan in place.

    Construction for the rink is underway, beginning with the rink infrastructure, and then on Sunday, they will start to build the ice.


    “We’ve got six days set aside for ice making so once the tent’s up, we’ll have some HVAC units and dehumidification units inside the tent,” NHL Vice President of Hockey Operations Derek King said. “Same process as they would do at any other arena, especially here at Benchmark Arena, we’ll probably run a surface of about 2.5 to 3 inches.”

    Refrigeration trucks arrived outside the stadium on Monday and are in charge of keeping the ice at the right temperature. There will be a tent built over the rink to protect it from the sun throughout game week. Then on game day, the tent will come down, and they will keep a tarp on the ice to reflect the sun, keeping the frozen water frozen.

    “If we’re 75 (degrees) at puck drop it will be a bit of a challenge for us,” NHL Senior Manager of Facilities Operations Andrew Higgins said. “That’s why we brought both of our refrigeration units, those will be working hard if we’re 75. But forecast looks like mid to low 60s, which is pretty much perfect for us.”

    Bolts captain Victor Hedman visited the stadium on Tuesday to check out the progress. The Tampa defenseman won’t play in the game, since he is still returning from injury, but he said the guys are just excited to experience NHL history right here in Tampa.

    “It will be a different experience, obviously, but the game is at night, the sun will be down so that’s gonna help a lot,” Hedman said. “I think for us it’s all about experiencing this outdoor game and it’s gonna be a spectacular event for the NHL and Tampa too to host an event like this.”

    Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 1. Many are hoping for some chilly weather like what the Tampa Bay area has had over the last few days, both for ice conditions and to help set an authentic hockey atmosphere around the palm trees of Florida.

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    Michael Epps

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  • Land O’ Lakes soccer star scores on Senior Night

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    LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — Senior Nights in high school sports are special. The Land O’ Lakes boys soccer team honored 16 of them earlier this month at John Benedetto Stadium, nicknamed “The Swamp.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Eamon Carman is a star forward/midfielder for the Land O’Lakes High School boys soccer team

    • Eamon leads the team and is ranked in the top 10 statewide in goals scored

    • The Gators honored 16 seniors during their Senior Night game earlier this month

    • Shortly into the game, Eamon scored, giving him a memory he will never forget on his special night


    With some eyes far from dry, forward/midfielder Eamon Carman was adamant that there would be no tears from him out there.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s emotional, I mean I’m excited about it, last home game, I’m excited to just play. I’m ready to play and hopefully score goals and have some fun,” Carman said.

    But once he lined up with his family on the track, the tough skin on the Gators star softened a bit.

    “Now I feel a little emotional, but I’m still excited to play the game,” Carman said.

    His mom, Anne Gallacher, was honest when asked if she would tear up.

    “Oh yeah, I will,” Gallacher said.

    This moment means a lot to him because of how much the game of soccer means to him.

    “I started when I was 7 years old. It was the first sports I played when my cousin played it and got me into it, and I just wanted to play it and loved it ever since,” Carman said.

    The Land O’ Lakes boys soccer team loves him as well, leading the team in goals scored with 26 entering that game.

    “I want to score, I want to win games, so I come out strong and put everything I have into the game and try to put the ball in the back of the net,” Carman said.

    “You know how kids are just born with a skill? He was born to put the ball in the back of the net. He just has a nose for the goal, his touch, his speed, his awareness and how he sees the game,” Land O’ Lakes boys soccer head coach Billy Jeremias said.

    The Fighting Gators lost a heartbreaker in the district finals last year, which put a chip on their shoulders.

    “After that loss it just hurt, so I was out training every day going to the fields over the summer just like wanting to improve myself and score goals,” Carman said.

    He’s done plenty of that this season, ranking top 10 in the state of Florida and third in Class 6A with 27 goals at the point of this story being published. Carman said he was happy to be up there on that list, but it wasn’t good enough for him.

    “Yeah sometimes I look at that but then I’m like ‘I want No. 1, I want to be the best player in the state best player in the nation’ so I want to get more goals,” Carman said.

    So what did he do 20 minutes into the game? He did what he does best, scoring a goal to lead his team to a 4-0 win.

    Hard to dream of a better senior night, playing the game that he loves.

    “I couldn’t play anything else, this is the sport that I love and I’ll play it until I can’t anymore,” Carman said.

    He will keep on playing into the playoffs as the Fighting Gators look to capture a state title.

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    Michael Epps

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