|
The F&S Racing history started back in the early 1960's. Founder and Father Archie Freeman married Otella Singleton in 1960 and moved to Oliver Springs Tn. Mike was born in 62 and Gary in 63. Archie began racing at the local Drag Strips in Harriman and Knoxville. Dirt Track Racing cranked up in the mid 60's and Archie built his first car in 1966. Racing and winning at such places as Roane County Raceway and the old Broadway Speedway put a lot of excitement on Saturday night's for the Freeman racing family. Archie a true pioneer in local racing in East Tennessee, racked up hundreds of wins throughout the 60's and 70's. Winning at such tracks as Demory Raceway, Tazzwell Speedway, Wartburg Speedway, Smoky Mountain Raceway, Atomic Speedway, and Crossville Raceway -The list could go on and on -. Racing and being a winner was just another day at the office for Archie. Otella, Gary & Mike was the pit crew, the motavators, and the inspration that a race car driver needs from his family. Archie raced hot and heavy into the 80's. Wartburg Speedway re-opened in 1983 (after being shut down for 10 years), and Archie won 6 of the A-Class feature races that season. That would be the final season for Archie. He announced his retirement and turned the wheel over to Gary. Gary continued the next several seasons as a top contender in the Limmited Sportsman (Hobby Class back then) Division. Gary, driving Archie's old car, racked up many wins up through the '87 season. Up to that point, Mike had only been a crew member. In 1988, Gary with a new chassis, Mike takes the wheel of Gary's back-up car and double Freeman's reek havak on the high banks of Wartburg Speedway. Gary took the Track Championship and Mike was the Rookie of the Year. Mike and Gary continued racing hard and heavy into the 90's. Wartburg Speedway went under new management and the Hobby Class was dropped from the line-up. The Super Late-Models were the main bill. Mike with a new Barry Wright Chassis took the Rookie of the Year honors and this would be the last season as a full time driver for Gary. Gary continued to be a big part of the F&S Racing team as he took the dueties of car maintence. The next few seasons were learning years for the F&S Racing team. Racing at as many different tracks as they could pushed them right into 1994. That season saw a new birth at the Wartburg Speedway, the UMP Open-Wheel Modifieds. A National Division raced in as many as 11 states, all with the same rule book. F&S Racing decided to enter this class and Archie put the F&S Racing Shop in high gear quickly building the first Open-Wheel Chassis for F&S Racing. This ment Mike would be driving two classes all in the same night. F&S Racing also looked to a new engine builder for such an event. Tipton Racing Engines in Alco Tn. came on board with super power-plants for the team. When the 1994 season was over, Mike and the team had won the Track Championship with 11 wins and finished 13th in the National Title chase. In 1995, much the same way. Mike and the team (Now growing with crew help and support) had won another Track Championship and finished 11th in the National Title chase. The F&S Racing team also took on and endorsed Loydd Singleton (a family member-couison) as a Late-Model Driver and Danny Mitchell as a top Modified-Street driver into the racing stables. Loydd had many wins as a Street and Modified-Street racer in his early career. Danny was also a sucessfull driver in the Mofified-Street divison also.With two Late-Models, one Open-Wheel Modified, and a Modified-Street car representing F&S Racing team, big things were sure to happen. In 1996, F&S Racing took yet another title home to the shop. The Open-Wheel Track Championship again was won by Mike and crew. With 13 wins out of 16 races held that year (8 in a row), along with 2 Super-Late Model wins, this was probably the best season to date for the team. The team also finished runner-up in the Super Late-Model Championship. The 1997 season started just like the '96 ended, "Winning". Mike & crew quickly came out of the gate with 4 straight wins at the Wartburg Speedway. With those wins, came a rule change at the track as well. A driver could only compete in one class per night. Mike and Archie decided to put all the efforts on the Super Late-Model program for the rest of that season. It paid off, finishing as the runner-up in the Track Championship by only 2 points was dissappointing but still a good season. With the Open-Wheel Modified Program on the back burner for a while, the team invested in a new 4-bar Late-Model chassis for the '98 season. The next two seasons would be a learning experience again, traveling to as many tracks as time would permitt, and trying all the new set-ups that a 4-bar car has, was quite a challenge. When the 2000 season finally rolled around, the F&S Racing team had decided to put the Open-Wheel Modified program back together. UMP made a rule change allowing all UMP tracks to offer again the choise to drive an Open-Wheel and one other class as well. With that note, Archie went to work on the 2nd F&S Open-Wheel Chassis and by Spring, the crew was ready for the start of the 2000 season at Wartburg Speedway. This season also was the birth of a new track called Scenic Raceway located in Onedia Tn. The F&S Racing team would compete there on Friday night in the Limited-Sportsman Division, (same car's as Super Late-Model's but with Steel Heads only on the engine), and at Wartburg Speedway on Saturday night's in the Super Late-Model and Open-Wheel Divisions. The season got off to a good start. The first race of the year was a win at the Big Southfork Raceway in Huntsville Tn. The next week, the team took the checkerds in the opener at the Wartburg Speedway. All together, the team had 6 wins that season loosing the Open-Wheel Championship by only 4 points. The 2001 season was big sucess for the F&S Crew. Track Champion awards were just part of the sucess of the year. After 11 wins at three different tracks throughout the TN area, Championship awards at the Wartburg Speedway, and finishing 3rd in the TN State points race and 39th in the Nation in the UMP points battle, the F&S Racing Crew looks forward to the 2002 season. |
