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October 22, 2005
Section: sports
Edition: BRADENTON
Page: 2D
RACING'S PERFECT MATCH
Scott Lockwood, Special to The Herald
EAST MANATEE --- Racing is supposed to be one of the fastest sports in the world.
For Robby McAuliffe, 41, his racing career didn't exactly get the quick start he had
hoped.
"My first race was a rude awakening," McAuliffe recalled. "The guys that I hooked
up with told me to just hang out in the back of the pack and watch what the other
cars did. When they threw the green flag, I wish I could have seen the other cars,
and I ended up getting lapped in the first three laps of a heat race in the street
stocks."
By his next race, McAuliffe could see the rear of the field and would progressively
get better from there. He would eventually win heat and feature races at the
now-closed Sunshine Speedway in St. Petersburg, drawing the attention of his
current car owner, Jon Bonin.
The pairing was successful from the start, as it produced McAuliffe's first driving
championship, which came in Sunshine's Outlaw Late Model division in 2001.
"That was the first time I actually had a full sponsorship ride," McAuliffe said. "It was
the first time I didn't have to foot the bill and race half a season and give it up."
After their success in that class, Bonin put McAuliffe into his open wheel modified
car. It was an older race car that had trouble keeping up with the faster, newer cars.
With a little prodding from McAuliffe, Bonin bought a new car in 2003 that was built
by Jimmy Cope, who had dominated the Late Model class at DeSoto Speedway in
the early 1990s.
McAuliffe's experience with his new car was almost as bad as his first race.
"The first night out with it, we were practicing down in Punta Gorda, and I stuffed it
in the fence, and it killed the front clip," McAuliffe said. "So Jon got it fixed, and we
bring it here to DeSoto, and I ended up putting it in the fence, and we needed a
new rear clip for the car.
"I actually got fired from the ride," McAuliffe added.
Despite that bad turn of events, McAuliffe agreed to stay on and help the driver
who replaced him, Ford Allen, mainly because of the friendship that had developed
between himself and Bonin. Since Allen had commitments driving other cars,
McAuliffe convinced Bonin to let him drive the car while Allen was away. McAuliffe's
results improved, and the rest is history.
"I kind of screwed my head on straight and started doing really good again,"
McAuliffe said. "We got back together and have been doing really well since."
After winning the final modified race held at Sunshine, McAuliffe and Bonin turned
their attention to DeSoto, a place where they had run a limited number of events in
the previous couple seasons. The move has worked out well for the Pinellas Park
resident, as he sits sixth in the Open Wheel Modified point standings, riding on the
strength of four feature event wins in his No. 56 car.
"We've accomplished a lot more than we thought we would," Bonin said. "It's been
a great year."
As the racing season winds down, it seems as if this pair's time racing together may
be over. Bonin is looking into other interests and has issued an ultimatum to
McAuliffe if he wants to continue next season.
"If Robby can win the Race of Champions, I told him we can race another year,"
Bonin said. "And if he can't . . . no seconds, no thirds, then I'm pretty sure we're
going to hang it up and try something else for a while.
"I hope he wins that race, to tell you the truth," Bonin added. "I just hope for him
that he does it."
Regardless of what happens at the end of the season, one thing is for certain ---
whatever McAuliffe and Bonin decide to do, the team will stay intact.
"It's like a little family we've got going on here," McAuliffe said. "Most of the time I'm
over at Jon's house helping him do something, or vise versa. We do everything
together."
PHOTO/BRIAN BLANCO/The Herald
Driver Robby McAuliffe is sixth in the Open Wheel Modified point standings at
DeSoto Speedway.
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