Five-time Must See Racing champion Jimmy McCune has officially entered the “Children’s Dream Fund 50” at Citrus County Speedway in Inverness, Fla., on March 2.
The 50-lap event will be a co-sanctioned race between MSR and the BG Products Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series with the primary goal of raising money and awareness to the Children’s Dream Fund organization.
The 50-lap event will pay $5,000 to the winner.
McCune’s announcement that he will participate in the event is surprising due to the fact that McCune has been somewhat exclusive to MSR and hasn’t traveled much in recent seasons. In fact, he didn’t compete in Davey Hamilton Jr.’s Open Wheel Showdown $50,000-to-win event in Las Vegas this past December.
Regardless, the Toledo, Ohio, veteran is certainly a serious contender for the victory.
He claimed five feature event wins with MSR last year despite not running the entire season.
When McCune was asked what his reasoning for competing in this event, he was quick to respond.
“I’m bored. There’s no racing to do right now,” laughed McCune. ”It sounds like it’s going to be a good event. That’s probably one of the biggest factors why we want to run.”
It may come as a surprise to many that McCune has competed with the SSSS in the past and also competed at Citrus County Speedway. He drove for Florida car owner Jason Reynolds at Showtime Speedway in 2021. He last competed at Citrus County Speedway in the mid-2000’s.
“We ran Citrus when I drove for Dave Durnwald around 2007, I believe. We went down there with a borrowed cast iron 360. I think we got through hot laps and we got rained out before the heat races. It was a fun little race track from what I remember. It was racy, so that’s a good thing. We had a lot of fun,” McCune explained.
Nearly 30 cars are expected for this race. It’s been a long time since McCune has faced a field that strong, but he seems eager to take on the challenge.
“What’s different? I mean at this point what’s different than any other night? We go to the race track every week and gotta race really good cars wherever we go. We’ve run out west at the Pink Lady and there were 50 cars. We’re gonna race the race track like we always do and could care less who’s there,” McCune said.
This race is more than just a race due to the involvement with the Children’s Dream Fund organization and McCune acknowledged that is another reason he wanted to support this race and help promoter JJ Dutton and his cause.
“I think it’s awesome. I haven’t got the chance to read into it too much. But from what I’ve been told, it’s an awesome program. I’m proud to be a part of this race and we’re looking to have some fun down there,” concluded McCune.
The Children’s Dream Fund is a St. Petersburg, Fla., based non-profit organization that was founded in 1981 with the single purpose of fulfilling dreams for children ages three to 21 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and who live in West Central Florida.