Local Rider William Meyers Making His Mark At Daytona International Speedway DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Oct. 16, 2003) — Ormond Beach, Fla., native William Meyers captured victories in all four of the races he competed in during the Formula USA/CCS weekend in March at Daytona International Speedway — the first wins of his young career. The 26-year-old Meyers, who now resides in Jacksonville, Fla., and serves in the Florida National Guard, has some bigger goals in store during this weekend’s Fall Cycle Scene at the “World Center of Racing” – hopefully topping the four victories he collected in March. “We’re going for it,” Meyers said. “I don’t think it’s a long shot at all. I think I got a really good chance.” Meyers competed in Thursday’s Team Challenge and finished fourth overall and second in the GTU class. He’ll race in four events on Friday and two events on Saturday. The main prize that he has his eye on is Sunday’s Amateur Unlimited Grand Prix. His performance in that race will determine his 2004 plans. “They came out with (the race) to showcase the guys that are going to be racing Formula USA next year,” Meyers said. “What riders to look out for? Who to help out with sponsorships?” Meyers, who has only been racing since June 2002, has been dreaming of the tackling the high banks of the “World Center of Racing” ever since he attended Mainland High School, a stone’s throw from Daytona International Speedway’s Turn 4. He turned his first competitive laps at Daytona International Speedway during Fall Cycle Scene in 2002 and then found Gatorade Victory Lane for the first time in March 2003. “I’m over there at Mainland and in the middle of the day you can hear the cars going around,” Meyers said. “Then all of a sudden something sounds a little different the next week and it’s the bikes and you’re sitting in class or outside at football practice. “Now I’m the guy out here on the track and that’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. When we came here (last) October, I came here just to say ‘Hey, I’ve done Daytona’ and I had an OK season. Then we came back out here in March and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this’ and went four-for-four.” Meyers’ dream to become a professional motorcycle rider seemed the right move after he was getting too many speeding tickets. “I’ve ridden motorcycles on the streets and I was tired of getting costly tickets,” Meyers said. “I said, ‘I’ll go do a track today.’ So we came here and did Daytona (in October, 2002) and then after that I went home and I told my wife (Michelle) I know what I want to do. I’m going for it. I want to race bikes. I want someone to start paying me to race motorcycles.” Team Challenge: Rick Shaw, who owns the Daytona 200 By Arai mileage record, and his nephew Brian Shaw captured Thursday’s Team Challenge aboard a Suzuki. Brian Shaw did the first and last stint while Rick Shaw rode the middle stint. “At the start, there was a couple of rabbits out there testing and they set a blistering pace,” Rick Shaw said. “Brian and I discussed before the race and we wanted to take it easy. We didn’t know if the Hooters bikes were going to run the whole race. We decided to run an easy conservative pace and make sure we kept the tires underneath us. “It worked out well for us. When the rabbits dropped out, here we are with a minute-and-half, two-minute lead. That was wonderful.” The 55-year-old Rick Shaw, a police officer from Miami, Fla., says this is his 22nd or 23rd win at the “World Center of Racing.” Brian Shaw, a firefighter, now has four victories at Daytona International Speedway. “Every one of them is great,” Rick Shaw said. Rounding out the overall podium in the 56-lap Team Challenge are runner-ups finishers Larry Denning and Aaron Risinger and third-place finishers Robert Greer and Scott McNamara. Fall Cycle Scene continues on Friday. Tickets are available at the gate. For more information, log on to http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling (386) 253-7223.