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Local Legend Giving Back To Sport

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By BILL GREEN

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 25, 2008

After 30 years of racing in the Tampa Bay area, Keith Nosbisch has accomplished quite a bit. He has more than 750 feature wins and 10 championships from tracks and series across the South.

At age 52, Nosbisch competes full time in the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series, where he is third in the national points.

After a great career of full-time racing, Nosbisch has started to give back to racing. Saturday night, Nosbisch's teammate, Bubba Clem, known as "Bubba The Love Sponge," will take to the track with Nosbisch in the UDLMCS show at East Bay Raceway.

"After so many years of racing, I've been kind of winding down the last few," said Nosbisch, a Valrico-based racer known as The Catfish. "But when Bubba called and said he wanted to go late-model racing, I thought this might be perfect timing. I could coach someone else in the late models I know so well, plus I could choose to race only the number of races I wanted to along the way."

Nosbisch's commitment to run all the UDLMCS races in 2008 helped series owner Ken Kenny sell the series to more tracks.

"I think Ken has the right idea," Nosbisch said. "He's taken late-model rules from all of the southern tracks, including East Bay, and worked the series so anyone owning a southern-based late model can compete fairly in this series."

Nosbisch, who started his career as a 22-year-old in Thunder Cars at East Bay, stands atop the active late-model list in wins and pure local star power. His fan base stretches from the Mississippi River to the Carolina shores and southward, engulfing the sunshine state. So why does he still travel? Why put in all that time, money and effort when you've already done so much?

"I just love the people, I really do," Nosbisch said. "My fellow racers have become friends, some friends have become racers and the fans all over the south never cease to amaze me when we show up at the different tracks. Don't get me wrong, I love East Bay. It's my home track. But it really feels good to have someone tell you they came to watch you race. It doesn't get any better than that."

As part-owner of one of the oldest used auto parts suppliers in Tampa, Nosbisch never stopped showing up at work.

"Even when I won some 40-plus features in both 1986 and 1987, I never let it go to my head," Nosbisch said. "I enjoy the racing. I love the winning ... and as long as I can compete for the wins, I'll stick around for a while."

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