COMPACT CARS Goody Series will have new owners for next season

NASCAR will no longer be part of the compact car division.
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Robert Huffman might be the best little-known driver around.
He won his fifth NASCAR championship this season, and five of his 41 career victories came at Daytona International Speedway.
Of course, all that winning didn't make Huffman a big name in auto racing. But that might change next year, when he moves up to the truck series as part of Toyota's team.
And he's got the Goody's Dash Series to thank for it.
"I've had the chance to race for a living, to be a part of a great team that's been successful," Huffman said. "It's helped make my career."
The Dash Series, made up of compact cars with V-6 engines, completed its 29th season in 2003, but it was the last one under the NASCAR banner. The Brawny 150 at Atlanta Motor Speedway last week -- won by Justin Hobgood -- was the final race.
"We just had a tough time putting a schedule together, it just became a piecemeal deal," NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter said. "We just couldn't make it work."
New owners set
The circuit will continue but not in its present form. Buck Parker and Randy Claypool signed an agreement with NASCAR to buy the series.
A schedule of up to 18 races is planned for next season, probably beginning again at Daytona. But NASCAR won't be involved.
"I think it'll probably be better," driver Mickey York said.
York started in the series in 1977 when it was known as Baby Grand, a nod to what was then the Grand National Series (now Winston Cup). Several cars carried paint schemes like those of the NASCAR stars, and because the Busch Series hadn't started yet, the Baby Grand cars were part of several events on the top circuit.
For whatever reason, the series didn't gain in popularity, and it slowly was pushed further into the background.
"I just always felt like we were the division that wasn't given the opportunity to grow like it could have," said York, who's made an all-time best 322 starts. "I don't know if that was from a lack of advertising, a lack of interest, or what."
When NASCAR came out with its top 50 drivers of all-time in 1998, nobody from the Dash Series made it, not even Dean Combs. He won the first title in 1975 and finished his career with 60 victories, the most ever.
Combs, a five-time champ like Huffman, didn't have the same success in Winston Cup, failing to win in several part-time seasons.
If Claypool has his way, the series might finally reach the potential that York sees. He did public relations for the series last season and discovered that it might not last too much longer with NASCAR.
He got together with longtime friend Parker, and they hope to take advantage of the country's love of small cars.
"We're really targeting the rage that is out there with the compact cars," Claypool said. "We're going to have a whole new image.
"We want to take the series and plug in to that fast-and-furious market. Give those enthusiasts a place to plug into in circle-track racing."