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Race car stolen from Land O' Lakes storage yard

Owner offering reward to get it back
Posted at 11:58 PM, Jul 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-22 01:42:36-04

Whether it was the sound or the speed, for Ron Armellei it was a match made in heaven.  

"Racing is in you, it becomes part of you," said Armellei.

So when thieves stole his prized possession last weekend, a part of his soul went missing too.

"My heart just sunk down to the ground," said Armellei.

On Saturday, The 63-year-old retired truck driver went by the Land O' Lakes storage facility where he keeps his race car but the trailer it was in, was gone.

"They got the car, they took my tools, they took my racing suit, they took my shoes, they took my hans device, they took everything," said Armellei.

A total loss of about $30,000.

"I don't know how I can ever recover, I don't have enough time to ever get something like that back again and there's no insurance on that kind of thing," said Armellei. "I acquired a lot of things over a long period of time."

Deputies found the trailer on Monday. The cars fiber glass panels had been professionally removed and thrown to the side. Investigators dusted for prints but cant offer much else. So Armellei and the racing community took to social media to ask for help.

"I've put up a thousand dollar reward that leads to any recovery of the car, Addy's automotive in Largo put up $200," said Armellei.

While he knows getting it back is a long shot, like his favorite hobby, its a risk he's willing to take.