| NO ONE TAKES HOME THE BIG MONEY AT USA | by Robin Meiser
Sunday, February 4 dawned dark and dreary like the day before at USA International Speedway in Lakeland. Before the day was over it would be even darker for Florida late model racing legend Dickie Anderson (Wildwood) and up-and coming racer Jason Boyd (Orlando).
Qualifying was scrapped for the Super Late Models due to the inclement weather. Randy "Hondo" Fox (Lehigh Acres) sat on the pole with Lake Monroe's Mike Good sitting alongside. As the field of 26 cars came around to complete one lap, Travis Kittleson (Merritt Island) went airborne after being part of a multi-car accident that brought out the red flag.
Twenty four cars took the second green flag but Fox spun coming out of Turn 4 and another melee ensued with all the lead cars being involved including Slim Jim All-Pro Series champion Billy Bigley, Jr. (Naples) and Ricky Carlton (Homasassa) among several others. The worst mishap was "Mr. Short Track's" Dickie Anderson's car, which suffered major damage. This ended Anderson's hopes of taking home the $75,000 bonus for winning all four segments of the Super Late Model series.
Quick pit work by Bigley and Carlton's crews brought them back out on the lead lap despite heavy damage. When race leader Peter Cozzolino of Avon, Indiana completed the first lap, only 18 cars were left on the track. As second place Good tried to pass Cozzolino, all eyes were on Mario Gosselin (Lake Wales) who was passing a car each lap as flames shot out of his tail pipe and on Carlton who was making up for lost time after starting in the rear.
Good took the lead on Lap 10 and steadily pulled away from the field. The best race on the track was between Gosselin and Carlton who were both in the Top 5 by the 25th lap. As Gosselin passed Cozzolino for third and was aiming for second place Scott Hantz (Angola, IN), disaster struck Carlton who experienced mechanical problems and headed for the pits. Gosselin passed for second shortly thereafter and was reeling in the leader when the caution flag flew for Canadian Donald Chisolm. Gosselin made a quick trip to the pits and dove out of the pits half a lap behind the leaders.
Good continued to lead with Hantz, Cozzolino, Larry Gelinas (Scarborough ME) and Bigley following close behind. Gosselin caught the field and was in a four-car battle for sixth place with cars going three-wide for sixth place. Gelinas moved around Cozzolino into second on Lap 63 while Good's lead widened.
The last five laps saw Gosselin joining Hantz and Bigley in a race for third position. Good took the win with fellow Ford driver Gelinas in second. Cozzolino, Bigley and Gosselin rounded out the Top Five.
Rusty Hillman (North Fort Myers) and David Logan (Jupiter) sat on the front row for the final 100-lap segment of the Late Model series. After a complete restart, Logan took an early lead as Jason Boyd (Orlando) came from midway through the pack on the outside to take fifth position by the second lap. His incentive to get to the lead was the $50,000 bonus promised if he could win all four segments. Boyd continued to pass cars while Shane Sawyer (Royal Palm Beach) tried to take the lead from Logan. Sawyer took the lead on Lap 8 as Boyd moved to third. Boyd's hopes blew up in smoke on Lap 15 along with his engine, forcing his early retirement after making a big name for himself during the first Springfest.
Sawyer continued to lead as second place Jason Crossey (West Palm Beach) kept him in his sight and Logan hung in for third. The best racing action was half a lap behind, as Hillman, Mike "Hobo" Hovis (North Fort Myers) and Joe Boyd (Riverview) battled for fourth.
Randy "Hondo" Fox (Lehigh Acre) and Dwayne Dempsey (St. Petersburg) both made a trip to the pits and on the restart starting moving up through the field. As Sawyer continued to lead, Crossey and Logan followed behind. Hillman moved around fourth place Geoff Williams (Cocoa Beach) mid-way through the race and Crossey blew his motor shortly thereafter.
As Sawyer built up a straightaway lead on the rest of the field, Hovis hit the wall hard after his steering broke. Shortly, thereafter Hillman was put out of the race after a racing incident with Joe Boyd. Wayne Morris (Mulberry), Martin Pierce (Sanford), Dempsey and Tony Amico (Clearwater) battled for fourth behind the leaders. Morris won that battle but with two laps to go, Dempsey moved into fifth.
Sawyer dominated the race, taking home the win in the 100-lap race with ex-Legend car driver Logan in second. Joe Boyd finished third, Morris was fourth and Dempsey fifth.
As Dempsey still sat in his late model, the open wheel modifieds made way down pit row for their 50-lap race, causing him to make a made dash to his second race of the day. Joe Federico (Largo) and Tom Root (Orlando) sat on the front row. The field went three-wide on the start with Root taking an early lead as Steve Hauser, Jr. (Parish), second segment winner Jerry Symons (Edgewater) and Dempsey battled three-wide for second position.
By the ninth lap, Root was lapping cars but was overtaken by Symon on Lap 11. A few laps later Kiki Thomas (Tampa) hit the wall and a lap later double segment winner Doug Moff (Fort Myers) and Hauser both spun as they battled for position and were sent to the rear. Moff starting passing cars as soon as the green flag flew again moving up to sixth position in four laps. Several laps later, Jim "Hoot" Flynn (Orlando), Thomas, and Chet Morrison (Houma, LA) pirouetted down the front stretch, bringing out the yellow flag again.
Symons continued to lead with Root, Dempsey and Harold Scott (New Castle, IN) behind him until Scott fell off the pace moving Robert Ham (Ormond Beach) to fourth and Moff to fifth until both passed Dempsey. Moff hammered on Ham until he got around him for third.
A five lap shootout for the finish ensued after Thomas had yet another mishap. As Symons pulled away for the win, Root battled hard to keep Moff behind him to take second place while Moff settled for third. Ham and Scott rounded out the Top Five.
Scarborough Maine's Larry Gelinas sat on the pole in his beautiful Ford Mustang with Cozzolino alongside him with Bigley and Gosselin in the next row in the last Super Late Model race. Twenty-one cars took the green flag but in the tradition of the past several days, the yellow flag came out before a lap was completed as Ray Skillman (Indianapolis, IN) slid down the front stretch. A red flag was thrown by starter Dick Westfall due to a fuel leak in Chisholm's car.
Cozzolino led the first laps with Gelinas right behind. Suddenly on the third lap, Gosselin's car was off the pace coming out of Turn Four and he coasted down the front stretch. Weight from an unknown car had come through his floorboard, hitting him hard in the ankle, causing his early retirement from the race as the safety crew checked his severely bruised ankle.
Gelinas took the lead from Cozzolino. Meanwhile, Ricky Carlton (Homasassa) with a repaired racecar was making his way up through the field. As Gelinas pulled away in the lead, Bigley moved to second. Yellow Fever hit the track as the caution flag flew time after time but Gelinas fast Ford took off like a bullet on each restart. On Lap 72, Scott Hantz hit the wall hard bringing out the red flag again, just as Carlton moved to fifth position.
Soon thereafter Bigley, Cozzolino and Carlton had a freight train going for second position until the third segment winner Shane Sawyer hit the wall hard bringing out yellow yet again. Again Gelinas pulled away, leaving Bigley a distant second and Carlton third. In the end, Gelinas took the win, with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Rookie Bigley second and Carlton a respectable a third. Cozzolino had to settle for fourth and Jeff Emery (Longwood) was fifth.
In FASTRUCK Series racing action James Glover (Pinellas Park) took home the first place trophy. Mickey Kempgens (Tampa), Curt Haywood (Fort Lauderdale), Jim Gill (Sarasota) and Bobby "The Real" Diehl (Riverview) finished in the Top Five in the 50-lap race.
--Robin Meiser
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