| "Mr. Excitement" Jimmy Cope Wins Sun Cruz Casino 200 | by Jane Smith
 Lakeland, Fla. - With a one week rain delay from July 20th, Jimmy Cope, fast qualifier for the Sun Cruz Casino 200 and the first leg of the Triple Crown, was ready to rumble.
Although he did not lead every lap, he did start on the pole and won from the pole.
Before the first lap was down on the books, three cars were out for the 200 lap event.
Jay Middleton #74J, Barry Willoughby #74 and Joe Boyd #15. Boyd was able to drive back to the pits but both Middleton and Willoughby had to be towed.
A complete restart was in order as Cope quickly jumped to the lead. #115 Mike Franklin, Jr., was tight on Cope's tail for second followed by #00 Dick Anderson, #40 Michael Williams and #12 Justin Drawdy.
Lap 15, Anderson showed he had more power than Franklin and took over the second place position putting Franklin back to third.
Lap 20. #5x Mike Fritts brought out caution 2 as he spun in turns l and 2. As the field came around, the #70 Chad Pierce showed sever damage to his front end and pitted for damage control. The walls are very hard at USA International, Pierce can tell you that.
Restart Lap 24 with Cope, Anderson, Franklin, Williams, and Powell in the top five positions. Drawdy had been shuffled back to sixth but by lap 30, he had regathered his steam, taken back fifth and put Powell back to 6th.
Lap 33, Cope had a 10 car length lead over Anderson who had an eight car lead over Franklin. The race for 4th and 5th between Williams and Drawdy was tight. Behind 5th was a big race between the lead cars for positions. In the hunt was James Powell, Jacob Warren, David Rogers, Shane Sawyer, Jeff Scoffield, Mike Good, David Froelich, Tommy King, Daniel Keene, Jr., and B.J. McLeod.
Lap 46, Drawdy closed in on Franklin for the 3rd place position and was able to take it. But Franklin started to slow and two laps later was "dead in the water" as his car had to be pushed back to the pits to end his night. This brought out caution 3.
Lap 53 showed the green and the return of the new "modified" of Chad Pierce #70. Lap 54, caution 4 came out. #27 Mike Good and #47 Keith Zandrell spun in turns l and 2. As the field is realigned, the modified #70 returned to the pits for a little more TLC.
Cope then took the lead but it was Drawdy and Anderson going side-by-side for the 2nd place position. Drawdy could not make the move stick and Anderson retained 2nd.
Lap 61, #ll David Rogers had put on some muscle and taken over the 6th place position held by Jacob Warren #51. Warren, now in 7th, is challenged again by Shane Sawyer #38. Sawyer took 7th from Warren and Warren is now 8th.
Rogers's TM Ranch machine is on the move again. This time it is for 5th place and the spot that James Powell III holds. Rogers move stuck and Powell slips back to 6th only to be put to 7th by Sawyer who followed Rogers. Anderson also was on the move taking over the lead, putting Cope to 2nd.
The top ten now are #00 Anderson, #61 Jimmy Cope, #12 Justin Drawdy, #11 David Rogers, #40 Michael Williams, #38 Shane Sawyer, #37 James Powell III, #51 Jacob Warren, #78 B.J. McLeod and #07 Jeff Scoffield.
Caution number five came out for #16k Tommy King whose car slowed on the backstretch. King was able to re- fire his car but the yellow had already been thrown. During this period, a number of the lead lap cars took their mandatory pit stop. Justin Drawdy #12 was the first off pit road.
After the pit stops and on the restart on lap 95, it was #40 Williams, #51 Warren (neither pitted yet), #12 Drawdy, #61 Cope, and #78 McLeod.
Drawdy took the lead with Cope in 2nd on lap 89. Williams hung on for 3rd with McLeod in 4th, and Warren in 5th.
On lap 110 the race was RED FLAGGED for the #22 David Froelich who spun in turns 3 and 4 and for #5x Daniel Keene, Jr. and #116 Bruce Lawrence, Jr. The #5x had landed on top of the #116. Both drivers were able to get out of their cars and were okay but it took some time to remove the #5x from the roof of the #116.
When the red flag was off and back to yellow, the #40 Williams and #51 Warren made their pit stops.
By lap 120 Cope is tired of 2nd and made his move on Drawdy, made it stick, and took back his lead. One lap later, lap 121, Anderson moved on Drawdy for 2nd. Drawdy held fast but Anderson was good and the move stuck, putting Drawdy back to 3rd.
Anderson looked low then high but Cope was not to be passed. Cope stayed determined and Anderson could not pull off the move for first.
On lap 128, #07 Jeff Scoffield broke and stopped on the backstretch. Caution 8 is thrown as Scoffield's car is pushed to pit road and done for the night.
Nine (9) cars were left on the lead lap with 14 cars still running.
On the restart Cope looked like a bullet going to the lead over Anderson. Lap 151, Powell and Williams are side-by-side for 5th place. Lap 152, Williams took 5th putting Powell back to 6th.
Powell had a good view of #38 Sawyer right on his bumper. Sawyer looked high and low but could not make the pass. But three laps later, lap 159, Sawyer took 5th sliding Powell to 6th.
Lap 157, #78 McLeod is on the move taking 6th place from Powell. McLeod, who started in the rear of the field, has made a slow and steady move forward. Now, the slow moves are beginning to payoff.
By lap 163, only Cope, Anderson, Drawdy, Rogers, Williams, Sawyer, McLeod, Powell, Warren, Froelich, King and Pierce are on the track.
Lap 194, 11 cars are left. Rogers then made one heck of a move on Anderson for 2nd. It looked like the move was going to stick and Rogers would take over the 2nd place position but Anderson dug his heels in and held tight for 2nd putting Rogers in 3rd.
Jimmy Cope, "Mr. Excitement", held on and won the Sun Cruz Casino 200 and the first leg of the Triple Crown. Following Cope across the checkered were #00 Dick Anderson, #11 David Rogers, #38 Shane Sawyer, #40 Michael Williams, #12 Just Drawdy, #78 B.J. McLeod, #37 James Powell III, #51 Jacob Warren, #22 David Froelich, #16k Tommy King.
In tech, there was a question of the #38 Sawyer being a lap down on the finish.
PRO MODIFIED
Before one lap was down on the books, there was a major mass pile-up on the frontstretch. Getting the worst end of the stick was the #4 Jared Allison who was towed from the frontstretch and done for the night.
Complete restart with #66 Jerry Symons on the pole.
Symons quickly took the lead followed by #5 Bryan Campbell, #01 J. F. McClellan, #57 Jim "Hoot" Flynn, and #41 John Crawford.
Lap 10, #2 Skip Honaker suffered mechanical problems and is off the track. Lap 13, #llb Jamie Burrows took over the 4th place position of Flynn putting Flynn to 5th.
Lap 17, #2 Honaker is out back on the track. But problems still haunt the #2 and he ends up in the pits for the night.
Lap 23, caution 2 for #52 who had sparks coming out from under the car and retired to the pits.
Restart with Symons in the lead followed by Campbell, McClellan, Burrows, and Flynn.
Lap 24, #llb Burrows took over 3rd putting #0l McClellan to 4th.
Lap 25, Campbell #5 is looking high, low on Symons for the lead but Symons holds strong.
Lap 27, caution 3 for a spin on the frontstretch.
Cap 30, caution 4 for #00 Brad May who has gone around in turns 3 and 4 while passing the #2x Bobby Blake. May is towed into the pits and done for the night.
The race goes green and the track is getting hot. Campbell and Burrows are side-by-side for 2nd. Burrows made the move stick and takes over 2nd putting Campbell to 3rd. But 2 laps later, Campbell comes back and retakes 2nd putting Burrows 3rd.
Lap 37, caution 5 for the top 3 lead cars. The #66, #llb, and #5 tried three wide at Lakeland with Campbell on the bottom, Symons in the middle, and Burrows up top. The move did not work as Campbell slides just alittle into Symons who edges Burrows into the wall. Symons and Burrows both hit the frontstretch wall and are done for the night. Campbell suffered no real damage and was put to the rear of the field on the restart.
Lap 37, Jim "Hoot" Flynn has the lead with J. F. McClellan, Bobby Blake, Red Vann, and Andy Saffotti in the top five.
Lap 40, Raymond Vann #99 moved to 5th putting the #l Saffotti to 6th.
Lap 48, #0l McClellan moved on Flynn for the lead. The move worked for McClellan who is now the leader.
McClellan goes on to win the Pro Mod race followed by #57 Jim "Hoot" Flynn, #2x Bobby Blake, #5 Bryan Campbell and #32 Red Vann.
FASTRUCKS
Twenty nine FASTRUCKS took the green at USA Internaitonal. On the pole was the #93 Jeff Firestine. But before one lap was down, a complete restart was in order due to a bad start.
On the restart, #80 Mike Orth took the lead over Firestine. Lap 2 saw caution 1 for the #33 Jim Alterizio who hit the wall.
On the restart, Orth once again took the lead with Jimmy Gill #5, Jeff Firestine #93, Ronny Gill #05, and #8 Todd Bontrager.
Lap ll, caution 2 for a nest of trucks on the back- stretch they have spun. None are hurt and all are able to continue.
On the restart, #5 Jimmy Gill takes the lead with #8 Bontrager on his tail. The #11 now has challenged #93 Firestine for 5th place. As the #ll and #93 battle, Bontrager made a move on Gill for the lead, made it stick, and now controls the race.
Lap 27, #80 Orth and #11 are side-by-side for 4th place. The #11 proved to be the stronger and took the 4th place position putting Orth to 5th.
Lap 33, caution 3 (and the last caution) for #07 and #28 who spun with the #28 in the backstretch wall. The #07 Vic Slacter was able to drive off on his own but the #28 was taken in on the hook.
Bontrager held on to take the checkers followed by #5 Jimmy Gill, #05 Ronny Gill, #11, and #80 Mike Orth.
The second leg of the Triple Crown will run next Saturday, August 3rd, at Citrus County Speedway.
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
<news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!
|
