| FREE Grandstand Admission for SpeedWorld Saturday Spectacular II | by Dave Westerman
Race fans looking for some quality competition this weekend can see some great racing action at Orlando Speedworld Saturday night without ever opening up their wallets.
FASCAR Official and Speedworld Track Promoter Dick Westfall is busy making changes in Orlando
Track General Manager Dick Westfall, in an attempt to get more fans to visit the 3/8 mile facility which will celebrate 30 years of racing next year, will open the front grandstand area free of charge for the Saturday Spectacular II which will again feature seven classes of "spec" series racers.
The first Saturday Spectacular held in May was an overwhelming success, so much so that it "overwhelmed" an under staffed crew that was not expecting such incredible support from the various classes of cars in attendance.
"In no way did I expect the number of cars and the quality of racing that we had in May," says Westfall. "Needless to say, we weren't prepared but did the best we could under the circumstances. Don't get me wrong, we loved the response, but we should have been more ready to deal with the big field. This time we'll be ready with more people, more wreckers if we need them and the show should run much smoother," he says.
All of the classes who took part at the first event in May will be back Saturday night including the Classic Auto Racing Series, Legends, Mod Lites, Pro Challenge, Mini Cups, TQ Late Models and kids' Bandeleros. The Bandeleros also run every Friday at Speedworld and are coming off a very successful national event held last Saturday here.
"The competition these classes provide is awesome," says Westfall. "Fans will be surprised at just how much side by side racing they'll see," he says.
One hundred eighteen cars ran in the May event and that many or more are expected Saturday.
Deland's Ben Booth, who leads the Classic Auto Racing Series points chase, will head up a great field of the "Modifieds of yesteryear" and this will be the only class that will run V-8 engines.
Booth finished runner-up to defending CARS Champion Jim Rahman in the May event here and both should be heavy favorites once again.
Other Classic Car veterans may have something to say about that including Florida State Senator Bill Posey of Rockledge, who thinks he can score his first win here Saturday night, while Joey Strehle, Wayne Ashton, Patrick Sanders, Al "Hot Rod" Hagan, David Marsh, Daryl Grief, Bud Spencer, and a host of others all all looking for the checkered flag.
Drivers like Patrick Conrad, who won at Speedworld in May, Jordan
Richardson, Jason Reisman, along with Ray and Bruce Sasser will lead a strong group of Legends cars while expect drivers like Mark David, Marty Zehr, Mike Lago, and Brad Sanders to be among the top dogs in Pro Challenge.
Terry Tullis, Doug Smith, Rich Crisafulli, Wendy Kash and Brian Etty are just a few of the cars that will be in contention in the highly competitive Mini Cup division while expect Tony and Mike Carrigg, Dave Rader, Derrick Suites and Terry Dugger to carry the banner for the TQ Late Models that resemble 3/4 versions of dirt-track style Late Models that are capable of running on either the hard or soft stuff.
The Modified Lite cars are always popular with the Orlando fans and never disappoint. Jacksonville's Ron Towles took the win here in May, but he'll have to contend with a host of other top shoes like John Godwin, Bill Burback, Dan Berry, Stan Hope, Max Howe and Phil Krauthoff among others.
Bandeleros, as always will be divided into two groups, Bandits and Young Guns. Among the youngsters expected to compete are Brandon Thomson, Derrick Wood, Matthew & Scott Jarrett, Jessica Murphy, Josh Williams, Chad Atkins, and many more.
Pit gates will be open for all competitors in the morning and fans are invited to come in and see the race cars "up close and personal" until pit passes begin being sold at 2PM. Pit fees are $20, but all kids 12 and under are admitted free to the pits with the proper waiver signed.
Practice will begin at 4PM unless the number of cars dictates an earlier start. Grandstand gates will be open at 5PM and again there is no charge to sit in the grandstands. Concessions will be available on the grandstand as well as the pit side of the race track.
Racing begins with heat race action at 7PM.
Related articles:Sunbelt Super Late Models go for 125 Laps at SpeedWorld on Friday
Track Improvements Are Happening at Orlando SpeedWorld
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