| School Buses and Mini Stocks Headline Bronson Motor Speedway | Frank Hill Wins Bronson's first School Bus Figure-8
By Rick Warren
What a Night! Gorgeous weather, a pit area full of race cars, full grandstands, and lots of exciting racing! The Florida Mini Stock Challenge Series was in town for a 50 lap race, along with the first ever School Bus Figure 8 race ever to be run at Bronson Motor Speedway.
The racers of the FMCS were first on the track to make their qualifying attempts. When Qualifying was done, Robbie Yoakam was fastest with a time of 14.634 seconds. Robbie Storer was second fastest at 14.780, followed by Dave Westrich at 14.817.
When the draw for starting position was done, the field lined up for the start of the FMSC 50 lap feature with Robbie Storer and Lee Davis on the front row, followed by Don Faunce, Kevin Macy, Dave Westrich, Tom Jones, Robbie Yoakam, Jeff Stalnaker, Billy Smith and Clint Foley.
In all, 24 racers lined up to take the green flag in this race. When the green flag waved Storer and Davis raced for the lead, with Storer coming out on top. With all the drivers racing for position, the entire field stayed very tightly bunched up, until the first caution on lap 9, for the 8x car of Ronnie Hicks spinning in turn 4. At the restart it was Storer, followed by Davis, Westrich, Yoakam, Macy, Faunce, Jones, Foley. Smith, and Marty Neikens.
On lap 12, caution was out again, as the cars of Westrich and Davis, running second and third, got together in turn 2, and made hard contact with the wall. The car of Davis ended up on top of the wall, on its side, driver side down. The race was red flagged, as the condition of both drivers was checked. Both drivers were uninjured, but the same could not be said for their race cars. Neither was able to continue the race. At the restart, Storer continued to hold the top spot, followed by Yoakam, Macy, Jones, Faunce, Foley, Neikens and Smith.
Storer continued to run the track as if he was on a rail, and was able to maintain a lead on Yoakam and the field as the race continued. Lap 25 saw caution on the track again as Tom Jones Jr. and Don Faunce got together in turn 2.
On the restart both Jones and Faunce were placed at the end of the lead lap. The race restarted, with Storer continuing to hold Yoakam at bay, and as the laps wound down, opening a lead on those chasing him. Yoakam looked to fighting a loose race car all evening, while Storers racer seemed to get better as the race went on.
Lots of action continued behind the leaders, as several cars made big charges thru the field, in hopes of taking a shot at the front runners. Caution was again displayed on lap 41 for the car of Bily Smith, in turn 4. Storer held off all challengers, and brought home the well deserved victory, with Yaokam finishing second, followed by Foley, Macy, and Chad Ashley.
The School Bus Figure-8 race was every thing the fans had hoped for, with the race buses rubbing, shoving, pushing, leaving large parts laying on the track, near misses at the crossing, hits at the crossing, busses spinning in the turns, busses going thru the corners on three wheels, and more!
The race started with Barrett Bear Dawg Brown and Bryan Hayn on the front row. Brown led for several laps until Robbie Cooper managed to bulldog his way thru the field and challenge for the lead. Brown and Cooper traded paint and tire marks for a couple of laps, and while they were rubbing hard in turn 3, Frank Hill blasted by on the outside, taking the lead.
The running order changed every lap, and it was hard to tell who was where, but in the end, Hill claimed the victory. Second went to Roger Damron, followed by Robbie Powell.
The Open Wheel Modified feature saw Kyle Owen, a rookie this year and son of point leader Gene Owen, claim his first feature win.
Kyle held off a hard charging Larry Goolsby, and Gene Owen for the win.
In the Sportsman division, Timmy Wilkerson took the early lead, challenged by Rob Cooper, Arthur Conquest, and Doug Anderson. Midway thru the feature, Wilkerson and Cooper made contact, bringing out the caution. When the race restarted, Cooper was on the rear, and as the racers fired off turn 4, Cooper and Tony Berry made contact, with Cooper hitting the wall hard. Cooper was not injured, but his racer was done for the evening. On the following restart, Conquest was applying heavy pressure to Wilkerson, and Wilkerson slipped off turn 2, allowing Conquest to drive under him to take the lead. Conquest held on for the win, followed by Wilkerson and Doug Anderson.
The Pure Stock Division had much action as well. Some rubbing, some pushing, some hard racing, all added up to a very good race. Local Favorite Tommy Ausburn finally made his way to victory lane, after knocking on the door several times. Ausburn held off Michael Baker, Bobby Johnson and A.J. Northrup for the win.
The V-8 Bombers saw Kevin Hodge again add to his point lead, with another win. Second went to Michael Carr, followed by Bobby Taylor and Mitchell Bell.
Justin Durbin made his way back to victory lane in the 4 Cyl. Bomber division, followed by Joel Byall and Steve Moultin.
(Photos by TFG Sports Photography)
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