Sunday, November 30, 2003 Bryan Campbell wins Ed Meridith Memorial 100 Pro Modified at NSS, Symons Crowned Champion by Jane Smith Samsula, Fla. (November 29, 2003) Father Winter visited this past weekend as New Smyrna Speedway brought their 2003 race season to an end. In spite of the cold, and it was cold, a nice number of fans showed for the last event of the year. Fast qualifier for the Ed Meridith Memorial Pro Modified 100 lapper was Jerry Artuso of Ontario, Canada who was quite at home with the cold weather. Artuso set fast time with a 18.721 followed by Bryan Campbell with a 18.823, Jerry Symons with a 18.832, Jim Flynn with a 18.900 and Jason Boyd also with a 18.900. After the pill was drawn, it was Brad May on the pole. Before a lap was down, the yellow came out for Raymond Vann and David Hite who tangled on the backstretch. Hite was able to repair his car and return to the race as well as Vann. On the restart, it was May to the point followed by Jason Boyd, Jerry Symons, Alan McCafferty and Bryan Campbell. By lap 2, Boyd passed May for the lead with Symons coming into second and May falling to third. Campbell passed McCafferty taking over fourth with McCafferty in fifth. Lap 7 saw Red Vann with mechanical problems and retiring from the race. Boyd maintained the lead with Symons, Campbell, May and McCafferty in the top 5. On lap 10, Bobby Blake pulled his No. 75 modified in for the night. In the meantime, McCafferty put the pressure on May and took over fourth with May sliding back to fifth. On lap 16, Sonny O retired from the race. By lap 28, Symons was looking high, low, sideways to pass Boyd but Boyd held strong. On lap 30, Artuso passes Jim "Hoot" Flynn moving into sixth with Flynn going back to seventh. Lap 38, Ed Kuhel begins to smoke and pulls into the pits ending his night. The caution comes out on lap 57 for Jason Boyd who is obviously leaking something. Boyd pulls into the pits, done with the really good run for the No. 2x. Lap 61 sees the restart with 13 of the original 20 cars left in the field. Symons now sits on the point followed by Campbell, Artuso, McCafferty, and May. On lap 69, Flynn pulls into the pits for some fast repairs returning a few laps down. On lap 74, Alan Bruns spins at the top of turns 3 and 4 with Artuso spinning to avoid Bruns who is dead on the track. Bruns goes to the rear for the restart with Arutso going back to third. The race restarts on lap 77 with Symons, Campbell, Artuso, McCafferty and May in the top five. On lap 80, McCafferty brings out the yellow and is done for the night ending his hopes of winning the Pro Mod Championship. The race goes back green on lap 82 with Symons, Campbell, Artuso, May and Rob Underwood in the top five. On lap 99, coming off the frontstretch going into turn 1, Symons has a tire to do down and hits the turn 1 wall after leading for half the race. Symons however does a little "hand shaking" at Campbell as the cars go around under caution. Symons is definitely not happy. The race goes green, white, checkered with Bryan Campbell winning the Ed Meridith Memorial followed by Jerry Artuso, Brad May, Rob Underwood, and Skip Honaker. Jerry Symons won the 2003 Pro Mod Championship. Rex Christensen had the pole for the last Mini Stock race of the year but it was Tim "Missileman" McPhail who jumped to the lead on the green followed by Ron Dubeau, David Castello, Ted "Mr Mini Stock" Vulpius, and Rex Christensen. Castello passes Dubeau taking over second as Vulpius passes Dubeau also taking over third and Dubeau sliding to fourth. On lap 6, McPhail slows and goes into the pits, down for the night. Vulpius now has the lead and takes the checkered followed by David Castello, Ron Dubeau, Rex Christensen, and Pug Puglisi. Mike Trocki had the pole for the Sportsman feature and quickly jumped to the lead on the green followed by Dale Clouser, Donnie Williams, Scott Stone and Joe Gerrard. Ken Lawton brought out the yellow on lap 1 when he spun on the backstretch. The race was restarted with Trocki in the lead. On lap 3, Clouser had worked his way pass Trocki and taken over the lead followed by Trocki, Williams, Stone and Gerrard. On lap 7, Trocki spun on the frontstretch and was sent to the rear. On the restart Trocki jumped two spots and was penalized at the end of the race for it. Taking the checkered was Dale Clouser followed by Donnie Williams, Scott Stone, Joe Gerrard and Mike Trocki. Terry Matlus had the pole for the Pro Challenge Cup cars and quickly took the lead over Kyle Kennedy, Marty Arenser, Mark Dyer, and Tim Hart. Rod Sanders and Wally Dobson brought out the yellow on lap 1 as they tangled in turn 2. Just before the caution, Kennedy passes Matlus for the lead. Lap 2 sees the yellow again as Larry Drawhorn spins coming off turn 4. The race restarts with Kennedy, Matlus, Arenser, Dyer, and McClain in the top five. The caution comes out once again for Jim Drawhorn who has spun at the bottom of turn 4. The race restarts with Kennedy in the lead. On lap 6 the yellow comes out again for a driver in the frontstretch wall. Kennedy holds the point on the restart. On lap 10, Frank Roberts gets very squirelly coming off turn 4 going down the frontstretch but does one heck of a job of saving his ride. On lap 21, Brett McLain spun on the frontstretch bringing out the yellow. On the restart, Mark Dyer hits the turn 1 wall hard bringing out the yellow again. The race goes back green with Kennedy, Matlus, Arenser,Sanders, and McClain in the top five. McClain puts the heat on Sanders and passes for fourth putting Sanders in fifth. One last caution on lap 27 for a spin and it is green to checkered. Taking the checkered was Kyle Kennedy followed by Terry Matlus, Mark Arenser, Rusty McClain, and Brad Sanders. Joey Rowe had the pole for the Super Late Model feature but it was Guy Thomas who jumped to the lead followed by B.J. McLeod, Wayne Parker, Bobby Fleckinger and Joey Rowe. David Rogers puts the pedal down passing Rowe first then Fleckinger for fourth. Coming along with Rogers is Ricky Wood who now stands fifth. On lap 11, after doing some close battling, Guy Thomas and B.J. McLeod touch going into turns 1 and 2. Thomas spins up towards the wall but is able to keep it off the wall. Both cars are sent to the rear of the field with McLeod retiring to the pits. The race goes back green with new leader Wayne Parker, David Rogers, Ricky Wood, Guy Thomas, and Bobby Fleckinger. Parker now has his hands full of a very hard charging Rogers right on his tail but Parker does not give an inch and maintains the lead. On lap 21, the yellow comes out for Bobby Fleckinger who has spun in turns 1 and 2. The race goes back green and Wayne Parker takes his first feature win in the Super Late Model division. Following Parker to the checkered was David Rogers, Ricky Wood, Guy Thomas, and Bobby Fleckinger. Jim Rahman had the pole for the 50 lap Classic Auto Racing Series National event. But it was Fred McAthur who jumped to the lead on the green followed by Rahman, Bill Posey, Joey Strehle, and Brian Ball. Ball puts the heat on and passes for fourth with Robbie Sands moving into fifth. Then Sands is passed by Gary Kelley for fifth with Sands falling back to sixth. Lap 10 sees the yellow for Daryl Grief who spun on the backstretch. he race restarts with Brian Ball, Jim Rahman, Bill Posey, Gary Kelley, and Alex Cullum in the top five. Kelley puts the heat on Posey taking over third and aims for Rahman next for second. Rahman falls back to fifth with Posey taking over the third place spot and Alex Cullum in fourth. Rahman then finds his hands full of Ben Booth who takes over fifth with Rahman sliding back to sixth. On lap 25, a mandatory pit stop is made for the cars to refuel since they only have 8 gallon fuel cells and this is a 50 lap race. When the race resumes it is Ball, Kelley, Cullum, Booth and Posey in the top five. Lap 27 sees Al Hagan bring out the yellow as he spins in turns 1 and 2. Posey has to pit as his car was slow on the restart and has some problems. Posey goes in and comes back out again. On the restart it is Ball, Kelley, Cullum, Booth and Sands in the top five. On lap 38, Kelley looks every which way he can to pass Ball for the lead but Ball proves to be too strong. Ball takes the checkered followed by Gary Kelley, Alex Cullum, Robbie Sands and Ben Booth. With only 4 Late Models in the field, the Late Model race was cut to 10 laps. On the pole was David Pletka but taking the lead and his first win was Wade Lynn. Following Lynn to the checkered was David Pletka, Charlie Merz, and Mark Smith. Seventeen Super Stocks came for the last feature with Barry Parks on the pole. But it was the No. 17 of Rob Watford who quickly went to the lead on the green followed by G.T. Maloney, Sean Bass, Mike Soukup and Kevin Auger. The yellow came out on lap 1 for Justin Reynolds, Pat Buckley, and Dwayne Freed who tangled in turns 3 and 4. The race restarts with Watford on the point. Auger puts the heat on Watford and takes over the lead with Watford falling to second followed by Soukup, Jeff Colburn, and Jack Lenzen. On lap 5, something in Watford's car broke causing the yellow to come out as he slowly went around the track. A good run down for the night. On the restart, it is Auger, Colburn, Lenzen, Soukup and Maloney in the to five. Lap 6 the yellow comes out for Sean Bass who has spun high in turns 3 and 4. On the restart Colburn really puts the pedal down and passes Auger for the lead with Auger falling to second followed by Lenzen, Soukup and Maloney. Lap 8, Randy Jones and Dwayne Freed get together in turns 1 and 2. Jones is towed in and Freed is able to continue racing. Colburn holds the point on the restart followed by Auger, Lenzen, Soukup and Maloney. Maloney is pushed off the track coming off 4 and falls way back to tenth. Colburn takes the checkered followed by Kevin Auger, Jack Lenzen, Mike Soukup and Cory Freed. In the Strictly Stock feature it was Roger Benton from green to checkered. Following Benton on the green was Farris Crews, Jeremy Hovencamp, Tim Edmundson, and Roger Ladieu. Lap 10, Hovencamp brought out the yellow as he spun in turn 4. Benton holds the point on the restart and takes the checkered followed by Farris Crews, Tim Edmundson, John Potty, and Roger Ladieu. New Smyrna Speedway will be off until January 3, 2004 when we return for the Red Eye 100. OFFICIAL RESULTS Ed Meridith Memorial Pro Modified 100 Lapper 1. #5 Bryan Campbell, Mt. Verde, Fla. 2. #05 Jerry Artuso, Ontario, Canada 3. #00 Brad May, Orlando, Fla. 4. #09 Rob Underwood, Umatilla, Fla. 5. #2 Skip Honaker, Titusville, Fla. 6. #1 Victor Vanlacker, Pt. Orange, Fla. 7. #66 Jerry Symons, New Smyrna, Fla. 8. #9 David Hite, Orlando, Fla. 9. #4b Alan Bruns, Clermont, Fla. 10. #6 Wayne Southard, Edgewater, Fla 11. #57 Jim "Hoot" Flynn, Orlando, Fla. 12. #56 Ken McCracken, Orlando, Fla. 13. #Alan McCafferty, Clermont, Fla. 14. #2x Jason Boyd, Orlando, Fla. 15. #20 Scott Millar, Ocala, Fla. 16. #20 Ed Kuhel, Ormond Beach, Fla. 17. #99 Raymond Vann, Westley Chapel, Fla. 18. #0 Sonny O, Edgewater, Fla. 19. #75 Bobby Blake, Eustus, Fla. 20. #32 Red Vann, Lutz, Fla. 21. #89 Lee Collins (DNS) CLASSIC AUTO RACING 50 LAP NATIONAL EVENT 1. #33 Brian Ball 2. #18 Gary Kelley 3. #12x Alex Cullum 4. #17 Robbie Sands 5. #12 Ben Booth 6. #5 Jim Rahman 7. #28 Fred McArthur 8. #11x Joey Strehle 9. #6 Al Hagan 10. #95 Mark Jago 11. #88x Bill Brown Sr. 12. #8 Patrick Sanders 13. #7 Bud Spencer 14. #20 Tim Stem 15. #9 George Hall III 16. #45 Eddie Ward 17. #78 Wayne Ashton 18. #00 Bill Posey 19. #32 George Hall Jr. 20. #31 Daryl Grief PRO CHALLENGE CUP 1. #97 Kyle Kennedy 2. #71 Terry Matlus 3. #5 Marty McClain 4. #12m Rusty McClain 5. #12 Brad Sanders 6. #17 Frank Roberts 7. #10m Brett McLain 8. #00 Jim Drawhorn 9. #34 John Litzinger 10. #11 Larry Drawhorn 11. #10 Tim Hart 12. #28 Mark Dyer 13. #1 Rod Sanders 14. #26 Wally Dobson SUPER LATES 1. #3 Wayne Parker (First Feature Win) 2. #11 David Rogers 3. #33 Ricky Wood 4. #2 Guy Thomas 5. #34 Bobby Fleckinger 6. #2x Wayne McCall 7. #9r Joey Rowe 8. #78 B.J. McLeod LATE MODEL 1. #28 Wade Lynn (First Feature Win) 2. #23 David Pletka 3. #7 Charlie Merz 4. #48 Mark Smith SPORTSMAN 1. #30 Dale Clouser 2. #111 Donnie Williams 3. #75 Scott Stone 4. #330 Joe Gerrard 5. #46 Mike Trocki 6. #6 Bruce McCongell 7. #5 Lonnie Cole 8. #7 Tom Gamache 9. #18 Ken Lawto MINI STOCKS 1. #71 Ted "Mr. Mini Stock" Vulpius 2. #1 David Castello 3. #4 Ron Dubeau 4. #v3 Rex Christensen 5. #11 Pug Puglisi 6. #31 Justin Kimbro 7. #7 Tim "Missileman" McPhail SUPER STOCKS 1. #3 Jeff Colburn 2. #07 Kevin Auger 3. #211 Jack Lenzen 4. #45 Mike Soukup 5. #12 Cory Freed 6. #34 Jim Rix 7. #34x Pat Buckley 8. #11 Nick Vogler 9. #28 Dwayne Freed 10. #36 G.T. Maloney 11. #27 Barry Parks 12. #17x Sean Bass 13. #31r Rich Lindner 14. #38 Randy Jones 15. #17 Rob Watford 16. #31x Paul Cornelius 17. #20 Justin Reynolds STRICTLY STOCKS 1. #14 Roger Benton 2. #8x Farris Crews 3. #66 Tim Edmundson 4. #28 John Potty 5. #10 Roger Ladieu 6. #73 Jose Riveria 7. #99 Gordon Houck 8. #8 Theresa Trombley 9. #88 Nick Boley 10. #4 11. #09 Carl Carr 12. #667 Randy Kough 13. #77 Chris Ridley 14. #21x Mike Dahm 15. #35 Steve Scuslock 16. #37 Jeremy Hovencamp 17. #21 Jason Cherrett 18. #08 Matt Conway Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!