| Night One of INEX Racing Winternationals | by Dave Westerman
 It was just "one of those nights" at Orlando Speedworld Tuesday that stretched into the early morning hours of Wednesday as the second week of the 2005 Winternationals got under way and, needless to say, the fans that dropped just ten bucks to see the show got enough action to last a week.
108 Raceceiver RE/MAX Legends cars signed in for competition from all across the United States and Canada with twelve heat races needed as well as a B-main to set the starting line-ups for each Legends Car division.
Five heats were needed in Semi-Pro with wins going to Brandon Thomson, Ryan Meldrum, Matt DiBenedetto, Kory Abbott, and Jake Crum. Jordan Anderson led five other drivers into the feature by winning the 15-lap B-main.
Due to a mix-up involving scoring and some duplicate numbers, INEX and Speedworld officials decided to make all parties happy and increased the starting field in the 25 lap feature from 26 to 31 cars.
Brandon Thomson, who just turned 15 years old and is just entering his second year in Legends after winning back to back State Bandelero championships. had the pole and grabbed the early lead.
Thomson could never get in a true rhythm as caution flags were the norm in this race with many of the drivers still trying to adjust to the Speedworld layout. Fortunately none of the incidents were serious although one changed the possible course of the race.
Jake Crum was pressuring Thomson for the lead when third place Chris Buescher tried to make an inside move on Crum at the same time going into turn one. Crum and Buescher ended up sideways on the track, bringing out the caution and sending both to the rear of the field for the restart with just over five laps to go.
 Thomson held off Kory Abbott the rest of the way as Stuart Dutton moved up to third late in the race to make it a 1-2-3 finish for Florida drivers. Georgia's Travis Pennington was fourth while Matt DiBenedetto of Hickory, NC was fifth. Brennan Poole, Zane Hedrick, Chris Wilson, Ryan Meldrum and Alec Carll rounded out the top ten.
Thomson's dad is Russ Thomson, who is a former Speedworld Late Model and Modified driver and now operates the parts trailer at the track and is the INEX sales and parts representative for the State of Florida, couldn't wipe the smile off his face. "He's only been driving these cars (Legends) for less than a year and to come out here and win over this great field of cars..., well, I just can't describe how proud I am. Let's hope we can keep this up for the rest of the week," said the elder Thomson.
The Raceceiver RE/MAX Legends Masters division saw heat race wins going to Ronald Poland, Sr., Cotton Spry and Cy Harvey while the B-main was scratched when only five cars could make the restart after an opening lap crash that saw Mitch Veerhaagh tag the wall hard on the back stretch. Tom Clarke, trying to avoid Verhaagh, crashed into the pit entrance/exit divider water barrels.
Both drivers were unhurt but their cars were not so lucky. Since five cars were being taken out of the race to go into the A-main, and only five were left, those five automatically transferred and the race was called complete after just a half lap.
The 25 lap feature wouldn't get any smoother but the opening laps were wild for the lead. Poland led the first two laps with Harvey leading lap three. Mark Sullivan took over on lap four and was leading when the first of a rash of caution flags came out for a multi-car tangle that eliminated Herve Thibodeau, Sr.
On the restart, something broke on Allen Rogers' car and he spun in turn three and had to be towed from the track Again the field tried to get back under way but leader Sulivan got loose coming off turn four, ran up and over second place Cotton Spry's car and did two flips down the front stretch. Sullivan climbed out of his bent racer unhurt, but he gave the fans and flagman Butch Carr, Jr. quite a thrill.
 Spry's car was not seriously damaged and he restarted in the lead only two see the red flag back out again one lap later. One car dumped some fluid on the track and twelve cars went spinning in turn one. Bobby Byars, Carlos "Mercury" Moore and Bob "Wild Willie" Wilson were eliminated in this one.
Spry now had Clay Hair knocking on his "back door" but the caution flag wasn't going to be put away yet. Van Sykes, Poland, and Ray Paprota got tangled up on lap ten. Two laps later, something broke on third-running Cy Harvey's car and the Nova Scotia driver came to a halt at the top of turn four ending his good run.
From that point, the second half of the race was a battle between the two veteran North Carolina drivers but Spry was not to be out-foxed on this night as he took the win ahead of Hair. Plano, TX driver Bob Merino drove a steady race to claim third while fellow Texan Gene Conley did the passing job of the night coming from 21st on the starting grid to finish fourth. Guy Austin of McDonough, GA took fifth. Completing the top ten were Jesse Carter, Mike Verhaagh, Richard Losh, James Rodriguez, and Tom Hutson. Only 14 of the 26 starters finished the race.
Four heats were needed for the Raceceiver RE/MAX Legends Pro division with wins going to Derek Schumaker, Nick Pistone, Danny Jackson and C.E. Falk III. The B-Main was won by Scott Knox.
This race would also be pretty wild at the beginning as Jackson snared the early lead with Pistone on his bumper. Chris Bakaj brought out the first caution with a harmless spin at the end of lap one.
Lap three saw Jason Reisman and Scott Knox get together coming off turn four with Knox's car doing a full roll over. Knox climbed from the car without a scratch but the damage put both his and Reisman's cars in the pits for the night.
Jackson continued to set the pace until the final caution came out on lap seven. C.E. Falk III spun in turn three and was hit hard by Beau Slocumb. Falk was done for the evening while Slocumb returned just in time to stay on the lead lap.
From that point it was all green flag racing as Jackson was able to hold off the high-flying Pistone until the North Carolina driver sped past on lap 15. From that point there was no catching Pistone, who won the Regional Qualifier for the Las Vegas Nationals at Speedworld last year.
Micheal VanWingerden was like a rocket over the final half of the race blasting into second late in the going but too far behind Pistone to mount a challenge as Pistone claimed the win over fellow NC drivers VanWingerden and Josh Waring. Fourth went to Ohio driver Jackson while fifth was Jason Miller of Berryville, VA. Rounding out the top ten were Brent Seeley (up from 24th at the start), Craig Haack, James Robertson, A.J. Fulgenzi, and Kayne Hickman.
 Lakeland, FL driver Gerald White, Jr. lapped the field in winning the Bandelero Bandit feature.
Donovan Ponder was second followed by Roger Benton, Jr. making it a sweep of the top three spots for the Florida youngsters.
Ryan Rust had a big night as the the Port St. Lucie, FL driver not only won his first Bandelero Young Gun feature, but also lapped the field in the process. Tony Calabrese of West Palm Beach, FL was second while Joey Bales of Buckeye Lake, OH was third.
Kara Clarke completed a sweep of Bandelero action for the Florida contingent as she sped to a big win in the Bandelero Outlaw main. Trailing the 16 year old from Palm Beach Gardens were Marcus Limehouse of Charleston, SC and Rockford IL's Dwight Dunlap.
The Thunder Roadster feature was postponed to the following night due to the lateness of the hour. Earlier, Tennessee's Craig Haack had taken the heat race win over Michael VanWingerden and Kyle Beattie.
Action continues Tuesday eveing with the Raceceiver RE/MAX Legends Cars, Bandelero and Thunder Roadsters, who will run a double feature. Race time is 8PM.
RACECEIVER RE/MAX LEGENDS CAR RESULTS for 2/15/04:
SEMI-PRO DIVISION (25 Laps):
1) Brandon Thomson, St. Cloud, FL #54
2) Kory Abbott, Apopka, FL #5
3) Stuart Dutton, Tallahassee, FL #32
4) Travis Pennington, Douglasville, GA #01
5) Matt DiBenedetto, Hickory, NC #44
6) Brennan Poole, The Woodlands, TX #17P
7) Zane Hedrick, Thomasville, NC #4Z
8) Chris Wilson, Crossville, TN #10
9) Ryan Meldrum, Livonia, MI #17M
10) Alec Carll, Grand Rapids, MI #31
11) Jake Crum, Statesville, SC #1C
12) Darin Coker, Palm Beach Gardens, FL #00
13) Todd Campbell, Tallahassee, FL #C01
14) Mark Bakaj, Lebanon, CT #52
15) Matthew Williams, Tuscon, AZ #1
16) Kyle Hall, Leonardtown, MD #69
17) Wesley McLeod, Mt. Dora, FL #22
18) Beau Browning, Collierville, TN #89
19) Jay Cloud, Griffin, GA #26
20) D.J. Vanderley, Mobile, AL #2
21) Neal McCarty, College Park, MD #54X
22) Matt Bowers, Mt. Dora, FL #84
23) Paddy Rodenbeck, Odessa, FL #29
24) Michael Bilderback, South Beloit, IL #2X
25) Chris Buescher, Prosper, TX #67
26) Addison Rogers, Winchester, VA #17
27) Patrick McVay, Kannapolis, NC #33
28) Keith Breasbois, Gainesville, GA #41
29) Jordan Anderson, Columbia, SC #19 DNS John Memmer, Evansville, IN #24 DNS Dan Snyder, Mooresville, NC #1S Did not qualify: Trey Collins, Malcolm Campbell, Jr., Steven Meador, Mark Webb, Jr., Brian Murphy, Collier Jones, Scott MacLean, Brandon Temple, Jeff Deggeller, Tyler Slayden.
MASTERS DIVISION (25 Laps):
1) Cotton Spry, Salisbury NS #16NC
2) Clay Hair, Mt. Pleasant, NC #29
3) Bob Merino, Plano, TX #42
4) Gene Conley, Lewisville, TX #27
5) Guy Austin, McDonough, GA #1
6) Jesse Carter, Nashville, TN #20C
7) Mike Verhaagh, Ft. Myers, FL #7
8) Richard Losh, Joppa, MD #00
9) James Rodriguez, West Palm Beach, FL #19
10) Tom Hutson, Wilmington, NC #54
11) Tommy Jordan, Hartsville, SC #1SC
12) Frank Johnston, Kemptville, ON #20
13) Larry Friddle, Greenville, SC #8
14) Ronald Poland, Sr., Gainesville, GA
15) Cy Harvey, Halifax, NS #37NS
16) Ray Paprota, Birmingham, AL #01
17) Van Sykes, Stevensville, MD #82
18) C.D. Candler, Knoxville, TN #51
19) Jim Mayrand, Jr., S. Deerfield, MA #15
20) Bobby Byars, Palm Bay, FL #12
21) Bob Wilson, Beverly Hills, FL #27W
22) Brian Weimer, Cumming, GA #40
23) Carlos Moore, Kannapolis, NC #9
24) Mark Sullivan, Greenwood, IN #22
25) Allen Rogers, Winchester, VA #37
26) Herve Thibodeau, Sr., Saco, ME #12ME Did not qualify: Tom Clarke, Mitch Verhaagh, Gary Bursey.
PRO DIVISION (25 Laps):
1) Nick Pistone, Mooresville, NC #99
2) Michael VanWingerden, Huntersville, NC
3) Josh Warning, Concord, NC
4) Danny Jackson, Loveland, OH
5) Jason Miller, Berryville, VA
6) Brent Seeley, Plano, TX #5
7) Craig Haack, Lewisburg, TN #8Ball
8) James Robertson, Indianapolis, IN #42
9) A.J. Fulgenzi, Jacksonville, FL #33
10) Kayne Hickman, Soddy Daisy, TN #H3
11) Jeremy Colangelo, Sanford, FL #05
12) Chris Bakaj, Farmington, CT #32
13) Kyle Hendershott, Fairfax, VA #51
14) Ricky Losh, Joppa, MD #24L
15) Tom Sherman, Farmingdale, NY #27
16) Ronnie Dunstan, Harleysville, PA #7R
17) Beau Slocumb, Juliette, GA #18
18) Ricky Gonzales, Toms River, NJ
19) G.E. Chapman, Concord, NC
20) C.E. Falk III, Virginia Beach, VA #40
21) Hoyt Richter, Denton, TX #F5
22) Herve Thibodeau, Jr,, Saco, ME #2
23) Scott Knox, Cornelius, NC #86
24) Jason Reisman, Concord, NC #25 DNS Derek Shumaker, Conroe, TX #8 DNS Keeton Hanks, Auburn, KY #90 Did not qualify: Randy Brunelle, Adam McCraw, Jason Rochelle, Ben Stancill, Doug Stevens, Frank Polimeda, Daniel Sossorman, Chris Rogers, Craig Goess, Jeffery Rush, Larry Fitzsimmons, Kenny Forth.
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
<news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!
|
