FLORIDA DRIVERS HAVE A TOUGH TIME AT HOOTERS PRO CUP LAKELAND OPENER
By Dave Westerman
Twelve Florida drivers were entered in last Saturday's Hooters Pro Cup season-opener at USA International Speedway in Lakeland and many found how just tough the 2005 Pro Cup season will be as only five of the Florida contingent made the show.
The day got started off on a bad note in practice. Auburndale's Derrick Kelley blew the engine in his car and was already back home by the time qualifying took place.
Scott Seither of Winter Garden hit the wall in turn three and was then hit by Hooters Pro Cup rookie Jake Hobgood of Winnsboro, NC. Seither's crew loaded up and headed home while Hobgood's crew got his car out last for time trials but he wasn't fast enough to make the show.
Orlando's Steve Redditt was behind the eight ball from the word go. With a new car and needing some track time for both the car and himself, Redditt was dealt a critical blow when Friday practice was rained out.
"We really needed that Friday practice," said Redditt. "We found some problems with the car this morning and missed the first practice session and the car and driver are nowhere near what they need to be," he said.
Unfortunately, Redditt's fears were confirmed as he was the slowest of the cars to take time.
The lack of practice time also hurt Palm Bay's Bobby Joe Woodley. "I wish I could say I'm confident, but the car is still off where we'd like it to be," said Woodley. "We'll just go for it and see if we can make the show, but there are an awful lot of good cars here," he said. Unfortunately for Woodley, his time was just a tick of the watch too slow to make the race, but quicker than seven others. Actually, Woodley would have made the show had Jimmy Mann, Jr. not taken a provisional.
Other Florida drivers who were left to watch the 250 lap run included Palm Bay's Dave Snodgrass, Snell Island's Bill Manfull, and Carl Williford of Navarre.
Of the five Florida hot shoes making the field, Gainesville's Michael Faulk was the quickest, timing in 14th on the grid. Not bad for the rookie driver and team. Things went from good to terrible quickly for Faulk as he blew an engine on lap nine and was the first car out of the race.
Billy "The Kid" Mowery of Pinellas Park was back in Hooters cup action and had a solid run going until electrical problems forced him to the pits on lap 41.
Billy Bigley, Jr. of Naples would have the best finish of the Florida group. Bigley and Chad Dokken of Safety Harbor were fighting for the tenth spot on the last lap and came together coming down for the checker. Bigley crossed the line in tenth with Dokken getting 12th, which wasn't bad considering his previous luck at USA International.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was Bradenton's Johnny Sarpriaccone, Jr. who made the race in his first effort driving this type of car. Despite an early race tangle that did considerable damage to the rear bodywork of his #88, Sarpriaccone made several pit stops to fix the damage and ended up with a decent 18th place finish.
Most of the Florida drivers will be heading to the second Hooters Pro Cup race of the season in two weeks at the new Georgia Motorsports Complex near Valdosta. Most, like Bobby Joe Woodley, say they'll have a better shot there since it will be the first stock car race held at the facility.
"A lot of these guys have run here at Lakeland a bunch of times and know what to expect while a team like ours is just trying to figure the place out," said Woodley. "At Valdosta, it'll be a new deal for everybody," he said.
