| Tim Russell Vaults Into Sunbelt Series Points Lead | Bronson Motor Speedway Once Again Provides Added Excitement
By Rick Warren
Jeff Choquette #70 and Jeff Scofield #07 crashed in turn one
Despite warnings of inclement weather on the way, 21 Super Late Models were on hand to do battle for 125 laps Saturday night at Bronson Motor Speedway. The weather up until race time was beautiful, causing many to wonder if the weatherman was wrong again.
Wayne Anderson, driving the #77 Impact Designs entry after suffering mechanical problems in his car Friday night, set the fast qualifying time with a lap of 12.967 seconds. Just a tic behind was Jeff Scofield at 13.032 seconds.
Tim Russell, Travis Cope, and Jeff Choquette finished out the top 5 qualifiers. After the top qualifiers cleared tech, Anderson drew a 5 for the inversion, and the line up was set.
With the weather deteriorating quickly, the field rolled onto the track for the 125 lap feature with Jeff Choquette and Travis Cope filling the front row.
Tim Russell and Jeff Scofield held the second row, followed by Anderson, Travis Towell, Jimmy Cope, Ryan Seig, Blake Lehr, and Kurt Jett in the top ten starting spots. As the field came to the green flag to start the race, Choquette and Cope raced into turn 1 side by side, trying to grab the lead. As the pair exited turn 2, Cope got loose, corrected, and got into the wall, then on top of the wall.
The race car continued to ride on top of the wall, all the way into turn 4, before coming to a stop. This started a chain reaction of cars trying to avoid the incident, with several suffering damage. Cope emerged from the car unhurt, but his race was over for the night. The #3 of Daniel Webster went to the pit area with damage to the front end of his racer.
 The race was reset for the start with Choquette and Scofield on the front row. As the field once more attempted to start the race, the #70 and the #07 got together just past the start finish line with both cars hitting the wall and coming to rest against the turn 1 fence. Both drivers exited their cars unharmed, and had a brief discussion about the incident. Both race cars were heavily damaged and towed off the racing surface.
Once more the field was reset for the start, this time with Russell and Towell on the front row. As the field came to the green flag one more time, Daniel Webster rejoined the field, with his racecar looking more like an open wheel modified thah a super late model.
 Russell raced into turn one with the lead followed closely by Anderson and Jimmy Cope. Lap 8 saw Lehr move into 4th spot, lap 9, Sieg took over 5^th position. Lap 10 has the 77 car of Anderson slow on the back straight, and the caution comes out. As the field is being relined for the restart, rain showers took over the race track, and the field was red flagged.
The rains were mercifully brief, and the track was quickly readied for racing once again. Anderson went to the pit area, his evening done, with clutch problems.
The race restarted with Russell continuing to lead, while Jimmy Cope was filling Russell’s mirror. Cope was trying to get a run on Russell, but Russell was able to run his race and keep a consistent line, not allowing Cope any opportunity to make a move for the lead.
Meanwhile, Blake Lehr was having a great run, shadowing every move Cope made, and was himself looking for an opportunity to move up. While the race for the lead was heating up, the battles for position thru the rest of the field were just as intense. Kurt Jett was driving a great race, making steady gains in the running order, Gary Grubbs in the 26G was making progress as well. Daniel Webster showed lots of power and a cool head as he made his way toward the front of the pack with no front bumper on his damaged racecar.
The race was slowed by several cautions, but the racing didn’t cool down. Cope appeared to have used the best of his tires trying to make a run at Russell, and started slowing slightly, allowing Russell to open a comfortable lead. Lehr made his way by Cope to take over second spot, but was not able to make any significant gains on the 36 of Russell. Late in the race, Cope and Lehr got together off turn two, with both spinning and bringing out the caution flag. Both were relegated to restart from the rear of the lead lap.
The race wound down with Russell claiming a hard fought win, and Kurt Jett having one of his best runs in his young career to finish second. Daniel Webster brought his damaged racer to a strong third place run, followed by Chad Pierce and Gary Grubbs.
Sunbelt Photos From Bronson Motor Speedway and More!
Final Results Sunbelt Super Late Models 04/14/2007
Bronson Motor Speedway, 125 laps.
1. #36 Tim Russell Longwood, FL.
2. #9 Kurt Jett Orange Park, FL.
3. #3 Daniel Webster Brooksville, Fl.
4. #57 Chad Pierce Orlando, Fl.
5. #26G Gary Grubbs Brooksville, FL.
6. #47 Keith Zavrel Brooksville, Fl.
7. #6 Mac Johnson Newberry, Fl.
8. #80 Brian Finney Merritt Island, Fl.
9. #4 Blake Lehr Orlando, Fl.
10. #61 Jimmy Cope Pinellas Park, FL.
11. #12 Corey Freed Orlando, Fl.
12. #0 J.R. Garcia Wimauma, Fl.
13. #24 Donnie Parkinson Williston, FL.
14. #39 Ryan Seig Tucker, Ga.
15. #57X Doyle Boatwright Starke, Fl.
16. #22 Dusty Cornelius Cocoa, Fl.
17. #14 Travis Towell Sanford, Fl.
18. #77 Wayne Anderson Wildwood, Fl.
19. #70 Jeff Choquette Loxahatchee, Fl.
20. #26 Travis Cope Bronson, Fl.
21. #07 Jeff Scofield Plant City, FL.
FAST QUALIFIER: Wayne Anderson
TOP ROOKIE: Kurt Jett
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