Wayne Anderson takes First Leg of Triple Crown at USA International
by Jane Smith
The front row at Lakeland, Justin Larson and Wayne Jefferson with Justin Drawdy (12)lurking in row two.
Lakeland, Fla. (June 2, 3007) Florida opened Hurricane season with Tropical Storm Barry heading for the Sunshine State. Florida welcomed the much needed rain and tracks closed from one side of the state to the other from rain.
Practice was rained out at USA International on Friday night but the officials did not give up hope for the running of the first leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday. A few brief showers came during the day but when it was rain time, the Rain Gods gave USA a break.
Justin Larson of Safety Harbor, in his very first Super Late Model start, set fast time for the 200 lap event with a 20.770. Rocketman Wayne Jefferson of Pinellas Park came right behind Larson with a 20./890. Visiting Tucker, Georgia driver Ryan Sieg was third fastest with a 20.900.
Coming off his recent win at Five Flags Speedway was fourth fastest Justin Drawdy of Ft. Pierce with a 20.921 followed by David Rogers of Orlando with a 20.941. With no inversion for a 200 lap race, the field started straight up.
On the drop of the green, Rocketman Wayne Jefferson quickly took the points over Justin Larson, Ryan Sieg, Justin Drawdy and Dwayne Dempsey. By lap 4, Wayne Anderson was on the back door of Dempsey knocking to come in but Dempsey held strong.
However Anderson was determined as he went side-by-side with Dempsey and by lap 6, fifth place belonged to Anderson. Top ten were Jefferson, Larson, Sieg, Drawdy, Anderson, Dempsey, Choquette, Rogers, Russell and Scofield. Drawdy puts pressure on Sieg as he takes over third on lap 11.
Dusty Cornelius of Cocoa brings out the yellow on lap 12 as he spins but is fine. Cornelius joins the field in the rear for the restart on lap 17 as Jefferson shows the way over Larson, Drawdy, Anderson and Dempsey.
It is a three car show as Jefferson, Larson and Drawdy are all right on each other's bumpers leaving Anderson and Dempsey battling for fourth and fifth. The caution comes out on lap 26 for Joe Boyd, Brock Burns, and Blake Lehr who have all gotten together on the backstretch. Lehr is able to go into the pits for repairs but sadly Boyd and Burns are done for the night.
On the restart on lap 31, Larson misses a shift causes the lead cars to barely miss the backing up Larson. Jefferson holds the point over Drawdy, Anderson, Dempsey, and Sieg as Larson slides backwards in the field as he is caught on the outside.
Running order is Jefferson, Drawdy, Anderson, Dempsey, Sieg, Choquette, Rogers, Russell, Wilson, Larson and Finney. Jefferson finds a hard charging Drawdy on his tail as Drawdy passes Jefferson taking over the lead as Jefferson settles into second.
Once Drawdy takes the point, he begins his journey to build space between him and the rest of the field. Anderson and Dempsey pass Jefferson taking over second and third as Jefferson settles into fourth followed by Sieg. On lap 49 it is our fourth place runner Jefferson who brings out the caution as he finds himself up against the turn 2 wall. Jefferson takes the 94 into the pits for crew attention and is able to rejoin the field in the rear.
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Anderson takes over the top spot on the restart followed by Drawdy, Dempsey, Sieg, and Choquette. On lap 53 we see Brad Bischoff of Myakka sadly end his night in the pits with mechanical problems. Lap 71 sees the caution come out for Jimmy Cope and David Wilson who have gotten together in turns 1-2. Sadly, both cars and drivers have seen their run for the night ended way too early.
Anderson once again leads the way on the restart over Drawdy, Sieg, Dempsey and Russell. Early lap leader Jefferson is seen to slow on the outside and end his great run on lap 76. Rocketman was definitely a rocket but now done for the night. Running order is Anderson, Drawdy, Sieg, Dempsey, Russell, Rogers, Scofield, Choquette, Larson and David Pollen, Jr. Scofield puts the heat on Rogers who is running sixth. Rogers tries to hold but can't as Scofield takes over sixth and Rogers goes to seventh.
Lap 85 sees Drawdy tired of running second as he passes Anderson and takes over the point and building a fair amount of space between the two. Running order is Drawdy, Anderson, Sieg, Dempsey, Russell, Scofield, Rogers, Larson, Choquette, and David Pollen, Jr. Scofield passes Russell for fifth then Rogers passes Russell for sixth as Russell settles into seventh. Everyone wants that number one postilion.
Scotty Crockett brings out the caution on lap 102 as he finds himself against the turns 1-2 wall. Crockett is fine but his new Super Late sees too much damage to continue on. Crockett is forced to end his run for the night. The caution gives the cars now the chance to come in and pit however Sieg, Jett and Finney remain on the track taking over the top three spots for the restart. Drawdy and Anderson are first on pit road settling into the fourth and fifth place position on the restart on lap 113.
Ryan Sieg of Tucker Georgia had a solid run with Florida's finest until a late race run in with Jeff Scofield.
Sieg leads the way on the restart but Anderson is on a charge to the front and by lap 120 has once again taken over followed by Sieg, Drawdy, Finney, and Jett Lap 121 Scofield passes Jett taking over fifth as Drawdy passes Sieg for second. The caution comes out for Mario Maresca, who has been in the pits working on his car for many laps, who now finds himself against the turn 1 wall. Maresca, who is well known for his days at Hialeah Speedway, is fine but his night is now done.
As fast as the green is waved, the yellow comes out just as fast for our fast qualifier Justin Larson who finds himself against the front stretch wall. Larson is fine but is done on lap 138.
Seventeen cars are left for the restart on lap 143 as Anderson leads the way over Drawdy, Brown, Scofield, Rogers, Finney, Choquette, and Dempsey. Scofield puts pressure on Brown but Brown holds . Russell passes Finney taking over sixth as Finney settles into seventh. The black flag is shown to Brown who is leaking all over the track. Brown misses the pit road entrance as the yellow is thrown for Brown.
Anderson leads the way on the restart as Drawdy finds himself going side-by-side with Scofield. Just as it is getting really, really hot, the caution comes out for Ryan Sieg on lap 176 who has gone into turn 1 wall hard. Sieg thankfully is fine but the car is done for the night.
Anderson continues to lead the way over Drawdy, Russell, Dempsey, Finney, Chad Pierce, David Pollen, Jr, Choquettte, Scofield, and Jett. Russell looks but Drawdy shuts the door.
As Russell and Drawdy continue their fight for second, it is Dempsey who passes both taking over second with Russell third, Drawdy fourth, and Finney fifth. Anderson takes advantage of the cars behind him fighting for post ion and sets sail for the checkered winning the first leg of the Triple Crown followed by Dwayne Dempsey, Tim Russell, Justin Drawdy, and Brian Finney.
The Second Leg of the Triple Crown will be run August 4th at USA International. For more information on the Sunoco Sunbelt Super Late Model Series go to www.fascartours.org. For information on USA International go to www.usaspeedway.com.
OFFICIAL RESULTS SUNOCO SUNBELT SUPER LATE MODEL 200 USA INTERNATIONAL - JUNE 2
1. #84 Wayne Anderson, Wildwood 2. #Dwayne Dempsey, St. Petersburg 3. #36 Tim Russell, Longwood 4. #12x Justin Drawdy, Ft. Pierce 5. #80 Brian Finney, Merritt Island 6. #57 Chad Pierce, Orlando 7. #88x David Pollen, Jr., Tampa 8. #70 Jeff Choquette, Loxahatchee 9. #07 Jeff Scofield, Plant City 10. #9 Kurt Jett, Orange Park 11. #00 Robert Yoho, Pinellas Park 12. #4 Blake Lehr, Orlando 13. #11 David Rogers, Orlando 14. #22 Dusty Cornelius, Cocoa 15. #12 Corey Freed, Orlando 16. #39 Ryan Sieg, Tucker, GA. 17. #22x Perry Brown, Riverview 18. #18 Steve Tregear, Bartow 19. #88 Justin Larson, Safety Harbor 20. #28 Scotty Crockett, Land O Lakes 21. #14 Marion Maresca, Ft. Lauderdale 22. #94 Wayne Jefferson, Pinellas Park 23. #83 David Wilson, Sarasota 24. #61 Jimmy Cope, Pinellas Park 25. #53 Brad Bischoff, Myakka 26. #5 Joe Boyd, Riverview 27. #40 Brock Burns, Winter Haven 28. #26 Travis Cope, Bronson DNS
FAST QUALIFIER: #88 Justin Larson TOP ROOKIE: #57 Chad Pierce
It is a three car show as Jefferson, Larson and Drawdy are all right on each other's bumpers leaving Anderson and Dempsey battling for fourth and fifth. The caution comes out on lap 26 for Joe Boyd, Brock Burns, and Blake Lehr who have all gotten together on the backstretch. Lehr is able to go into the pits for repairs but sadly Boyd and Burns are done for the night.
Running order is Jefferson, Drawdy, Anderson, Dempsey, Sieg, Choquette, Rogers, Russell, Wilson, Larson and Finney. Jefferson finds a hard charging Drawdy on his tail as Drawdy passes Jefferson taking over the lead as Jefferson settles into second.
