(St. Augustine, FL; 8/5/2000) Jason Garver was cheered and Todd Ponce was jeered Saturday night at Florida Speed Park as Ponce, driving his #007 bumped and grinded his way past Garver to victory in the special 50-lap Sportsman event.

Garver grabbed the lead early in the race scooting past Scott Hezel and led for much of the first half. Nestled close behind were Hezel, Ponce and Joey Haslauer. The four stayed packed together for 15 intense laps, thrilling fans with every nose-to-tail dive into the harrowing fourth turn.

On lap 21, Ponce rubbed his way past the slower but game Garver, and held on for the remaining 30 laps and the victory. "It was tight racing early on, but everybody drove each other clean," said Ponce. "Nobody got their cars tore up; it was just tight racing." The robust crowd was obviously partial towards Garver by race end, hurling insults at the nine-race winner and wildly applauding the second-place finisher.

"Everybody can call it like they want," said Garver. "I admit I was slower, but in racing, a slower car is gonna run low and the faster car has gotta run high, and he never even tried. This ain't dirt trackin."

Ronnie Tillman managed to outlast a field dilapidated by the extra wear of 50 laps for a third place finish, while Scott Hezel and Joey Haslauer rounded out the top five.

Donnie Oden laid claim to a hard fought win in the 35-lap Late Model feature. Larry Osteen overtook Harold Rankin, Jr. for the lead on lap six with Oden hot on his tail.

By lap 15, Oden had caught up with the short track veteran and hounded him lap after lap, digging for the inside at every turn. Oden finally found daylight coming out of turn 2 and planted himself on the lowside down the backstretch, holding his groove through turn 4 and beating Osteen down the front stretch to claim the lead by the 20th lap. Jeremy Fitch, tucked behind Oden, managed to hold the line and slip past Osteen as well, taking the second spot. Osteen would drop from the race shortly afterwards with rear end trouble. Jared Allison, holding a strong position behind the leaders, weaved his way from a seventh place start to the third spot, where he finished the night.

"Hot, tired, wore out...it was a pretty good race," said Oden. "I didn't know if I could get around the #2 car (Rankin) or not. I saw Larry do it and I said I'm going to stick it in there and see if I can drive this Ford Thunderbird around this track all right, and it ended up holding pretty good. It felt real good passing Osteen. I don't think I've passed him all year."

Rankin wound up with a fourth place finish and Jody Turner placed fifth.

Brad Pilinko returned to form in the Alpha Communications Hobby Stocks, making quick work of the field early in the race and holding off a strong effort from Chris Manucy to claim not only the win but a $250 8-Ball bonus in the process. Glenn Nedrow turned in his second consecutive trip to victory lane, placing third.

Troy Kruse posted another impressive run in the Tattoo Dee's Old Rooster Mini-Stocks, dispatching Jake Hartley and Peedie Allison, whose team took top honors earlier in the evening in the Pit Crew Challenge, by the third lap in the 20-lap feature and holding steady for the win. Kruse was followed by Mickey Leth and Jake Hartley, who made a diving pass ahead of Tim Riviere entering turn 3 on the last lap to reclaim the third spot. Riviere finished fourth while Frank Andrews took fifth.

Chuck Cumby made quick work of the Rick's Muffler Modified field, claiming the lead over Wesley Moore by the second lap and blistering his way to a convincing victory over Jimmy Britts and Robert Deal, who continued his strong charge for the national ARA points title. David Browning and Jason Lowe completed the top five.

The Thunder Trucks will return to racing next weekend with a special 50-lap ThunderFest event, along with all five other local racing divisions.

-Mike McConnell-

Florida Speed Park Results for Saturday, August 5, 2000

Late Models
1. Donnie Oden
2. Jeremy Fitch
3. Jared Allison
4. Harold Rankin, Jr.
5. Jody Turner
6. Dustin Chambers
7. Scotty Lagasse
8. Larry Osteen
9. Scott Stevens


Sportsman
1. Todd Ponce
2. Jason Garver
3. Ronnie Tillman
4. Scott Hezel
5. Joey Haslauer
6. Jeff McClary


Modifieds
1. Chuck Cumby
2. Jimmy Britts
3. Robert Deal
4. David Browning
5. Jason Lowe
6. Mark Bergman
7. Wesley Moore
8. Mike Batten
9. George Michaels
10. Chester Mayes
11. John Galbraith
12. Jerry Yarbrough


Mini Stocks
1. Troy Kruse
2. Mickey Leth
3. Jake Hartley
4. Tim Riviere
5. Frank Andrews
6. Jason Miller
7. Kevin Burkett
8. Mark Smith
9. Jay Farris
10. Mike Stover, Jr.
11. Mike Sible
12. Curt Messina
13. Lewis Lindsey
14. Peedie Allison


Hobby Stocks
1. Brad Pilinko
2. Chris Manucy
3. Glenn Nedrow
4. Randy Wilkes
5. Bucky York
6. Randy Moody
7. Danny Thomas
8. Jon Torba
9. Buddy Hinson
10. Larry Anderson
11. Jay May



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