|
| MARTIN PIERCE WINNER IN 50 LAP GOODYEAR LATE MODEL SERIES RACE | by Jane Smith
Saturday night, slight rain showers on and off, and
a night of excitement. Tonight was the last night for
the 2001 season for points for the Super Late Models
and it was the warm-up race for the new Goodyear Late
Model Series. And in spite of the showers and drying
of the track a few times, a really good night.
The #54 of Randy Newby had the pole for the Sportsman
race. But it was the #111 of Donnie Williams who
took the lead and kept it inspite of the #54 knocking
on his door. Don Tracey's #25 was riding in third
but due to slight contact ended up fifth. With a
slight damp track, all the Sportsmen did a great job
of racing. Top five were: 1. #111 - Donnie Williams,
2. #54 - Randy Newby, 3. #74 - Robert Glover, 4.
#07 - Ron Lufcy, 5. #25 Don Tracey.
In our Mini-Stock division, we saw a number of new
drivers at NSS in the field. December 1 will be a
l00 lap race for this division and you will definitely
see a full field of minis. On the pole tonight was
Rex Christensen's V3 but it was the "Missileman" and
Conrad Grenier giving the fans one of those breath
holding events. McPhail and Grenier raced each other
hard but never touched and gave each other room to
race thier grooves. Dick Laszlo's #07 mini-truck
did a great job and one the night before at Orlando
SpeedWorld. Laszlo has worked on year on handling
and it seems he has finally got it. Top five were:
1. #7 - Tim "Missileman" McPhail, 2. #01 - Conrad
Grenier, 3. #ll - Charlie Brown, 4. #23 - Wayne
Wells, 5. #07 - Dick Laszlo.
In the Super Late Model division, which had their
last night of points, it was Mike Good in the #27
on the pole, Good carried the lead until he spun
which put Bruce Lawrence's #16 in the lead. Lawrence
raced hard for the win but Mike Good worked his way
back from last to first and finally got the win.
It was nice to see George Murphy's #40 South Forty
late in the field as well as Mack Hamby's #45. Hamby
did a great job and finished the race which was a win
in anyone's book since he has problems all year with
his car. Don Dicandio in the #20 finished third in
the race but he raced his way into second place for
the 2001 points season - next year it will be first
for Ron. In spite of the small field, all these
guys had a great race and each one won tonight.
Top five were: 1. #27 - Mike Good, 2. #16 - Bruce
Lawrence, 3. #20 - Ron DiCandio, 4. #19 - Tom
Root, 5. #40 - George Murphy.
Open Wheel Modifieds were very short in count tonight
but the 35 lap Pro Mod race was run the night before
at Orlando SpeedWorld. This race had to be red flagged
due to rain for a short period of time. Joe Middleton's
#71 had the pole but it was the #2x of Jason Boyd taking
over that position and winning the race. Top five were:
1. #2x - Jason Boyd, 2. #00 - Wayne Southard, 3. #71-
Joe Middleton, 4. #4 - John Clark, 5. #3 - Wayne Parker.
Now it was time for the warm-up race for our new Goodyear
Late Model Series. On the pole was the #22 of Larry
Osteen but jumping out front was the #63 of Chris
Lawrence. Lawrence lead the race with the #56 of Wayne
Morris and the #15 of Jason Boyd doing some very close
side by side racing for a few laps. On the front
stretch Morris slightly brushed the wall but continued
on. In the meantime, Lawrence's #63 had his hands full
with the #75 of Martin Pierce who was determined to
take the lead. Pierce got the lead and Boyd and Morris
had a little spin out which put them both to the rear.
Larry Osteen was doing a good job keeping his third
place spot until engine problems forced him out of the
race. Then it was Pierce, Lawrence, Symons, Dye and
Brad May claiming the top five spots. May started in
the rear after brushing the wall during qualifying and
had done a good job of working his way up only to fall
out due to mechanical problems. By this time, we
were on caution 5 for Bruce Lawrence Jr.'s spin on the
back stretch. The race restarted with 75, 63, 66,
43, and 15 in the top five spots. But the contact
between Bobby Mara's #76 and Bruce Lawrence Jr.'s #16
in turn 4 gave us our last caution of the 50 lap
race. In the end, Martin Pierce kept his lead and won
the race. Top ten were: 1. @75 - Martin Pierce,
2. #15 - Jason Boyd, 3. #63 - Chris Lawrence, 4.
#66 - Jerry Symons, 5. #43 - Randy Dye, 6. #90 -
Robert Anderchek, 7. #56 - Wayne Morris, 8. #57 -
Chad Pierce, 9. #83 - l0. #25 - Tim Todd.
In the Super Stock division, it was the #17 (Rob Watford's
car) driven by the 2001 DeSoto Speedway Street Stock
Champion Rich Clouser on the pole. As they say in
racing, Rich sat on the pole and won from the pole.
Behind Rich was the #32 of Bill Stacy, 3. #38 - Randy
Jones, #45 - Mike Soukup, 5. #11 - Shane Stacy.
Rob Thombley's #38 ran a hard race to take the lead
from the #27 of Barry Parks for the win in the Strictly
Stock race. Scott Lees in the #61 and Tim Edmondson in
the #66 took the third and fourth place spots with the
#63 in fifth. These guys did a great job of giving
the fans some very good novice racing for this field
and some good off the wall racing ideas. Good job
guys.
Join us next weekend as all divisions will be racing
and a special 50 lap National Event for the ever exciting
Classic Cars.
Jane Smith
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
or send a letter to the editor!
|
