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| McLEOD DODGES CRASHES TO POST SPEEDWORLD SLM WIN |  Former Super Late Model track champion, B.J. McLeod, played a waiting game and was in the right place at the right time to claim the 25-lap Super Late Model victory Friday night at Orlando Speedworld.
David Hart outgunned polesitter Larry Osteen at the drop of the green, but he was tapped from behind in turn three and spun.His spin collected the cars of opening night winner Rusty Ebersole, Dallas Ward, and Richie Anderson. Ward continued minus all of his front bodywork. Anderson was also able to return to the fray, but Ebersole was done for the evening. Hart returned late in the race to get a few more laps.
On the restart, it was Eddie King getting the jump on Osteen but the red flag flew on lap two as Sid Stites and rookie Mark Griffin got hooked together with both machines slamming head-on into the turn 2 wall. The front ends on both cars were trashed, but thankfully, both drivers were able to walk away from the wreckage.
King was back on the point for the restart, but Osteen was putting the pressure on each and every lap. Finally, on lap 13, Osteen did a bump and run on King in turn 4 to take the lead, but King returned the favor in turn 1 with Osteen spinning out.
Track officials sent both drivers to the rear of the field for the restart, handing the lead over to McLeod who had been patiently waiting in third spot as the two drivers duked it out in front of him.
McLeod wasted little time making good work out of his fortune, pulling away to an easy win. A suprised Russ Thomson held off a resurgent King at the line to get second spot, while Osteen blasted back through the field to get fourth in front of Brian Bellaw.
The action was also rather wild in the Modified division as a big melee at the start found Jason Boyd and Steve Moldon slamming into the turn 1 wall, severely damaging both machines. Al Varnadore spun to miss the mess, but was hit by Chris Gillespie and Sonny O. Only Varnadore was able to continue.
When the race finally got under way, Frank Polly jumped out to the lead and held off Wild Bill Gunn all the way to claim the win. Second heat winner Shane Kreidler drove an impressive race to get third with Jeremy Thompson and Shain Held rounding out the top five.
The Florida Dwarf Car Federation was on hand for a very competitive 20-lapper that saw five different leaders. Mark Landis of Delray Beach came from deep in the field to grab the lead late in the race. He then held off a late race charge by Jacksonville's Rick Lundeen to take the win. Andre Gagnon led the race in the middle stages but faded to third at the finish, while early leader Alain Paradis held on for fourth in front of George Landis.
Cocoa's Tim Clark led all the way to win his first Mini-Stock feature here in quite some time. Clark was driving his Spece Coast General Contractors/Solid Rock Excavating machine wrenched by his dad Wayne Clark.
Opening night winner, Rex "Boneman" Hollinger, tried everything he could to get around Clark, but eventually settled for second and the early season points lead. Rookie Bobby Orr drove the Ugly Duckling Auto Sales machine to third in front of impressive lady rookie, Trisha Gray. Mark Wolcott completed the top five.
Sportsman honors went to Ian Huffman who kept his Bryan's Plastering sponsored car out front most of the way, holding off heat winner Bill Loomis who finished second for the second week in a row. Doug Samion was third ahead of Russ Shaw and Richard Hight.
Loomis came back to win the Super Stock 15-lapper in impressive fashion after an early battle with Big Bob Wines. Carl Peters used his patented outside groove to come from the rear of the grid for third. Peters was trailed by "Lady Killer" Homer Gordon and 14-year old rookie, Larry McCormick, a graduate of Auburndale Speedway's Kid's Club Division.
Don Smith made it two in a row in the Strictly Stock class taking the measure of Tracy Jackson and Russ Rinaldi.
Best Appearing Car Awards were handed out before the races began with trophies going to Dallas Ward (Super Late Model), Al Varnadore (Modified), Jeff Davis (Mini-Stock), Scott Tyler (Sportsman), Bob Wines (Super Stock), and Don Smith (Strictly Stock).
Super Late Model (25 laps), 14 Cars
1. B.J. McLeod
2. Russ Thomson
3. Eddie King
4. Larry Osteen
5. Brian Bellaw
6. Richie Anderson
7. Dallas Ward
8. Johnathan Smith
9. Sid Stites
10. Matt Griffin
Modified (15 laps), 14 cars
1. Frank Polly
2. Bill Gunn
3. Shane Kreidler
4. Jeremy Thompson
5. Shain Held
6. Ted Head
7. Jimmy Wilkens
8. Terri Bryant
9. Al Varnadore
10. Larry Chalmers
Florida Dwarf Car Federation (20 Laps), 19 cars
1. Mark Landis
2. Rick Lundeen
3. Andre Gagnon
4. Alain Paradis
5. George Landis
6. Brian Paradis
7. Yves Langlois
8. Bob Quick
9. Todd Hart
10. Phil Krauthoff
Mini-Stocks (15 laps), 8 cars
1. Tim Clark
2. Rex Hollinger
3. Bobby Orr
4. Trisha Gray
5. Mark Wolcott
Sportsman (15 laps), 9 cars
1. Ian Huffman
2. Bill Loomis
3. Doug Samion
4. Russ Shaw
5. Richard Hight
Super Stock (15 laps), 11 cars
1. Bill Loomis
2. Bob Wines
3. Carl Peters
4. Homer Gordon
5. Larry McCormick
Strictly Stock (8 laps)
1. Don Smith
2. Tracy Jackson
3. Russ Rinaldi
-Dave Westerman
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