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| GUN SHOOTS DOWN MODIFIEDS | by Dave Westerman
Before a packed house, Merritt Island's Wild Bill Gunn drove his Gunnstruction Special to a hard-fought win in the 15-lap Modified feature Friday night at Orlando Speedworld.
Gunn grabbed the lead early in this one and set a fast pace while Bruce Thompson settled into second trying to hold off the pack behind him.
Gary English spun on lap five to bring out the caution. On the restart, Thompson's car wouldn't come up to speed and the resulting accordion effect got William Riley turned around in turn three to bring out the caution again.
This put Jason Boyd and Frank Polly right behind Gunn for the restart and the battle was on. Gunn held his line, but Boyd made the pass for the lead on lap 11 only to see that negated when Riley and Larry Chalmers tangled to bring out the yellow once more. Gunn returned to the front of the field and was not to be headed this time as he held on the rest of the way to claim the win. Boyd was a very close second followed by Polly, Darren Gould (up from ninth starting spot), and Ted Head. Thompson, Shain Held, Tim Laurent, Hank Sanders, and English rounded out the top ten.
Palmetto's Jeff Guilbault spun and won in the Mini-Stocks for his first career win at Speedworld.
Guilbault's Toyotacarlo had the pole position for the feature, but he tangled with Tim Clark on lap two sending both to the rear of the field. This put rookie driver Trisha Gray on the point and she was doing an excellent job in only her fourth race.
Clark brought out the caution again on lap four when he blew a tire and stopped in turn two.
Gray continued to lead but got loose and was tapped by second-running Jeff Davis on lap ten and spun. Davis was ruled not at fault and placed at the head of the pack for the restart, but Guilbault was on the move as he passed four cars in two laps, zooming past Davis for the lead and winning by a wide margin in a victory that was applauded roundly by the big crowd.
Davis held on for second followed by Rae Williams. Josh Robinson, driving a car recently purchased from Steve Griffin, did an excellent job in his first Speedworld start coming home fourth. Rose Dickerson had another solid run to place fifth.
Brad May made a shambles of the Sportsman field, starting near the rear of the pack and passing everyone with ease, eventually winning by a full straightaway. Ian Huffman also started near the back of the field and worked his way to second at the finish trailed by Kelly Jarrett, Richard Hight and Russ Shaw.
Rich Clouser was the super-sub of the night taking over Rob Watford's car and driving it to the Super Stock win.
Clouser's ride wasn't an easy one as he had to fend off constant pressure from Carl Peters and Bill Loomis who finished in that order behind him. 14-year-old rookie Larry McCormick drove a smooth race and got an education watching the three veterans in front of him as he placed fourth while fifth went to Duane Freed.
Tracy Jackson held off a late charge by Don "Square-D" Smith to take the Strictly Stock feature. Russ Rinaldi, Dave Czerwinski, and Ray Hindman rounded out the top five.
The highlight of the night was the Cops vs. Robbers school bus figure eight race pitting Central Florida law enforcement officers against a few "notorious" outlaws.
17 buses started the event, but no one, not even the cops, could catch Rusty Crews as he led from start to finish to claim the win.
Fans were treated to all kinds of action, including a wild crash between Randy Harland of the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the K9 bus driven by Rob Candler of the Titusville Police Athletic League.
Harland's bus wound up on it's roof right in front of the grandstands and he scrambled out unhurt to a thunderous round of applause from the packed grandstands.
The Super Late Models will be back in action next Friday night as Speedworld will celebrate Friday the 13th by also hosting the Classic Auto Racing Series.
Modified (15 Laps) 15 cars:
1. Wild Bill Gunn #13
2. Jason Boyd #2X
3. Frank Polly #34
4. Darren Gould #67
5. Ted Head #51
6. Bruce Thompson #84
7. Shain Held #55
8. Tim Laurent #32
9. Hank Sanders #90
10. Gary English #66
11. Andy Safiotti #1
12. Al Varnadore #21
13. William Riley #05
14. Larry Chalmers #47
15. Sonny O #0
Mini Stock (15 Laps) 13 cars:
1. Jeff Guilbault #44
2. Jeff Davis #98
3. Rae Williams #17
4. Josh Robinson #3
5. Rose Dickerson #51
6. Mark Wolcott #15
7. Richard Laszlo #07
8. Trisha Gray #8
9. Chris "Fuzzy" Jones #20
10. Tim Clark #25
11. Bobby Orr #30
12. Rex "Boneman" Hollinger #85
13. Dwayne Youmans #55
Sportsman (15 Laps) 8 cars:
1. Brad May #2
2. Ian Huffman #3
3. Kelly Jarrett #97
4. Richard Hight #23
5. Russ Shaw #11
6. Scott Tyler #27
7. Angelo Arcure #22
8. Doug Samion #04
Super Stock (15 Laps) 13 cars:
1. Rich Clouser #17
2. Carl Peters #1
3. Bill Loomis #67
4. Larry McCormick #4
5. Duane Freed #11
6. Homer Gordon #22
7. Bob Wines #7B
8. Tim Russell #36
9. Leonard Story #L3
10. Ron Edwards #81
11. Rip Dyal #79
12. Randy Jones #38
13. Cory Freed #12
Strictly Stock (15 Laps) 9 cars:
1. Tracy Jackson #13
2. Don Smith #22
3. Russ Rinaldi #04
4. Dave Czerwinski #44
5. Ray Hindman #09
6. Joey Pierce #17
7. Tim Walters, Jr. #6
8. Dean St. Clair #41
9. William Hindman #69
Cops vs. Robbers School Bus Figure 8 (15 Laps) 16 buses
1. Rusty Crews #8
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