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| Orlando SpeedWorld Concludes 2002 Points Season | The rain held off until the last race of the night,
and the Strictly Stocks had a wet, slippery track to
deal with. But even that did not damper the newly
crowned division champions.
The Bandoleros were once again divided into Bandits
and Young Guns. On the pole for the Young Guns was
Troy Atkins but it was Patrick Conrad who jumped to
the lead on the green. Caution came out for Andrew
Hart who spun in turn 4 but was able to continue
racing. Conrad held on to take the checkers with
Troy Atkins, Brandon Thomson, Matt Panting, Jessica
Murphy, and Andrew Hart.
The #01 Bower, new to the Orlando Bandoleros, sat
on the pole for the Bandit feature. But it was
Chad Atkins who jumped or leaped to the lead and
never looked back. Gerald White, Jr. did one of
those spinning tricks but was able to continue.
Atkins held on for his first win with Chris Staggs,
Derrick Wood, Bower, #26 ?, Gerald White, Jr., and
Ryan Russ in tow.
Troy Adkins and Bower were the heat winners.
Five Pro Challenge Cup cars joined the night's
festivities with Mark David on the pole for their
feature. David took the lead on the green and never
looked back. Following David across the checkers
was Rod Sanders, Howard Brennan, #2, and Mike Lago.
Mark David took the heat win.
Bobby Blake sat on the pole for the last points
race for the Open Wheel Modifieds. The new 2002
Point Champion John Foerg took the night off.
Blake was able to take the lead on the green but
had a red modified on his bumper that was not to
be denied the last win of the points season. Jason
Boyd took the lead and that was all she wrote for
the rest of the field.
Charlie Pitts debuted his new modified, Charlie came
from the Strictly Stock division, and did well in
spite of a few spins on the front stretch. Following
Boyd to the checkers was Bobby Blake, Rob Underwood,
Frank Polly, Dave Debelius, Jim Coverdale, Glenn
Bradley, Teri Bryant, Charlie Pitts and Shane Held.
Bobby Blake took the heat win.
The Mod Lites (Dwarfs) were plenty as they came to
race Orlando SpeedWorld for the last time in 2002.
The #68 sat on the pole for their feature event but
it was the #8x that took the point and never let go.
A red flag was thrown when the #22 hit the turn 3
wall hard. On the opposite end of the track, the
#15 also hit the wall. Both drivers were fine but
their cars were down for the night.
On the restart, the #8x once again took the lead.
Following the #8x across the checkers was #01, #68,
#8FL, #07, #40, #5, #11, #82, #20, #18, and #33.
Heat winners were #8x and #68.
The Sportsman division still had their championship
up in the air between Kelly Jarrett and Rick Johns.
Friday night would tell who would be the points
champion.
Kelly Jarrett sat on the pole for the feature but it
was Rick Johns who took the lead with Earl Beckner,
Kelly Jarrett, Paul Colgan and Bruce Gayton in the
top five.
Beckner and Johns get together fighting for the lead
and both are sent to the rear of the field turning the
lead over to Kelly Jarrett. Just when you think it is
safe, Beckner, Homer Gordon, Johns and Danny Shearer
all spin in turn 3 and 4. Shearer and Gordon go in
for flat tires and do return with Johns pitting for
alittle work. Johns returns in the rear of the field
with Beckner.
The next thing we saw was Johns pushing on Beckner taking
out both cars and adding an innocent Robert Hight to
the mess. Beckner was able to take off the damaged sheet
metal and run as a modified, Hight repaired and came
back but Johns was done for the night and saw his hopes
for the 2002 championship go down the tubes.
On the restart, Jarrett takes the lead with Bruce Gayton,
Paul Colgan, Richard Hight, and Earl Beckner in the top
five. Gayton gets a good solid run and takes the lead
over Jarrett and holds on for the checkers. Following
Gayton was Kelly Jarrett, Paul Colgan, Richard Hight,
Earl Beckner, Robert Hight, Danny Shearer and Homer
Gordon.
Kelly Jarrett won the points for 2002. Rick Johns and
Richard Hight took the heat wins.
The Super Late Model feature was a wild one and in the
end was called due to the fact that most of the cars
were out. On the pole was George Murphy in the South
40 Motorsports car. Murphy took the point on the green
with Eric Deffendall, Ricky Wood, Jared Allison, and
Larry Osteen in the top five.
Mike Murphy and Jared Allison get together in turn 2
spinning each other. Both were sent to the rear of
the field. Murphy took the point on the restart but
it was Ricky Wood who took the lead from Murphy.
A red flag then came out for Eric Deffendall who hit
the wall hard. Deffendall was fine but his car was
toast. Greg Brooks spun on the bottom of the track
avoiding all the mess.
On the restart, Wood had the point with Larry Osteen,
Ronnie Roach, Mike Murphy and George Murphy in the top
five. While Osteen was running second, he suffered
a flat tire possibly caused from the front end damage
on his car. Osteen was able to get into the pits
and was done for the night.
The next caution was for Russ Thomson who spun. Wood
kept the point on the restart with Roach, Mike Murphy,
Mack Hanbury and Scott Reeves in the top five.
Then it was Wreck City as George Murphy, Jared Allison,
Russ Thomson, Scott Reeves, Rusty Ebersole, Greg Brooks,
and Donnie Radcliff all got together coming off turn
3. The race was called and Wood took the win followed
by Ronnie Roach, Mike Murphy, Mack Hanbury, and Carl
Haker.
Jared Allison won the Points Championship. Ronnie
Roach and Ricky Wood took the heat wins.
Rick Bristol sat on the pole for the Mini Stock feature.
Bobby Orr, normally the driver, won the Mini Stock
Championship and Friday night, car owner Rick Bristol
got behind the wheel.
On the green, Bristol took the point but on lap 2, Dick
Laszlo spun going to the rear of the field. On the
restart, it was young Sean Bass who sailed by Bristol
and took the point. Bass hold off Tony Elrod, Rick
Bristol, Tim "Missileman" McPhail and R.J. Arnone for
the win.
Dick Laszlo took the heat win.
On the pole for the Super Stocks was Ron Whaley but
when the green flew, it was Bobby Simcox to the point.
Simcox and Whaley had some moments of dicing and slicing
but it was Whaley who kept the lead.
Rich Clouser, the winner from two weeks ago, did a great
job of coming up thru the field for fourth in spite of
being forced off the track by Duane Freed in a hard
fight for position. Clouser kept control of his car and
worked his way again towards the front.
Whaley held the lead and crossed the checkers with Cory
Freed, Jeff Wright, Rich Clouser, John Hodge, Duane
Freed, Billy Cuddy, Dano, Mike Williams, Gary Tyler,
Glen Tatum and Bobby Simcox in tow.
Cory Freed won the 2002 Points Championship over second
place Jeff Wright.
Bobby Simcox and Ron Whaley took the heat wins.
At this point, a slight mist was falling making the track
just a little slick. But the only division left was the
Strictly Stocks and they were not to be denied their
race. On the pole was Paul Cornelius but it was Robert
Ward who took the lead and never looked back.
Alot of slipping and sliding as Robert Ward took the
checkers followed by #1, Jim Messenger, Jim Leslie,
Robert Benton, #98, William Hindman, Ralph Jones,
and Paul Cornelius.
Paul Cornelius took the heat win.
Next week at Orlando SpeedWorld, 50 laps of Florida Mini
Stock action with 50 laps of Pro Modified action plus
all divisions except Super Lates.
Congratulaions to the new 2002 Points Champions
Super Late Model - Jared Allison
Modified - John Foerg
Sportsman - Kelly Jarrett
Mini Stock - Bobby Orr
Super Stock - Cory Freed
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