New Faces in Winner's Circle at Orlando SpeedWorld May 30
by Jane Smith
Bithlo, Fla (May 30, 2003) A perfect night greeted fans and drivers as it was "double" points night for all divisions. It was also a night of surprises and new faces in Victory Lane.
Derrick Wood is on a winning streak in the Bandolero Bandit divisions with another win on Friday night. Wood, who had the pole, lead from the green to the checkered. Only one caution was thrown during the feature event when Josh Williams spun in turn 4 after running second for half of the race.. Wood held the point on the restart and took the checkered followed by Gerald White, Jr., Chad Atkins, Josh Williams, and Matthew Jarrett.
Derrick Wood took the heat win.
Kevin Henry sat on the pole for the Bandolero Young Guns and lead for most of the race until Scott Jarrett took over the point and the win. Following Jarrett to the checkered was Chelsea Schillig, Brandon Thompson, and Kevin Henry.
Kevin Henry took the heat win.
The Mini Stock field grew some this week which made the race far more enjoyable. On the pole for the feature was Tim "Missileman" McPhail. McPhail lead from green to checkered in the 15 lap no caution race. Following McPhail on the green was Sean Bass, Dick Laszlo, Rex "Boneman" Hollinger, and Mike Williams.
Laszlo was able to work his Mini Truck around Bass to take over second. Pedie Allison had problems with his Mini Stock and had to drop out of the race early. Randy Blakeslee, who ran the heat race, was unable to get his Mini Stock in the feature event.
McPhail took the checkered followed by Dick Laszlo, Sean Bass, Rex "Boneman" Hollinger, and Mike Williams. Tim "Missileman" McPhail took the heat win.
Matt Wheeler had the pole for the Open Wheel Modified feature event and lead for the first few laps. On lap 2, Jason Boyd and Wheeler touch while fighting for the lead and Wheeler spins. Both drivers are sent to the rear of the field for the restart.
On the restart, it is now Jared Allison with the point followed by Shane Held, Lynn Dicandio, Glen Bradley and Matt Wheeler. Dicandio finds himself going side by side with Boyd who has now worked his way back into the top five. Boyd gets the third place spot and sets his eyes on Shane Held and second place.
Boyd passes Held and takes over second looking towards the leader Allison. But Allison is not having any of it and is able to hold off Boyd and take the checkered. Dicandio, who was running fifth, got loose on the last lap and lost his fifth place finish for sixth. Following Allison across the checkered was Jason Boyd, Matt Wheeler, Shane Held, and Glen Bradley.
Bob Beiler and his "banana boat" had the pole for the Super Stock feature but Beiler had problems and was not able to race. Taking over the pole was Wally Semrow but it was Ron Whaley who got the lead on the green followed by Semrow, Butch Pierce, Bob Wines, and Jason Foster.
Cara Wells brought out the caution when she spun on the frontstretch. Wells was fine and able to continue racing. On the restart, it is Whaley, Semrow, Pierce, Foster and Wines. Coming off turn 2 down the backstretch, Foster gets real squirelly and starts to really get wild. But he did a great save and was able to get the car back under control without a caution.
Whaley holds the lead as Semrow brought out the caution when he hit the turn 1-2 wall after a very good run. As the cars go around under yellow, you can hear a definite knock in Whaley's engine. When the green flag waves, Whaley has no power and slides back as Butch Pierce takes over the lead.
Pierce takes the checkered, the first in some time, followed by Jason Foster, Bob Wines, Cory Freed, and Mike Soukup. It should be noted that Cory Freed suffered damage in the heat race to the point he could not race his car. Ron Edwards graciously gave Freed his car since Freed leads the points for the Super Stocks and this was a "double" point night. Hands up to Edwards.
Bob Beiler and Ron Whaley took the heat wins.
Rusty Ebersole had the pole for the Super Late Models and lead from green to checkered. Following Ebersole on the green was Ricky Wood, David Hart, Jim "Hoot" Flynn, and Jared Allison. Dick Ruckh brought out the yellow when he spun at the bottom of turn 4.
On the restart, it is Ebersole, Wood, Hart, Flynn and McLeod. Allison and McLeod get together with McLeod spining coming off turn 2 in a cloud of smoke. Both cars are sent to the rear for the restart. Ebersole holds the point and McLeod quickly works his way back to fifth.
The yellow comes out again when Ricky Wood gets loose and spins coming into turn 3. Jim "Hoot" Flynn spins into the infield avoiding the spun car of Wood. Wood rejoins the field in the rear and Flynn goes back to his third place spot but with some rear end damage caused from his spin. Ebersole holds the point on the restart.
Flynn brings out the yellow again when he spun on the frontstretch with McLeod doing a great job of avoiding the spun car right in his path. Flynn takes the car in and is done for the night. Ebersole holds the restart followed by Hart, McLeod, Allison, and Wood. Bo Jackson brings out the next yellow when he spins at the bottom of turn 2. Jackson now retires also from the race.
Ebersole holds the point on the restart followed by Hart, McLeod, Allison and Wood. Robert Jenkins spun in turn 4 bringing out the last yellow of the feature race. Ebersole holds the point and takes the checkered followed by David Hart, B.J. McLeod, Jared Allison and Ricky Wood.
Rusty Ebersole and David Hart took the heat wins.
Danny Shearer sat on the pole for the Sportsman event but it was Donnie Smith who took the lead from Shearer. Rob Kasey took over second from Shearer and it became the Smith - Kasey show as the two went side-by-side without ever touching around the track. Then suddenly coming off turn 2, Kasey gets loose, touches Smith and both going spinning. Both drivers were fine but their cars had enough damage to take them both out of the race.
Suddenly Shearer finds himself the leader followed by Richard Hight, Paul Colgan, Michael Albert, and Earl Beckner. Beckner brings out the yellow as he spins in turns 1 and 2. Shearer holds the point on the restart and takes the checkered for his first win in the Sportsman division since joining it in 2002. Following the first time winner was Richard Hight, Paul Colgan, Michael Albert, and Michael Carr.
Paul Colgan took the heat win.
Seventeen Strictly Stocks took the green flag for their 25 lap feature with Richie Laszlo on the pole. With no cautions in this 25 lap event, the action was unending. Roer Benton took the lead on the green followed by Laszlo, Robert Ward, Barry Parks, and Jim Leslie.
Bobby Woodley, last week's first time winner, challenged Benton for the lead and the two did alot of swapping off that place for many laps. First it would be Benton, then it would be Woodley. Barry Parks moved into third with Robert Ward fourth followed by Todd McCreary. McCreary finds he has a tire going down and slips up high and then exits into the inside pits watching the end of the race from his car after a good run coming up from the rear.
Benton takes the point and the checkered followed by Bobby Woodley, Barry Parks, Greg Bruce (4 cylinder Strictly Stock) and Robert Ward.
There was no heat races for the Strictly Stocks.
Next week, Friday (June 6), CRASH-A-RAMA. School Bus Figure 8, Powder Puff School Bus Figure 8, camper-trailer, boat-trailer, 4 cylinder demo derby, 8 cylinder demo derby, Outlaw demo derby, Wall of Steel, and more. Grandstands will open at 5 p.m. with racing action at 8 p.m.
OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS
BANDOLERO BANDITS
1. #33 Derrick Wood 2. #38 Gerald White, Jr. 3. #60 Chad Atkins 4. #6 Josh Williams 5. #9 Matthew Jarrett 6. #18 Ryan Rust 7. #17 Blake Eden 8. #74 Eric Salvesen
BANDOLERO YOUNG GUNS
1. #97 Scott Jarrett 2. #75 Chelsea Schillig 3. #54 Brandon Thompson 4. #9 Kevin Henry
SUPER LATES
1. #47 Rusty Ebersole 2. #6 David Hart 3. #78 B.J. McLeod 4. #18 Jared Allison 5. #33 Ricky Wood 6. #8 Dick Ruckh 7. #4 Rick Bates 8. #5 Rick Lyons 9. #17 Robert Jenkins 10. #02 Bo Jackson 11. #57 Jim "Hoot" Flynn 12. #7 Bobby "Hotdog" Lyons
OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED
1. #18 Jared Allison 2. #2x Jason Boyd 3. #96 Matt Wheeler 4. #55 Shane Held 5. #4 Glen Bradley 6. #20 Lynn Dicandio 7. #05 Bob Riley
SPORTSMAN
1. #77 Danny Shearer (First Time Winner) 2. #23 Richard Hight 3. #31 Paul Colgan 4. #29 Michael Albert 5. #41 Mike Carr 6. #3 Earl Beckner 7. #13 Robert Hight 8. #75 Rob Kasey 9. #48 Donnie Smith
SUPER STOCK
1, #57x Butch Pierce 2. #49 Jason Foster 3. #7 Bob Wines 4. #28 Cory Freed 5. #45 Mike Soukup 6. #22 Andy Nichols 7. #2 Ron Whaley 8.. #71 Brian Anderson 9. #8x Paul Hudson 10. #2x Wally Semrow 11. #7 Cara Wells 12. #20 Justin Reynolds 13. #44 Bob Beiler
MINI STOCK
1. #7 Tim "Missileman" McPhail 2. #07 Dick Laszlo 3. #28 Sean Bass 4. #85 Rex "Boneman" Hollinger 5. #32 Mike Williams 6. #18 Amanda Tonchuk 7. #5 Pedie Allison 8. #77 Randy Blakeslee DNS
STRICTLY STOCK 25 LAPPER
1. #14 Roger Benton 2. #98 Bobby Woodley 3. #27x Barry Parks 4. #4u Greg Bruce 5. #27 Robert Ward 6. #45 Jim Leslie 7. #4 Russ Noyes 8. #07 Richie Laszlo 9. #8 Faris Crews 10. #4x Michael Bass 11. #00 Eric Hodge 12. #26 Michele Dyal 13. #X Allen McClelland 14. #40 John Zimmerman 15. #36 Todd McCreary 16. #6 Bobby Crites 17. #20 Paul Tonchuk
