IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 13, 2004 FSCR Bayou Driver Morrison tops SpeedWorld Super Lates on Opening Night by Dave Westerman "I came here to win" were the words of New Orleans, LA driver Chet Morrison during a driver autograph session prior to Friday nights 25 lap Super Late Model feature at Orlando Speedworld, and win he did.... with a little help from Ronnie Roach and B.J. McLeod. Friday's festivities opened up the 2004 season of FASCAR stock car racing action at Speedworld which is celebrating its 30th year of operation. Morrison out-ran McCleod to win heat race number one and earn the pole for the feature, but it was Speedworld veteran Ronnie Roach who dominated the second heat and grabbed the early feature lead from his outside pole starting spot. Roach built up a quick lead as Morrison and McCleod raced behind him, but it was Michael Williams in his new South 40 Motorsports & Graphics machine who was on the move from his fifth starting spot, taking second from Morrison on lap six and closing on the leader. Mike Hindgardner spun in turn two on lap seven to bring out the yellow. On the ensuing restart, McLeod snookered Morrison with a low side move and took third spot. As the field completed lap nine, it sounded like a bomb went off as Williams passed the grandstands when something happened to his engine. Williams slowed and headed for the infield. Roach continued to head the pack, but McLeod moved in to challenge for the lead as Morrison raced about ten car lengths back in third. Patrick Conrad spun his car in turn four on lap 21 in a cloud of smoke but slid off the track and into the infield with no caution being thrown. Apparently anticipating a caution, Roach slowed but McLeod didn't and the two made contact in turn one. Despite some vocal opposition from the two drivers' crews, both were sent to the rear of the restart line-up with Roach opting to take his car to the pits. Morrison inherited the lead at that point and led the final three laps to claim his first ever Super Late Model victory. "We don't have anyplace to race these cars around New Orleans, so that's why we come here," said Morrison. "I love this race track and I really want to thank Dick and Mary Anderson for all their help and support," he said. Rusty Ebersole came from sixth on the grid to finish second followed by eighth starter Ricky Wood in third. Jared Allison was fourth while Chuck Burkalter, driving a two barrel Goodyear Challenge Late Model, surprised everyone with a solid fifth place finish. Orlando's Ricky Wood backed up his good run in the Super Lates with a wire to wire victory in the Modifieds driving Mike Samples' potent #81. This race ran without a caution as Wood pretty much had his way with the field. The best race was between 59 year old veteran Wayne Heckle of Geneva and Ontario, Canada driver Jerry Artuso. Heckle, back from a two year retirement and in his 35th year of racing, held off Artuso the entire distance to claim second spot. Chad Pierce drove the "Donnie Lewis Express" to fourth spot with Rusty Perdue having a great run in fifth. Wood and Heckle won the heats. Dick Laszlo won the heat for the Mini Stocks and led every lap in winning the feature as well in his Ford pick-up. Only one caution flag slowed the 15 lap run on lap six when Sean Bass and Mike Fetherston bumped in turn three with Bass spinning. The race ran green from that point with Laszlo winning easily over Chad Ashley. Ashley had his hands full with 15 year old Alli Owens who was making her debut at Speedworld. Owens did a fine job in finishing third after suffering problems in the heat. Although Alli kept a "cool" head in the race, her car was "steaming" in victory lane. Fetherston and Stephen Simpson rounded out the top five. A great field of Sportsman machines could do nothing with Earl Beckner's Quality Automotive Repair Chevy as he ran away and hid from the field. Even a couple of cautions for minor incidents only lined up token opposition for Beckner and he easily raced away with a dominating performance. Young Bobby Joe Woodley had a strong run in finishing second, holding off a late charge by Bruce Gayton who came from deep in the starting line-up. Dennis "Mr. Clean" Gilliam and Cory "Taz" Kaiser rounded out the top five. Sportsman heats were won by Beckner and Woodley. "The Man From Pine Hills," Ted Head, was not to be denied in the Super Stock Class as he came back to take the win away from Ron Whaley. This race also went green to checker with Head leading the first eleven laps before being passed by a high-flying Whaley. With two laps to go, Whaley's car began to slow off the pace somewhat, and after a little "bump and run," Head reclaimed the lead in his Central Florida Machine and Speed/Billy Cuddy Painting Monte Carlo and sped to the win. Whaley held on for second just in front of Corey Freed while Bob Beiler and Bobby Riley completed the top five. Head and Riley won the Super Stock Heats. Todd McCreary made a late race charge to top the Strictly Stock field in his "Pink Battleship" Buick. Kerry "Two Barrel" Payne, Roger Benton, Richie Laszlo and Paul Engler completed the top five. Payne won the heat. Next Friday, The Goodyear Challenge Series Late Models will open their 2004 points battle with a 100 lap race at Speedworld. Modfieds, Mini Stocks, Sportsman, Super Stocks and Strictly Stocks will also be on the card. ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD FRIDAY NIGHT RESULTS 3/12/04 SUPER LATE MODEL 1. #86 Chet Morrison 2. #47 Rusty Ebersole 3. #33 Ricky Wood 4. #18 Jared Allison 5. #1x Chuck Burkhalter 6. #15 Mike Hinegardner 7. #4 Rick Bates 8. #78 B.J. McLeod 9. #2 Patrick Conrad 10. #119 Josh Schmidt 11. #14 Ronnie Roach 12. #40 Michael Williams OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED 1. #81 Ricky Wood 2. #9 Wayne Heckle 3. #05 Jerry Artuso 4. #51 Chad Pierce 5. #131 Rusty Perdue 6. #34 Mark Emberson 7. #40 George Murphy 8. #20 Lynn Dicandio 9. #30 Chuck Burkhalter 10. #38 Dave Debulius 11. #56 Ken McCracken 12. #8 Chris Scott SPORTSMAN 1. #3 Earl Beckner 2. #98 Bobby Joe Woodley 3. #93 Bruce Gayton 4. #40 Dennis Gilliam 5. #48K Cory Kaiser 6. #62 Joe Adams 7. #8 Rich Clouser 8. #23 Richard Hight 9. #50W Jeff Wright 10. #24 Glenn Castro 11. #56 Bill Hall 12. #48 Donnie Smith 13. #08 Paul Hudson 14. #29 Ricky Wood 15. #32 Joe Kubiock 16. #50 Justin Hall SUPER STOCK 1. #92 Ted Head 2. #2 Ron Whaley 3. #12 Cory Freed 4. #44 Bob Beiler 5. #46 Bobby Riley 6. #20 Justin Reynolds 7. #721 John Bennett 8. #28 Ron Edwards 9. #24 Bill Loomis 10. #49 Jason Foster 11. #17 Harvey Givens 12. #98 Brett Woodley 13. #65 Dave Wright DNS MINI STOCK 1. #07T Dick Laszlo 2. #07A Chad Ashley 3. #22 Allie Owens 4. #14 Mike Fetherston 5. #07S Stephen Simpson 6. #72 Sean Bass 7. #33 Bob Delmastro 8. #10 Michael Seay STRICTLY STOCK 1. #24Q Todd McQuarry 2. #11x Kerry Payne 3. #14 Roger Benton 4. #07 Richie Laszlo 5. #56 Paul Engler Have an opinion on this story? 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