IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 31, 2004 FSCR Freed Flies to First Classic Car Win at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Young Corey Freed's weekend started out great, got bad, then got much better after he scored his first-ever win in the Dan Webster for Florida Senate Classic Auto Racing Series Saturday night at Orlando Speedworld. On Friday night, Freed crossed the line first in the Super Stock main event here but was Dq'd in tech. But Saturday night everything would work in his favor. Driving the McGill #44 wrenched by his dad Duane Freed, Corey was back after missing two races due to a hard crash at Speedworld during a heat race in early April. George Hall, Jr. got the evening off to a good start by leading the trophy dash all the way for his first Series win in over two years holding off the challenges of Tim Ousley and Daryl Grief the entire distance. Freed had the pole for the 10 lap heat race and made the most of it, leading all the way to take the win and earn a fifth place starting spot in the feature. George Hall, Jr. had the pole for the 25 lap main event, but scheduled outside pole sitter Tim Ousley had the battery go dead in his car and he was unable to make the starting line-up moving Norm Agostinho to the outside of row one. The first start saw the cars four wide as they crossed the line to take the green which was not to the liking of flagman Butch Carr who called for a complete restart. The second attempt was better, but again the cars were four wide by the time they hit turn one. Joey Strehle came off turn two with the lead while Agostinho got hung out in the "loose stuff" on the outside and had to gather his car in, losing several positions in the process. Before the cars could completed lap two, George Hall, Jr. found himself sideways in turn three. Ben Booth, who had three straight wins here and came in as the CARS point leader, had nowhere to go and hit Hall's mount. Booth took his car to the pits with a flat right front tire but was unable to return while Hall continued at the rear of the restart line-up. Strehle continued to lead but Daryl Grief was coming hard and took the lead from Strehle on lap four brining Freed with him. Grief was looking good but suddenly spun all by himself between turns three and four on lap 13 to bring out the second and final caution of the race. Freed now found himself out front but had Florida State Senator Bill Posey right behind him. Posey, still looking for his first win in the Classics, did everything he could to unseat the 16-year-old rookie from the top spot but Freed held on to take the win and become the youngest driver to score a win in the Series. Posey came home second for the third straight race run at Speedworld while Strehle came home third holding off a late charge by Daryl Grief who came from the back to get fourth. Randy Grief finished fifth in a race that, for him, was much easier than some headaches he had to endure just to get to the track. The Classics are back in action this Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway. OFFICIAL FINISH - 5/29/04 - ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD: 1) Corey Freed (R), Orlando #44 2) Bill Posey, Rockledge #00 3) Joey Strehle, Deland #X11 4) Daryl Grief, Deland #1 5) Randy Grief, Winter Garden #87 6) George Hall, Jr., St. Petersburg #32 7) George Hall III, St. Petersburg #9 8) Norm Agostinho, Ocala #0 9) Ben Booth, Deland #12 DNS Tim Ousley, Windermere #88 Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!