IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 13, 2004 FSCR Hole Blitzes Blizzard Series Field Five Flags Speedway – Pensacola, Florida – June 11, 2004 A holeshot out of the pits on the 76th lap put David Hole in the lead and he was able to hang on for an overdue victory Friday night in the Blizzard Series 100 at Five Flags Speedway. The Cumming, Georgia driver has been a consistent front-runner at the fast high-banked Pensacola ½ mile oval but his efforts to cross the finish line first have been regularly thwarted. Hole lead the most laps in this race, often by a ten (or more) car length margin, but at the stripe he had fellow Peach-Stater and pole-sitter Paul Kelley on his bumper with Pensacola’s Fast Eddie Mercer another car length back. The victory puts Hole in the Blizzard Series Points lead after two of five races. The series rewards the top-two drivers with starting spots in this December’s 37th annual Snowball Derby. Paul Kelley celebrated his 24th birthday by setting the fast time of 17.445 in qualifying but had to settle into second place at the start as Eddie Mercer jumped out front. Mercer put several car lengths on the field as Kelley, Hole, and Panama City’s Ryan Crane waged a heated battle for second place. On the 21st circuit, Crane prevailed and had chased down Mercer only to have a slight altercation with the leader in turn four on lap 27. The resulting traffic jam allowed Hole to get around the outside and he and Eddie ran side by side until the Holeshot Racing mount pulled ahead on the 29th lap. By the mid-point of the race Dick Anderson, who has won at every Florida asphalt short track except Five Flags, was in fifth place, while Louisiana’s Wes Loyd had gained nine positions and was running tenth. Crane moved to the point on lap 62 as Mercer, Kelley and Anderson diced for third. Wes Loyd was ripping the corners as he moved into sixth shortly before the race’s first yellow flag was displayed on lap 73. All the lead-lap cars pitted for fresh right side tires under the caution flag and it was Hole who came out first. Anderson, Dave Mader III, Kelley, Ronnie Sanders Jeremy Pate, Loyd, and Crane followed in that order. Mercer chose to swap left side rubber and was in ninth place on the lap 79 restart. Another caution period was required after a three-car crash on the front chute. Back under green again on lap 90, Mader slowed with a flat tire allowing Kelley to move into third. A lapped car held Hole’s pursuers back but once they were clear, both Kelley and Mercer passed Anderson only to see Hole a good ½ straightaway ahead. On the final lap they charged to his rear bumper, falling ever so short of the victory. Crane came within half of a car length of beating Anderson for fourth place. Loyd followed in sixth, with former Snowball Derby winners Ronnie Sanders and Charlie Bradberry close behind. Sammy McMullen continued his dominance in the Modified class passing Tommy Aaron on the 15th lap to win his sixth straight feature. Louisiana’s Tim Martin came home third. In the Super Stocks, Mike Maddox held off Jody Henderson for the win after passing early leader Gary Sanford on the 13th lap. James Ziniewicz lead from the start and won his second Spectator feature in a row beating Mike Austin and "Mad Dog" Mike Moore to the finish line. The Bomber feature belonged to Bo Resmondo who started the race in tenth place. He outran Scooter Frye and points leader Joel Lesley Jr.. The United Sprint Car Series will bring the fire breathing, fuel injected, winged Sprint Cars to Five Flags Speedway on June 25th to continue the track’s celebration of "Five Decades of Speed". The schedule will include racing for all four local divisions as well as the thundering sprinters. The largest non-Snowball Derby crowd in years was on hand for the USCS’s last appearance at the historic speedplant. For more information, go to www.fiveflagsspeedway.com or call (850)944-840. 6/11/04 Pensacola, Florida BLIZZARD SERIES 100 – SUPER LATE MODELS – (100 Laps) 1. David Hole 2. Paul Kelley 3. Eddie Mercer 4. Dick Anderson 5. Ryan Crane 6. Wes Loyd 7. Ronnie Sanders 8. Charlie Bradberry 9. Dale Little 10. Jeremy Pate 11. Bubba Naumann 12. Brandon Vaughn 13. Chris Fontaine 14. Keith Thorpe 15. Chet Morrison 16. Ron McDonald 17. Lorenzo Benton 18. Dave Mader III 19. Grant Enfinger 20. Royce Johnston 21. Kevin Perry 22. Donald Long 23. Roger Reuse MODIFIEDS (25 laps) 1. Sammy McMullen 2. Tommy Aaron 3. Tim Martin 4. Ken Gibson 5. Johnny Rottenberry 6. Justin Helton 7. Clay Mims 8. Jason Lockwood 9. Tim Goldsby SUPER STOCKS (25 laps) 1. Mike Maddox 2. Jody Henderson 3. 4. Gary Sanford 4. Chris Bryant 5. Mike Murphy 6. James Alonzo 7. Larry Perkins Jr. 8. Chris Cotto 9. Steve Campbell 10. Les Smith 11. Joe Mahuron 12. Jason Sanford 13. Mark Montgomery 14. Mike Williamson 15. Robert Royce SPECTATORS (20 laps) 1. James Ziniewicz 2. Mike Austin 3. Mike Moore 4. Jason Majors 5. Earl Polk 6. Shanna Ard 7. J.C. Flowers 8. Tommy Warren Jr. 9. Wayne Morgan 10. Brandon Hall 11. David Moore 12. Kenny Hatcher 13. Gary Robinson BOMBERS (Shortened to 10 laps) 1. Bo Resmondo 2. Scooter Frye 3. Joel Lesley Jr. 4. Chuck Brown 5. Mike Kitchen 6. Tommy Lambert Jr. 7. Richard Jensen 8. Bubba Winslow 9. Tyler Chapman 10. Shawn Muldoon 11. Nathan Sapp 12. Shannon Powell 13. William Davis 14. David Holland 15. Tim McIntosh 16. Randy Thompson 17. Willie Kitchen 18. Son Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!