IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

August 30, 2004 FSCR Friday Night is Big at Bronson Motor Speedway ! Cooper takes Sportsman, Robert Aaron Wins in School Bus By Rick Warren It seemed strange to go to Bronson Speedway on a Friday night, but the general consensus was that it was well worth the trip, as BMS began it’s Five Fantastic Fridays! What a GREAT night of racing ! With the grandstands full, and the pit area crowded with racing vehicles, there was plenty of excitement for everyone. The fans were ready for some action, and the racers were more than ready to provide it, as they raced for double points. The Sportsman division was the first feature to line up, with Phillip Rook and Matt Blum on the front row. It took 3 tries to get the race underway, but once it was started, it was a real horserace. Pole sitter Rook looked like he was going to control the race with ease as he opened a big lead while the rest of the field fought for position. Rook’s big lead disappeared with the first caution, and racing resumed, the leader had Scott Wilkerson and Rob Cooper breathing down his neck, trying to pressure Rook into a mistake. The front three managed to gain a slight separation from the field as they battled for the win. Lap 23 of the 25 lap race saw Rook’s car slow coming off turn 4, and stop entering turn 1, bringing out a caution. Unfortunately, Rook’s night was done, and it appeared that a last lap shootout wouldn’t happen. The race restarted with Wilkerson in front, followed by Cooper. Cooper tried to worry Wilkerson into an error on the white flag lap, and it looked like Wilkerson had it under control. As the two cars entered turn 3 nose to tail, with no contact, Wilkerson picked up the throttle a tick too soon, buzzed the tires, and slid high off turn 4. Cooper saw the opening, drove under Wilkerson, and the two had a drag race to the checkered flag, with Cooper getting the win by less than a foot. The Pure Stock Division had a very good race as well. Bobby Johnson and Jeff Tillman sat on the front row as the field came to the green flag. When the race started, Johnson just plain and simply “checked out”. If not for Caution flags, the rest of the field would never have known who was out front, as Johnson seemed to get quicker as the race wore on. However the race was not dull by any stretch of the imagination. The battle for second place was classic, with 4 drivers all thinking that the spot should belong to them. Some great racing, hard competition, and skinned fenders resulted in Arnold Hughes taking second spot, followed by Donnie Roberts and Joey Hunt. Heat races were won by Jeff Tillman and Joey Hunt The Mini Stock Division had several racers from out of town show up, to fine tune their cars for the upcoming Florida Mini Stock Challenge Series coming to town soon. Once again, the race was for second, as Clint Foley was the dominant car on the track this night. The race for runner up was very interesting, as several racers were packed together trying to get an advantage on the others. Second finally went to Marty Neikens, followed by Ronnie Larson and Rick Sirmans. Heat races were won by Foley and Neikens. 20 cars lined up for the Figure 8 feature race, and the term crazy comes to mind in describing this race. Their were damaged cars everywhere, most of them continuing to race. Spinning, sliding, banging, rubbing, bumping, passing. Choose any of these terms, and it happened in the Figure 8 race. When the dust settled, and the checkered flag waved, Ronnie Schreifels had done the job, and claimed the win. Second went to Dwayne Fults, followed by Robbie Hage and Charles Meyers. The V8 Bomber feature looked to be the only race of the evening that would finish with no twists of fate to keep everyone on their toes, but that was not to be. Early in the race, Charlie Kennedy went to the high groove, and drove to the front of the field. Randy O’Neal and Berlon Weeks were both in hot pursuit, and looking to take the lead. Kennedy held his line, O’Neal tried high and low to find an opening, and it looked like that would be the finishing order. As the field took the white flag, Kennedy and O’Neal raced into turn 1, and the two cars made contact, with both spinning to the infield. This allowed Berlon Weeks to dodge the spinning cars, and cross the finish line first. Second went to Glen Colyer followed by Reed Gard. Finally, it was time to roll out the school busses! The fans were almost in a frenzy for the race to begin. When the green flag waved, mayhem ensued! The First lap proved to be disastrous for several busses, as Robbie Powell tagged the back of Gary Southard at the crossing. Southard ended up in a turned over bus, and Powell wound up with the radiator where the carburetor used to be. Several busses were involved in the pile up and the race was red flagged. After Southard’s bus was cleared from the track the race restarted. Attrition played a big role in the race, with several busses dropping out due to damage. Robert Aaron and Jim Bertello had the fans on their feet, as they raced side by side for several laps, fighting for the lead. With 2 laps to go, Bertello pulled up lame with an overheating bus. It looked like Aaron would cruise to victory, but Aaron Robinson had other plans. Robinson took up where Bertello left off, and challenged Robert Aaron for the lead. Robinson made one last BIG charge for the lead in the last turn, and got the bus sideways, then turned over. Aaron went on to win, followed by Dwayne Fults. Final Results August 27, 2004 Sportsman 1. #98 Rob Cooper 2. #12 Scott Wilkerson 3. #47 Dusty Bouchard 4. #30 Doug Anderson 5. #98x Tom Martone 6. #13 Eddie Sapp 7. #59s Maloy Kelly 8. #15 Terry Sapp 9. #59r Phillip Rook 10. #44 Rob Perry Pure Stock 1. #16 Bobby Johnson 2. #55 Arnold Hughes 3. #24 Donnie Roberts 4. # 5 Joey Hunt 5. #17 Jason Holbrook 6. #65 John Mamph 7. #02 Mike Baker 8. #25 A.J. Northup 9. #99 Steve Brown 10. #95 Jeff Tillman Mini Stock 1. # 7 Clint Foley 2. #70 Marty Niekens 3. #88 Ronnie Larson 4. #05 Rick Sirmans 5. #00 Billy Smith 6. #81 Morris Richardson 7. #7x Clint Foley Sr. 8. #93 Andrew Robertson 9. #25 Billy Davis 10. #62 Richard Kelly Figure 8 1. #64 Ronnie Schreifels 2. #98 Dwayne Fults 3. #74 Robbie Hage 4. #94 Charles Meyers 5. #27 Seth Nistok 6. #27b Joey Brinson 7. #28 Scott Gullett 8. # 3 Cliff Rousseau 9. #88 Mike Van Ochten 10. #14 Wayne Calkins V8 Bomber 1. # 7 Berlon Weeks 2. #4x Glen Colyer 3. # 9 Reed Gard 4. #40 Gary Johnson 5. #34 Charlie Kennedy 6. #22 Randy O’Neal 7. #27b Bobby Taylor 8. # 1 Larry Triana 9. #48 Gerold Bryant School Bus Figure 8 1. #1 Robert Aaron 2. #11 Dwayne Fults 3. #76 Aaron Robinson 4. #9-11 Jim Bertello 5. # 6 Big Dave 6. #38 Deano 7. #37 Gary Swang 8. #54 Watter Quiett 9. #52 Jason Bowser 10. #25 Robbie Powell 11. #98 Gary Southard 12. # 3 Barrett Brown 13. #00 Roger Damron Have an opinion on this story? 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