IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

September 20, 2004 FSCR Ronnie Larson takes the Cash in Bronson Motor Speedway "Hurricane 50" By: Rick Warren It was a night to return to normalcy, to once again enjoy a night of racing action and forget for a brief time the terrible storms that have affected the entire state. Ronnie Larson in Victory Lane. The “Hurricane 50“ for the Mini-Stock Division was to be the Main Attraction. With a posted prize of $1000 to the winner, racers from all over the state were in attendance to try and claim the prize. The Bronson Regular Series racers were also in attendance, and waiting their opportunity to hit the track as well. Robbie Yoakam was the fastest qualifier, and when it came time to draw for position, Yoakam was offered a Bonus to start from the rear. The bonus was put up by Mike Cope, of BMS, and Billy Hooker of Citrus County Speedway. Yoakam accepted the challenge, and started from the rear of the 22 car field. #3 qualifier Clint Foley had mechanical problems, and went to a back up car, and also started from the rear. After the draw, Ronnie Larson and Jason Rendell occupied the front row, followed by Don Faunce, Jeff Barnes, Robbie Storer, Chris Hooker, Steve Griffin, Ronnie Hicks, Rick Sirmans, and David Jouppi. The race was lined up, warm up laps over, fans ready for some racing, drivers hot to go, and the green flag waved for the start. Larson powered to the lead followed closely by Rendell. Several cars tried to get into the same space on the track, with Clint Foley coming out on the short end of the stick. Foley was forced to pit and was out of the race before it got started. Lap 3 saw Storer pass Faunce for third place and move into second on lap 9. A caution on lap 9 for the 93 car of Andrew Robinson, allowed the field to bunch up. Yoakam had moved to 16th place by this point in the race. The race restarted with Larson out front and Storer close behind. The lead pack was jockeying for position, and Yoakam was running hard trying to get to the lead pack. Lap 12 had Yoakam moving into the top ten, and into 9th on the next lap. Lap 24 saw Chris Hooker retire his racer to the pits, done for the evening. Lap 26 saw the lead pack working lapped traffic when “the Big One” happened. The track got crowded, a car spun in turn 4, and as the rest of the field tried to avoid the incident, the cars started piling up. When the dust cleared, the cars of Jeff Barnes, Don Faunce, and Robbie Yoakam were all forced to pit with damage. Faunce and Barnes were able to make repairs and return to racing, several laps down. Yoakam was not able to return. The race restarted and stayed green until lap 34, when the 00 of Billy Smith spun in turn 3. The race restarted with Larson still in control, but Storer was not giving up without a fight. Caution was again displayed on lap 45 as Ronnie Hicks popped a right front tire going into turn 1. The field lined up for a 5 lap shootout, with Larson still in command. Storer held second, followed by Sirmans, Corbin Gibbs, Rendell, Ashley Larson, Jouppi and Jay Zolciak.The race ended with Larson maintaining his solid hold on first place. After the race, Larson discovered how close he had been to disaster, as his crew found a broken camshaft support in the engine. The Modifieds took over the track after the mini’s were finished, and put on a great show of their own. Buddy Hughes held the early lead, with Kevin Durden, Gene Owen, Gary Southard and John Kahl all in the hunt for a way around the leader. Kahl was forced to retire early with mechanical woes. Hughes held on to the lead for a time, but eventually slipped going into turn 1 a little too hard, and the freight train went by, giving the lead to Durden, followed by Southard and Owen. Southard and Durden made contact a few laps later in turn 2, bringing out the caution, with Southard restarting from the en of the lead lap. Durden held on for a very close win over current points leader Owen, followed by Hughes and Chip Owen. In the Sportsman division, Rob Cooper showed why he was last years division champion, as he worked Matt Blum for several laps, on the outside, before taking the lead. Blum stayed close, but was not able to challenge for the lead. Third went to Scott Wilkerson. The Pure Stock Division put on a really great race, as has come to be expected from these hard charging racers. Lots of paint swappin’, several lead changes, and Donnie Roberts brought home the win, followed by Jason Holbrook and Arnold Hughes. V-8 Bomber Action had Randy O’Neal taking the win, followed by Larry Welters and Berlon Weeks. Final Results September 17, 2004 Mini-Stock Hurricane 50 Lap Feature 1. #88 Ronnie Larson 2. # 9 Robbie Storer 3. #05 Rick Sirmans 4. #2x Corbin Gibbs 5. #94 Jason Rendell 6. #58 Ashley Larson 7. #12 David Jouppi 8. #69 Jay Zolciak 9. #03 Raymond Folwell 10. #00 Billy Smith 11. #00x Steve Griffin 12. # 2 Don Faunce 13. # 8 Ronnie Hicks 14. #21 Chuck Frazier 15. #5x Jeff Barnes Modified 1. # 0x Kevin Durden 2. #11 Gene Owen 3. #14 Buddy Hughes 4. # 2 Chip Owen 5. #39 Gary Southard 6. #56x Dave Barber 7. #13 Kevyn Terry 8. #19 Rick Maguire 9. # 0 Glen Ervin 10. # 1 Greg Owen Sportsman 1. #98 Rob Cooper 2. # 1 Matt Blum 3. #12 Scott Wilkerson 4. #15 Terri Sapp 5. # 8 Darrell Berry Pure Stock 1. #24 Donnie Roberts 2. #17 Jason Holbrook 3. #55 Arnold Hughes 4. #25 A.J. Northup 5. # 5 Joey Hunt 6. # 6 Jody Skinner 7. #88 Matthew Bastow 8. #02 Mike Baker 9. #65 John Mamph 10. #59 Brett Flagg V8 Bomber 1. #22 Randy Oneal 2. #58 Larry Welters Jr. 3. # 7 Berlon Weeks 4. # 9 Reed Gard 5. #14 Bobby Rowe 6. # 4 Glen Colyer 7. #60 Richard Henick 8. #85w Larry Welters Sr. 9. #85 Aaron Welters 10. #40 Gary Johnson Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!