IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 9, 2004 FSCR Charlie Vest Tops Sportsman 50 at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Orlando Speedworld has now been hit by two Hurricane Charlies... The first was the big blow of wind named Charley in August and Friday night it was "Hurricane" Charlie Vest who scored his initial win at Speedworld in the 50 lap special event for the Sportsman division. Vest got the night off to a torrid start by setting fast time at an awesome 14.945 seconds, with birthday boy Dale Clouser the best of the rest at 15.256. But it was the guy who turned third quick time that was turning heads. Point leader Richard Hight was out early in warm-ups trying to scuff in some new tires and spun going into turn three. Donnie Smith was following close behind and was unable to avoid Hight's machine and the two made a violent impact. Smith climbed from his car suffering only a bloody nose while Hight was nursing some sore ribs. Smith's car was done for the night but undaunted, Hight shook off the pain and actually had his car ready to qualify. Not only did he manage to make the call for time trials but Hight set third quick time and found himself on the pole for the 50 lap main event. Showing no ill effects from the afternoon crash, Hight grabbed the early lead while his challengers fought it out for positions behind him. The guy on the move was Dale Clouser as he worked the outside groove and was challenging Hight for the lead when his engine went sour just before mid-race. With Clouser in the infield Jeff Wright and Vest took up the chase on Hight. Vest got around Wright for second and closed quickly on Hight whose car had developed handling problems. After a few laps of side by side racing, Vest forged ahead and began to build a substantial lead. Hight's car was fading as both Wright and Danny Shearer got past him as the laps began to wind down. Vest took the checker in his Volusia County Racecars Chevy well ahead of Wright for his first career win at Speedworld. Shearer had a great run for third in his first full race since undergoing open heat surgery earlier this year. Despite tangling with five laps to go, Richard Hight and Spencer Lemmerman came back through the remaining field to claim fourth and fifth. Glen Castro made his return to racing in a car recently purchased from Rich Clouser and checkered seventh. Kory "Taz" Kaiser, Dennis Gilliam, John Bennett and Bill Hall completed the top five. Keep your eye on young Patrick Conrad because this guy is going places. The 2004 Florida State Legends Car champion, who has caught the eye of the likes of Jack Roush and Mark Martin, drove to his second consecutive 25 lap Super Late Model victory in crowd-pleasing style. Rich Clouser had the pole for the start and the fans were treated to a great side by side battle between he and veteran Michael Williams who was behind the wheel of a Ricky Wood-owned car that had been Conrad's ride early in his rookie season. Williams couldn't make the outside line work though, and Clouser pulled away to a good-sized lead as the battle behind him was fierce as numerous caution flags for minor incidents kept the field bunched up. Jared Allison and Ricky Wood were in a good old-fashioned dogfight for second as Conrad moved up to fourth from his starting spot near the rear of the field. With the race now past the half way mark, Allison and Wood touched slightly coming off turn two with Conrad making an unbelievable veteran-like move to go under both of them and into second spot. Within three laps Conrad had reeled in Clouser and made the pass for the lead after a brief battle. From that point Conrad was like a rocket blasting away to an easy win. Clouser settled for a strong second with Wood eventually able to pass Allison for third while Allison held on for the fourth spot. Ronnie Roach came back from an early spin to get fifth with Mike Hinegardner, Bobby Fleckinger, Williams, Chad Pierce and Scott Bramlett rounding out the top ten. Clouser and Williams won the Super Late Model heats. Mark Emberson dominated the Modified action in his dad's Don's Paint and Body car winning both the heat and the 15 lap feature, his fourth of the year. Emberson led all the way to claim the win over Skip Honaker, Hoot Flynn, Corey Freed and Ricky Wood. Josh Hermann came back from a strange penalty in the heat race where he was sent to the rear for being involved in an accident he was nowhere near to make a shambles of the Mini Stock feature race. Hermann quickly worked his way through the field and took an easy win over Tim "Missleman" McPhail who was making his return to Speedworld competition. Point leader Chad Ashley took third ahead of R.J. Arnone and Randy Blakeslee. McPhail won the heat. John Castro showed up for Wednesday practice, ran about six laps and pulled his car in the pits declaring "This car is perfect!" Well, he needed a little help, but Castro eventually drove away to an impressive victory in the Super Stock feature which was a great way for he and his wife to celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary. Castro was running a strong third when leaders Ted Head and Ron Whaley got tangled up in turn one with both being relegated to the rear of the field for the restart. From that point, Castro had it easy taking the win in front of Bomber Bill Loomis, Corey Freed and Jason Foster with Whaley driving back through the field to get fifth. Super Stock heats were won by Head and Loomis. Richie Laszlo again ran away with the Strictly Stock feature finishing over a half lap in front of second place Bobby Crites. Larry Cuddy, Weebis Steinberg and Red Honaker rounded out the top five. Laszlo also won the heat. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD - OCTOBER 8, 2004 SPORTSMAN 50 LAPPER 1. #44 Charlie Vest 2. #50W Jeff Wright 3. #77 Danny Shearer 4. #23 Richard Hight 5. #6 Spencer Lemmerman 6. #8 Glenn Castro 7. #48K Cory Kaiser 8. #40 Dennis Gilliam 9. #721 John Bennett 10. #56 Bill Hall 11. #3 Earl Beckner 12. #30 Dale Clouser 13. #50 Justin Hall 14. #48 Donnie Smith DNS SUPER LATES 1. #9r Patrick Conrad 2. #34x Rich Clouser 3. #33 Ricky Wood 4. #18 Jared Allison 5. #14 Ronnie Roach 6. #15 Mike Hinegardner 7. #34 Bobby Fleckinger 8. #2 Michael Williams 9. #57 Chad Pierce 10. #41 Scott Bramlett 11. #4 Rick Bates 12. #8 John Spasdavecchia 13. #1 Pedie Allison DNS OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED 1. #30 Mark Emberson 2. #2 Skip Honaker 3. #57 Jim "Hoot" Flynn 4. #12 Corey Freed 5. #81 Ricky Wood 6. #96 Matt Wheeler 7. #34 John Foerg 8. #1x Brandon Pitts 9. #131 Rusty Purdue 10. #40 George Murphy MINI STOCK 1. #98 Josh Hermann 2. #7 Tim "Missileman" McPhail 3. #87 Chad Ashley 4. #30 R.J. Arnone 5. #77 Randy Blakeslee 6. #07 Dick Laszlo 7. #18 Amanda Tonchuk 8. #007 Steven Simpson 9. #4 Dick Owens 10. #24 John Cook 11. #85 Rex "Boneman" Hollinger DNS SUPER STOCK 1. #5 John Castro 2. #22 Bill Loomis 3. #28 Corey Freed 4. #49 Jason Foster 5. #2 Ron Whaley 6. #46 Bobby Riley 7. #14 Roger Benton 8. #7 Brandon Evans 9. #92 Ted Head 10. #05 Bob Starr 11. #118 Donald Springer 12. #3 Jame Frisbee 13. #316 Ray Mullis 14. #65 Dave Wright 15. #99 Bob Beiler 16. #25 Robert Ward STRICTLY STOCK 1. #07 Richie Laszlo 2. #B1 Bobby Crites 3. #56 Larry Cuddy 4. #54 Ray Steinberg 5. #2 Red Honaker 6. #97 Bob Cherry Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!