IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 21, 2005 FSCR Dempsey wins UPM/FASCAR PRO MODS at Bronson B Rick Warren Sunshine and cool temperatures greeted the racers and fans Saturday at Bronson Motor Speedway. 27 of the best Modified Racers in the state signed up to take a shot at the win, and try to improve their position in the point standings. The air temperature was dropping as the racers lined up to make a run at the clock in the qualification runs. Patrick Williams hit the lights first, and turned in a strong run. His time of 13.398 seconds looked like it would be hard to beat. Williams time held up until Dwayne Dempsey hit the track in the A-Tex Transmissions entry, and edged out Williams for fast qualifier with a time of 13.358 seconds. Rob Partelo, Gary Southard and Alan McCafferty rounded out the top five Qualifiers. After the top qualifiers cleared tech inspection, the draw for inversion was made by Dempsey. The number pulled was a zero, so the field would start heads up, according to qualifying times. As the cars lined up for the 50 lap feature event, excitement was building. Caution laps would not be counted, so the fans were assured of 50 full laps of hard charging green flag racing. Nobody knew how important that would become, as the race turned out to have quite a few incidents that would bring out the yellow caution flag, and slow the pace. As the field of cars took the green flag to start the race, several cars tangled in turn 4, bringing out the caution and a complete restart. The 06 car of Greg Nordstrom suffered damage to the rear suspension, and was forced to retire from the race. The next attempt at a start fared no better, as Dempsey and Williams bumped entering turn 3, setting of a chain reaction of spinning and colliding race cars. When the dust cleared, the 13 of Kevyn Terry, and the 14 of Buddy Hughes were all taken to the pit area with damaged racers. The field was reset for another complete restart, and this one had no more success than the previous 2, as several cars got together exiting turn 4, with the 07 of Kevin Durden and the 11 of Gene Owen making hard contact with the concrete retaining wall on the front straight. Durden was done for the evening as well as the 01 of S. York. The field was reset one more time, this time in single file order, in hopes of getting the race under way. The race finally got underway, with Dempsey in front, followed closely by Williams, McCafferty, Lee Collins, and Wayne Jefferson. Caution was again displayed on lap 4 as the 12 of Corey Freed spun in turn 4. The field was set for the restart with Dempsey in front, followed by Williams, McCafferty, Collins, Jefferson, Jeremy Gerstner, Billy Bechtelhiemer, T.Martin, Ron Campbell, and John Gerstner filling out the top ten. The green Flag waved to restart the race with Dempsey trying to shake Williams off his bumper. he front 8 cars were putting on a great show as they all battled for position.The caution came out again on lap 16 for a minor incident in turn 4, with the top 10 running order unchanged. The field went green once again, with Williams all over Dempsey like a cheap suit, looking for a place to gain an advantage and the lead. Dempsey showed that his reputation as a great racer was well earned, as he held off the constant pressure from Williams. The caution and then red flags were displayed on lap 23, as the engine in the 42 of Richie Smith expired in spectacular fashion, leaving smoke and fluid on the track in great amounts. While the track was being cleaned, Jefferson took his racer to the pit area with mechanical problems. The race restarted with Dempsey, Williams, McCafferty, Collins, Jeremy Gerstner, Ron Campbell, John Gerstner, Martin, Red Vann, and Dave Barber Jr., filling the top ten positions. As the field passed the halfway point, the competition really started heating up. Williams tried everywhere on the track, looking to drive by Dempsey. It appeared that Dempsey’s racer took a couple of laps to really start rolling, while Williams racer seemed to be better on restarts, then start falling off slightly after a few laps. Thw two front runners kept at each other all evening, providing the fans with some excellent racing. Several battles further back in the field also kept the fans on their feet, as there was great racing all over the speedway.The field was slowed by 3 cautions after the halfway point, all for minor incidents. As the race drew near to a conclusion, Williams tried to mount one more big run to challenge Dempsey for the lead. Dempsey held on to his groove, and took the checkered flag for the hard earned win. Williams finished a strong second in the Alan Southard entry, followed by Lee Collins, Alan McCafferty and Jeremy Gerstner. It appears that Dempsey has taken the unofficial points lead after the race at Bronson. The next race for the UPM/Fascar Modifieds will be April 9, at New Smyrna Speedway, as the battle continues for the race victorys and points championship of the series. Hope to see you there! Final Results UPM/FASCAR Pro Modifieds 50 laps – Bronson Motor Speedway 1. # 6 Dwayne Dempsey 2. #56 Patrick Williams 3. #89 Lee Collins 4. #32m Alan McCafferty 5. #70 Jeremy Gerstner 6. #112 Ron Campbell 7. #77 John Gerstner 8. #32v Red Vann 9. #93 Rob Partelo 10. #12 Corey Freed 11. #11 Gene Owen 12. # 2 Mickey Kempgens 13. #56b Dave Barber Jr. 14. # 6b Billy Bechtelheimer 15. # 1x T. Martin 16. #83 S. Taylor 17. # 8 Chris Escott 18. # 2 Chip Owen 19. # 1 Greg Owen 20. # 1j Wayne Jefferson 21. #42 Richie Smith 22. #13 Kevyn Terry 23. #39 Gary Southard 24. #07 Kevin Durden 25. #14 Buddy Hughes 26. #01 S.York 27. #06 Greg Nordstrom Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!