IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 17, 2005 FSCR Who Can Stop Abbott in RE/MAX Legends at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Twenty-six RE/MAX Legends Cars made their way to Orlando Speedworld for racing action on Saturday night but the results were the same as Kory Abbott drove his "X" car to his fourth consecutive win. Four heats were needed to set the starting line-up for the 25 lap feature and there were some great stories in those heats. Definitely the most popular heat win was taken by 13 year old Chelsea Schillig as the young lady from Apopka won her first career Legends Car race in heat number three. Another popular win took place in the opening heat as Darin Coker took his first win after a year of hard luck. Coker would be a big factor in the feature as well. Paddy Rodenbeck continues to improve week after week and took the win in heat two while Abbott gave the fans a preview of things to come as he drove away from the field in heat four. Schillig and Rodenbeck had the front row spots for the main event but the original start was aborted following a big crash on the back stretch. Jarrad Cawley and Doc Richardson tangled and hit the wall. Kyle Dombeck had nowhere to go and ran over both machines, nearly getting on his roof. Mitch Verhaagh also was involved before the dust settled. All drivers were thankfully OK, but all four cars were out of the race. Rodenbeck took the lead as the green finally came out but for only a lap before Coker took over. Abbott was already on the charge and passed Coker for the top spot on lap three and everybody figured it was going to be another runaway for the Kendirk Performance driver but Coker stayed right with him shadowing his every move. Lap 16 saw the only caution of the race as Wesley McLeod, Matt Bowers and Bob Wilson got tangled up in turn four. Only Bowers was able to continue. Abbott set the pace on the restart and led the remaining distance but could never shake Coker who finished a close second for his best career feature finish. Stuart Dutton made the long drive from Tallahassee worthwhile as he grabbed the third spot ahead of Rodenbeck and Brandon Thomson. Jeremy Colangelo, Bobby Byars, Mike Verhaagh, Jeff Deggeller and Jimmy Norman (in just his third race) rounded out the top ten. A special dash for the Masters drivers age 40 and over was held after the regular feature with Mike Verhaagh taking that win over Mike Fazio and Tom Clarke. Gerald White, Jr. was once again on top of the Bandelero Bandits as he out ran Blake Eden, Donovan Ponder, Nicholas Baluch and Zach Harris. Rookie driver Dalton Bergman won his second straight Bandelero Young Gun feature taking the measure of Ryan Rust and Jeff Black. Driving a Honda Prelude, William Hindman won for the second week in a row in the Hurricane class. James Owens, driving the Honda CRX that Hindman won the race with the week before, was second over the Toyota of Jim Cornwell, Doug Webb's Ford Probe and the Saturn of Jeff Woodrough. RE/MAX LEGENDS CAR FINISH - 4/16/05: 1) Kory Abbott, Apopka #X 2) Darin Coker, Palm Beach Gardens #00 3) Stuart Dutton, Tallahassee #32 4) Paddy Rodenbeck, Odessa #29 5) Brandon Thomson, St. Cloud #54 6) Jeremy Colangelo, Sanford #05 7) Bobby Byars, Palm Bay #12 8) Mike Verhaagh, Ft. Myers #7 9) Jeff Deggeller, Palm City #91 10) Jimmy Normam, Lake Mary #2 11) Evan Russell, Ft. Pierce #37 12) Derrick Wood, Orlando #33 13) Matt bowers, Mt. Dora #84 14) Chelsea Schillig, Apopka #75 15) Mike Fazio, Ft. Lauderdale #38 16) Chris McDonald, Havana #94 17) Tom Clarke, Palm Beach Gardens #66 18) Kara Clarke, Palm Beach Gardens #21 19) Wesley McLeod, Altamonte Springs #22 20) Bob Wilson, Beverly Hills #27W 21) Brian Silas, Lake Worth #57 22) Jarrad Cawley, Winter Garden #31 23) Kyle Dombeck, Palm Bay #20 24) Mitch Verhaagh, Bonita Springs #9 DNS Jordan Richardson, Palm Harbor #1 DQ Doc Richarsdon, Palm Harbor #00FL Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!