Three New Legends Winner on Third Night of SpeedWorld Winternationals
by Dave Westerman
It was a wild night as Orlando Speedworld hosted night number three of the INEX/600 Series Winternationals Thursday with three drivers picking up their first wins in Legends while Gerald White, Jr. continues to dominate the Bandelero Bandit class.
LEGENDS CAR PRO DIVISION - 27 Entries (25 Laps):
1) Brennan Poole #117 2) Craig Goess, Jr. #81 3) Josh Waring #13 4) Ben Stancill #24 5) Kory Abbott #5 6) Jason Reisman #25 7) Brent Seeley #5S 8) Brandon Thomson #54 9) Jordan Anderson #19 10) Jeremy Colangelo #05 Heat race winners: Jordan Anderson, Craig Goess, Jr. and Brennan Poole. B-Main winner: Mark Bakaj Goess looked like he would take his second race of the Winternationals but Poole made a late race charge and took the win. This was the tamest race of the night although Craig Haack took a wild right out of turn four. Wednesday winner Nick Pistone, who had been working on other competitors' cars all day, opted not to compete, using this race as his "drop" night. Only the best four finishes will count for each driver in the points for the Winternationals.
LEGENDS MASTERS DIVISION - 25 Entries (25 Laps):
1) Cotton Spry #16NC 2) Tim Brockhouse #13 3) Robert Merino #42 4) Andy Logan #6 5) Richard Losh #08 6) Cy Harvey #37 7) James Rodriguez #19 8) George Whitney #09 9) Donald Tilley #5 10) Steve Navratnil #55 Heat Race winners: Cotton Spry, Tim Brockhouse and Gene Conley. Spry had a front row start and led all the way but Wednesday winner Brochouse kept him in check although he couldn't pass the grizzly old veteran. Merino finally had some good luck to get third while former Florida Legends star Andy Logan, who is back and "loving it" nabbed fourth. It was good to see Richard Losh get a top five, his best ever in the Winternationals, after switching to a different car. Tuesday night winner Tommy Jordan had his second bad crash of the week but was not hurt. Clay Hair took the night off suffering from the flu.
LEGENDS SEMI-PRO DIVISION - 33 Entries (25 Laps):
1) Jake "the Snake" Crum #1 2) Zach Stroupe #51 3) Beau Browning #89 4) Tyler Sjoman #02 5) Steven Daniels #50 6) Darrell Wallace, Jr. #16 7) Cole Miktuk #6M 8) Jason Dunn #19 9) Paddy Rodenbeck #129 10) Chris McDonald #94 Heat race winners: Brandon Dunn, Chris McDonald and Paddy Rodenbeck. B-Main winner: Cole Miktuk The Semi-Pros had the biggest field of the week so far. Brandon Dunn spun into the turn one wall while leading and that handed the top spot to Crum who made it stick the rest of the way. After his win "the Snake" did a Polish victory lap. Stroupe continues to impress with a solid second place on Thursday. When his car stays together, he's always a factor. Several cars were badly damaged in this race meaning a lot of morning work on tap for the crews. Wednesday winner Darrell Wallace, Jr. started deep in the field and methodically drove his way to sixth at the finish.
BANDELERO BANDITS (15 Laps):
1) Gerald White, Jr. #38 2) Ronnie Bassett, Jr. #04 3) Cody Blackburn #71 4) Mark Hooven #17 5) Maxx Bennett #1 6) Donovan Ponder #8 7) Dillon Bassett #44 8) Sean Hooven #27 9) Grayson York #7 10) Critter Saile #12 Heat race winners: Donovan Ponder and Ronnie Bassett, Jr. Gerald White, Jr. won his third straight race but the competition is getting tougher for him. Blackburn crossed the line first in the opening heat but was DQ'd in tech giving the win to local driver Donovan Ponder.
BANDELERO YOUNG GUNS (15 Laps):
1) Kendall Sellers #6 2) Chris Moore #46 3) Ryan Blaney #10 4) Ryan Rust #18 5) Ty Dillon #3 6) Sloan Henderson #07 7) Kaleb Hearndon #53 8) Trevor Farbo #35 Heat winner: Chris Moore Moore looked like he'd also make in three in a row but Sellers had other ideas and took the top spot late in the going.
BANDELERO OUTLAWS (15 Laps):
1) Chris Morgan #7Y 2) Zach Colangelo #7R 3) Brandon Duncan #27 4) Trevor Cauble #37 5) Marcus Limehouse #88 6) Kara Clarke #21 Heat race winner: Brandon Duncan As always, this was a close race, but Morgan won for the second night in a row.
Stuart Dutton topped the Thunder Roadsters while Roger Benton took his second consecutive Super Stock main. Action continues Friday night at 7PM with the Legends Cars, Bandeleros, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, Thunder Roadsters and FASCAR Super Stocks. You can watch the action live over the internet at www.tvshowcaster.com channel 3 RaceLine via a $5.00 pay-per-view. Start time for Saturday's show has been moved up to 6PM. Over 400 Boy scouts and Cub Scouts will be camping out in the Speedworld parking lot over the weekend and will get a chance to enjoy the racing action.
