Thomson tops 22 Car Field PBG Legends at Orlando SpeedWorld
BY Dave Westerman
Afternoon showers were supposed to give way to evening storms, but Orlando Speedworld management made the right call by waiting it out. The skies cleared by sundown and the evening turned out perfect for some Saturday night short track racing that featured round five of the 2006 PBG Florida Legends Car Tour.
Twenty of the twenty-two competitors took time with St. Cloud's Brandon Thomson setting quick time at 15.77 seconds in his Nick Pistone Racing/Auto Parts of Taft machine. West Palm's Andy Logan was second quick in the Murray Logan Construction entry at 15.89 with Matt Bowers, Chelsea Schillig and Kory Abbott rounding out the top five qualifiers.
Thomson pulled the "2" pill for the inversion meaning he and Logan would simply swap first row starting spots with the remainder of the field lining up the way they time trialed.
Thomson wasted little time gaining the top position which he would never relinquish the entire 35 lap distance. The race behind him though would be worth the price of admission. Logan held on to second spot until Bowers and Abbott slipped by on lap four.
Three laps later Abbott got by Bowers and took second bringing Logan back with him into third. Bowers spun out of fourth spot on lap 14 to bring out the first caution flag of the race.
Thomson again set sail on the restart. As the field took the half way signal it was Abbott still second with Logan, Bryan Silas, Jeremy Colangelo, Chelsea Schillig, Paul Schrein, Jr., Jimmy Norman, Mike Verhaagh, and Stuart Dutton filling the top ten spots.
Just after the crossed flags were displayed, James Rodriguez spun in turn two with Mitch Verhaagh and Austin Aguirre tangling trying to avoid him. Damage to their cars forced both to the pits but Rodriguez was able to continue.
Thomson remained untouchable but the battle for second heated up again as Logan took second from Abbott on lap 21. The race ran the rest of the way under green with Bryan Silas making a dandy last lap move to take third spot from Abbott. Jeremy Colangelo, making a rare Legends Car start this year, had a steady run for fifth with Schillig and Norman sixth and seventh. Bowers came back to take eighth with Dutton and Chris McDonald completing the top ten
Rounding out the finishers were Mike Verhaagh, Shaughn McCormick, Rodriguez, Eric Eichelberger, Spike Sabo, Mike Fazio, Bobby Payton, Wild Willie Wilson, Tim Osterland, Paul Schrein, Jr., Mitch Verhaagh and Austin Aguirre.
Thomson became the first two-time winner on the 2006 PBG Tour having also won the season-opening event here at Speedworld. Thomson has also announced he'll join fellow Legends competitor Bryan Silas in the Friday night FASCAR Sportsman division in two weeks driving a machine just purchased from Earl Beckner.
The always popular Florida Mini Cup Racing Association made their second regular season appearance with Rick Blair turning in a dominating performance in the All Pro class.
With his main competition Doug Smith out of action following a hard heat race crash, Blair took off and led all the way in the 25 lap main event coming within a straight-away of lapping the entire field. Francois Pellitier made a late charge to nab the second spot ahead of Jen Crossman, Brandon Beach and Tom Mellin. Phillip Beede, Derek Morey, Jason Schroeder and Randy Burris rounded out the field while Smith and Jamie Morey were unable to start the feature. Blair and Mellin won the heats.
Ray Black, Jr. took the measure of heat race winner Devin McLeod to win the FMCRA Junior All Star feature. Brady Marshall came home third after racing Black side by side for ten laps with Daniel Miller, Jack Sims, Thomas Warnick and Zack Hoyt the remaining finishers.
Ronnie Bassett, Jr. came in from Winston-Salem, NC and won both the heat and feature over a strong field of Bandelero Bandits. Mark Hooven saw his win streak snapped, settling for second on this night ahead of Donovan Ponder, Nicholas Baluch and Ronnie Bassett's brother Dillon Bassett. Completing the top ten were Zach Harris, Critter Saile, Shawn Hooven, Steven Maier and Coty Bibeau.
Gerald White, Jr, was back on top of the Bandelero Young Guns taking both the heat and feature races over Kristina Baluch and Kaleb Hearndon.
William Hindman drove his Mercury Cougar to the Hurricane win over heat winner Rob Reynolds, Dave "Lug Nuts" Thompson, Mark Walls, Matthew Sprenkel, and Evelio "Etch" Echevarria.
Cody Kasper took both the heat and feature in the Junior Stocks 12-15 year old division ahead of Justin Curtis and Alex Fortune while Zachary Curtis topped the 8-11 Junior division.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OLANDO SPEEDWORLD - JUNE 24
PBG LEGENDS TOUR
1. #54 Brandon Thomson 2. #1FL Andy Logan 3. #57 Bryan Silas 4. #5 Kory Abbott 5. #05 Jeremy Colangelo 6. #75 Chelsea Schillig 7. #2 Jimmy Norman 8. #84 Matt Bowers 9. #32 Stewart Duttton 10. #94 Chris McDonald 11. #7 Mike Verhaagh 12. #34 Shaughn McCormick 13. #19 Jimmy Rodriques 14. #47 Eric Eichelberger 15. #5x Spike Sabo 16. #38 Mike Fazio 17. #57b Bobby Payton 18. #23w Bob Wilson 19. #49 Tim Osterland 20. #74 Paul Schrein 21. #9 Mitch Verhaagh 22. #59 Austin Agu
BANDOLERO BANDITS
1. #04 Ronnie Bassett 2. #17 Mark Hooven 3. #8 Donovan Ponder 4. #16 Nicholas Baluch 5. #44 Dillon Bassett 6. #54 Zach Harris 7. #12 Critter Saile 8. #27 Shawn Hooven 9. #23 Steven Maier 10. #65 Coty Beebo
