Choquette all the way in Sunbelt Series 125 at Orlando SpeedWorld
by Dave Westerman
Race fans were treated to plenty of racing action with near-perfect weather Friday night at Orlando Speedworld headed by the Orlando Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep 125 for the FASCAR Sunbelt Super Late Model Series.
Mike Fritts set quick time in his RE/MAX sponsored Ford Fusion but the inversion would have Fritts starting the 125 lap run in fifth spot with the front row filled by Jeff Choquette and Wayne Anderson. Choquette wasted little time asserting himself as the car to beat taking a quick lead as Anderson settled into second just ahead of Justin Drawdy and Fritts while fourth place starter Chris Fontaine got shuffled back several positions.
Caution flew on lap three as Patrick Conrad hit the front stretch wall with his car finally grinding to a halt in turn one. Conrad was unhurt but his car was done for the balance of the evening.
The restart saw Choquette again pull away from Anderson while Drawdy had his rear-view full of Fritts. They continued to run that way until the green flag brought out the caution. One of starter Chris Hopkins' green flags blew out of the starters stand and landed on the track causing the rather unusual slow-down.
Fritts was on the move following the restart taking third from Drawdy and setting his sights on second place Anderson. Brian Finney went for a spin courtesy of Jerry Artuso on lap 43 to bring out the third caution with Artuso going to the back of the pack for the restart.
Anderson now had a handful with Fritts behind him while Choquette was in another league and pulling away. The two racers running for second were putting on a heck of a show with even more spots being contested behind them but it was looking like this would be Choquette's night as he continued to out-distance the field.
David Rogers spun on the front stretch to bring out the caution on lap 70 and was relegated to the tail of the field. Action was still hot and heavy behind Choquette with Jeff Scofield getting around Drawdy for fourth with Drawdy looping his car in turn two shortly thereafter to bring out the fifth caution.
The fans were having a great time watching Fritts work over Anderson for second as Anderson's machine was starting to "push" exiting the corners. Fritts was all over him with the front end of Fritts' Ford beginning to show some damage from several "bumps."
Caution was back out on lap 100 as Corey Freed and Chad Pierce got together in turn four. Three laps after the restart, Fritts was finally able to get by Anderson for second and set off to see if he could chase down Choquette. Meanwhile, Scofield reeled in Anderson and was going for third spot when the two touched and spun on lap 110. Sunbelt officials ruled Anderson at fault and he was sent to the rear of the field while Scofield restarted in third.
The caution gave Fritts a shot at Choquette, but the young driver from Okeechobee was hooked up and powered away to the checker trailed by Fritts, Scofield, Mario Gosselin and Chris Fontaine, who made a great run to fifth after his early troubles. Brian Finney was sixth while Mike Bresnehan, Tim Russell, James Powell III and Fain Skinner completed the top ten. Russell was the top rookie of the race with Powell earning the hard charger award starting 18th and finishing 9th.
Rounding out the finishers in the 24 car field were Jared Allison, Jerry Artuso, David Rogers, Rich Pratt, Corey Freed, Anderson, Drawdy, Blake Lehr, Chad Pierce, Scott Millar, Mario Maresca, Russ Shaw, Patrick Conrad and Jason Boyd.
Anderson, who came in as the point leader just 15 markers ahead of Scofield and 31 in front of Choquette, saw his lead slip away with his 16th place finish, making it a real dog fight for the championship which will be decided later next month.
The RE/MAX Legends Cars were on the card making up a rain-out race for points with the 25 lap feature being led flag to flag by Apopka's Kory Abbott for his third win in a row.
The race produced the scariest moment of the night on lap four as Jimmy Norman was forced into the wall coming off turn two. As Norman's car slid down the track, it was hit broadside at full speed by the car of Tony Sansom who simply had nowhere to go. Norman was out of it for several minutes before being transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation. The young driver was checked over and, other than a sore leg, was pronounced A-OK and eventually raced the following night in a back-up car!
Abbott held the lead for all 25 laps with Brandon Thomson racing home second over Matt Bowers, Chelsea Schillig and Andy Logan. Rounding out the top ten were Shaughn McCormick, Bryan Silas, Mike Verhaagh,Jimmy Rodriguez and Eric Eichelberger. Completing the finishers were Jim Smith, Mitch Verhaagh, Charlie Vest, Wild Willie Wilson, Alex Kempf, Dalton Bergman, Norman and Sansom.
Travis Towell took his fourth straight Sportsman win over a good field of cars. Bryan Silas led the opening six laps before Andy Nicholls took charge for four laps before Towell breezed past and went on to victory. Nicholls held on for second while Brandon Thomson came home third in his first-ever Sportsman start. Glen Castro did a great job coming home fourth while John Hodge rounded out the top five. Silas was sixth with Richard Hight, Timmy Todd, Jr., H.B. Shepherd, Mike Soukup, Rip Dyal, Chris Peludat, Michael Carr, Phil Luizzo, Paul Hudson and Billy Belflower rounding out the finishers.
Pedie Allison got by early leader Randy Blakeslee on lap 11 and went on to claim the Mini Stock feature. Josh Hermann made a late charge to second ahead of Dick Laszlo, Kelly Jarrett and Michael Seay while Blakeslee faded to sixth at the end trailed by John Cook, Rex "Boneman" Hollinger, Tom Rose and Scott Jarrett.
The Modified feature ran green to checker and Shane Held led every lap to claim his third win of the year over point leader Alan Bruns, Mark Emberson, David Debelius, Harold Crooms, and Gary Fountain, Sr. The Super Stock feature also went all the way under Green with Johnny Brown dominating the entire distance while the racing behind him was outstanding. James Frisbie just held off Bomber Bill Loomis for second with Jason Foster and Robert Ward completing the top five. Bobby Simcox headed up the second five trailed by Vince Keeler, Lee Wagner, Roger Benton and Tobi Smith.
Twenty-three Strictly Stocks to the green flag for their feature and when the dust settled Todd McCreary emerged the winner in his newly-built Ford Probe. New Smyrna Speedway regular Paul Kitner made his first trip to Speedworld a good one coming home second ahead of Gary Thomas, William Hindman and Robert Remus.
Mark Hooven led every lap to win the Bandelero Bandits feature taking the checker in front of younger brother Shawn Hooven, Critter Saile, Nicholas Baluch, Donovan Ponder, Zach Harris and T.J. Kirk. Gerald White, Jr. also led every lap in winning the Bandelero Young Guns feature over Kristina Baluch and Gerald Campbell.
In the Junior Stocks, Zachary Curtis topped the 8-11 year olds in front of Luke Gaier and Wes Railing, Jr. while older brother Justin Curtis out-ran the 12-15 year old class taking the win over Alex Fortune, Logan Bordeau and Dalton Nelson.
