Patrick Thomas Tops 27 Car PBG Sportsman Field at Orlando SpeedWorld
Orlando Speedworld wrapped up the 2006 regular season with plenty of race cars on a pair of cool nights, but the racing was plenty hot.
The headliner on the final Friday night for FASCAR Stock Car Racing was the PBG Sportsman 50 with 27 cars going for the $2,000 top prize. Orlando's Andy Nicholls was on top of the qualifying heap, turning a quick lap of 14.405 seconds. Patrick Thomas was second fast at 14.487 while young Brandon Thomson was third quick at 14.689 just in front of Travis Towell and Rusty Ebersole.
Towell would have the pole position for the start of the main event with Thomson on the outside of the front row. A complete restart was ordered though after Phil Luizzo spun his mount in turn one on the opening lap.
Towell zipped out to an early lead but ran into trouble coming down the front stretch on lap three. Charles Jett, who had spun into the infield just after taking the green, was trying to get back into action and apparently did not see Towell coming up to lap him. Jett moved up into Towell's path, forcing Towell hard into the turn one wall. Although visibly upset, Towell kept his cool and calmly walked back to the pits to a nice round of applause from the fans. Both cars were eliminated from the race.
Thomson inherited the lead at this point and seemed to have a car capable of winning. However, Thomson's machine began to fall off the pace during lap eight and he eventually pulled to the infield with what was later to be determined as a combination of brake and rear-end problems.
That handed the top spot over to Patrick Thomas and he would make the most of by leading the remaining distance to take a big win and the two grand in first place money put up by PBG. Five more cautions would allow the field to stay close to Thomas, but he clearly had the superior car after Towell and Thomson were forced out.
Rusty Ebersole passed Dale Clouser with two laps to go to secure the runner-up spot. Donny Williams drove a steady race to claim fourth while fast qualifier Nicholls never really was a factor for the win and settled for fifth. Timmy Todd, Jr., coming off three straight wins, crossed the line in sixth ahead of Rick McMehan who improved 20 positions after starting dead last in the field after missing time trials. Rounding out the top ten were Glen Castro, Paul Colgan (up from 17th at the start) and 2006 track champion Richard Hight.
Completing the finishers were Ron McCreary, Michael Carr, Phil Luizzo, Mike Santana, Robert Glover, Rob Clark, Brett Woodley, Paul Hudson, Justin Reynolds, John Bennett, Hal Vickery, Ron DiCandio, Thomson, Derrick Wood, Towell, Jett and Billy Belflower. 15 of the 27 starters were still running at the finish.
Chad Pierce capped off a nice season by taking his fifth Super Late Model win of the year in wire to wire fashion driving his Fountain Motorsports/BetterLifePets.com Chevy.
Pierce had just two caution periods slow his pace during the 25 laps, both for minor incidents. Jared Allison, shaking down a car that Sondi Eden will drive in the Governor's Cup race at New Smyrna Speedway, was running second before pulling off to the infield with mechanical problems with five laps to go. That handed the second spot over to 2006 Speedworld SLM champ Dusty Cornelius, but he could do nothing to catch Pierce. Rookie Blake Lehr came home third ahead of Matthew Stichman and Joe Piazza.
2006 Columbia Motorsports Park SLM champion Doyle Boatwright made the trip down to Speedworld with his Henry Hodges Construction special but was forced to pit mid-race to pull a fender off his right front tire. Boatwright would then drive back up to sixth at the finish ahead of Russ Shaw, Allison, Gary Bierlein and Kurt Jett.
John Compagnone, Sr. just can't buy a break. The Modified shoe from Orange City had last week's Modified race in the bag until his car quit on him with a handful of laps left. This week, it once again appeared Compagnone had the car to beat as he zoomed out to a quick lead only to have his car go south on him again with just two laps in the books.
Harold Crooms took over at this point but the race would turn out to be a long one time-wise, just to get the 20 laps in the books. Newcomer Richard Dickinson was having trouble keeping his car running and it stalled twice resulting in the yellow being waved on laps six and eight. On lap 12, Randy Froelich spun and was collected by 2006 Modified champion Alan Bruns, who eventually had to drop out of the race.
On the restart, Kurt Jett spun himself out of third spot and went to the tail of the field. The next try wasn't any better as Norm Woodring spun hard into the turn one wall.
Crooms held fast to the top spot to the checker to claim his first-ever Speedworld win. As Crooms was taking the checker, Gary Fountain Sr. tangled with another car and backed hard into the turn three wall. Fountain was OK but not a happy camper.
Mark Emberson came home second holding off Tommy Stinson who was making his first Speedworld start and may have had the fastest car on the track at the end. Columbia Motorsports Park's 2006 Modified champion Jason Garver also made the trip and came home fourth after starting last. Butch Herdegen took the fifth spot with Jett, Matt Wheeler, Froelich, Fountain and Bruns completing the top ten.
The Super Stocks were out in force for the final night of the year as Tobi Smith led the opening lap only to tangle with Gary Cameron. Cameron was forced out as 2006 Super Stock Champion Jason Foster took over and led the rest of the way to claim a big win and an even bigger victory lane celebration.
Lee Wagner drove to the runner-up spot ahead of Sean Bass, Jason Pick and Vince Keeler with James Frisbie, Roger Benton, Todd McCreary, Jeff Parrish and Dennis Snyder rounding out the top ten in the 19 car field.
The Mini Stocks saw a first time winner in Matt Perkins who led all the way. Perkins picked the right night to be out front as the action behind him was pretty wild.
Pedie Allison, bidding for his third straight win, was on the move early but suffered mechanical troubles and pulled off the track just after moving into third place. Rex "Boneman" Hollinger spun coming off turn two during lap six and was clobbered by John Cook. Both cars were rendered unusable, but the drivers were OK. Then with two laps left, rookie Scott Jarrett lost control coming off turn four and smashed head-on into the wall. Scott's car was also a mess, but the young driver was not hurt.
Perkins stayed ahead of the carnage and took the win while Kelly Jarrett drove to second spot. The Mini Stock points title was the only one still up for grabs on the final night, but Dick Laszlo easily wrapped it up by finishing in third place ahead of his nearest challengers, Randy Blakeslee and Michael Seay, who finished fourth and fifth. After several years of trying, it's Laszlo's first championship.
The Action Gator Tire Strictly Stocks wrapped up 2006 with yet another big field as 32 cars took the green flag with sponsorship money coming from OrlandoGrafix.com, Support 100 Management, Florida Confetti LLC, Gordon Motorsports, Lloyd & Boss, and the Sefridge family from Cedar Rapis, IA.
The race would belong to the Mazda of Rob Reynolds as he sped to a wild win over Steve Anderson, Gomez Alvarez, David Leeper II and Bob Snyder.
The Curtis brothers would again dominate the Junior Stock action with Zachary taking the 8-11 year old win over Luke Gaier, Wes Railing, Jr., Elizabeth Trocki, Jessica Railing and Jeff Cuddy.
Justin Curtis would then lead the way in the 12-15 year olds as he took the win over Jake Cameron, Jessie Cuddy and Austin Carr.
Saturday night saw a strong field of 26 RE/MAX Legends in the pits with the new "Charger" class for the less-experienced drivers making its debut. For the new and less-experienced drivers, they welcomed the opportunity to race among themselves without having to look in their rear-view mirror waiting for the faster, more experienced racers to lap them.
Fourteen year old Dalton Bergman drove off to the heat race win and was well out front in the 25 lap feature until his battery quit five laps from the end.
Mark Bibeau inherited the lead at this point and he drove away to his first win. Bibeau's regular car suffered mechanical ills in practice, so he borrowed good friend Steve Turbeville's car making Turbeville a first-time winning "car owner" as well. Bibeau was joined in the happy victory lane celebration by son Coty who drives in the Bandelero Bandits.
Trailing Bibeau to the checker were Alex Kempf, Dallas Ingram, Leonard Hearndon, first-time drivers Charlie Omeilie and Rick Wetmore, Tim Harris and Bergman.
By winning the Charger race, Bibeau was eligible to start the RE/MAX Legends Car "A" Main, which he did to set up an 18 car starting grid. Young Georgia driver Casey Roderick was making his first-ever appearance at Speedworld and he looked like he'd been here all year. Roderick topped the second heat race and secured a front row starting spot for the 25 lap feature.
First heat winner Josh Williams led the opening circuit but could not hold back Roderick as he took the lead quickly followed by 2006 Speedworld RE/MAX Legends Car Champion Kory Abbott.
Just two minor spins brought out a pair of yellow flags as Roderick was able to hold off Abbott and take the win. Chelsea Schillig was a close third followed by Williams and Paul Schrein. Roberto Aguirre, making his first start since the Winternationals, looked good in taking sixth and was the top finisher among the Masters Division drivers. Rounding out the top ten were James Rodriguez, Jimmy Norman, Doug Hall and Shaughn McCormick.
Former Speedworld Bandelero Young Guns champion Ryan Rust took his first win in the visiting Pro Challenge feature race as he took a wire to wire win after also dominating the heat. Following the Port St. Lucie youngster to his first-ever Pro Challenge win were J.L. Snowden, Howard Brennan, Johnny Allen, Ken Ellefson, Mike Smith, Rowdy Gordon, Jarret Snowden and Lanny Rubink.
Mark Hooven is the 2006 Bandelero Bandits champion, but watch out for his younger brother Shawn. Shawn out-ran his older sibling to take the Bandits win and will be a favorite for the 2007 Bandits title with Mark moving up to the Young Guns next year. Nicholas Baluch was a close third at the finish ahead of Donovan Ponder and Zach Harris. Completing the top ten were Critter Saile, T.J. Kirk, Justin Bectold, Joshua Monacelli and Coty Bibeau.
Kristina Baluch led all the way to claim another Bandelero Young Guns win in her PBG-sponsored machine. Kaleb Hearndon and Gerald Campbell were second and third while 2006 Outlaw Champion Zac Colangelo topped Sam Gearhart in their feature.
Rob Reynolds capped off a great weekend by taking the ABC Towing Hurricane feature. Reynolds, who won the Action Gator Tire Strictly Stock feature Friday night, led all the way in the Hurricane finale after winning the heat race as well. Tom Stewart was the runner-up ahead of Steve Anderson, Gary Thomas and Joe Silva. Rounding out the top ten were Dave Thompson, Chris Mogel, Blaize Fischer, Mark Wallace and Dan Webb.
Austin Carr topped his cousin Travis Carr to win the Junior Stock feature.
Three big race weekends remain for 2006 starting with the annual Fall Crash-A-Rama on November 24th. For the second straight year, the Bahia Shrine Temple Shriners will be on hand to entertain the crowd along with their popular camel Gus, Jr.
Doug Rose will also be bringing his "Green Mamba" jet car to thrill the spectators. Also on tap is a big enduro race, stunts, and several other events spiced by a combo boat/camper trailer race and the world-famous School Bus Figure Eight race.
Friday and Saturday, December 8th and 9th, it's the Hopkins Family Truckers 200 for FASCAR Pro Truck-style race trucks. The race will be a benefit for nine year old Tommy Hopkins and his family as the young man continues to battle a life-threatening disease. The weekend will also feature the Legend Cars and Mini Cup racers.
The season wraps up on December 14th and 15th as the Second Annual Mopar/PRI Classic takes place featuring the USAC Sprints and Midgets along with a Legends Car Invitational.
OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD, NOVEMBER 10
PBG SPORTSMAN 50
1. #25 Patrick Thomas 2. #23x Rusty Ebersole 3. #30 Dale Clouser 4. #111 Donny Williams 5. #66 Andy Nicholls 6. #25 Timmy Todd Jr. 7. #12 Rikk McMehan 8. #5 Glen Castro 9. #31 Paul Colgan 10. #23 Richard Hight 11. #24pk Ron McCreary 12. #41 Michael Carr 13. #27 Phil Luizzo 14. #141 Mike Santana 15. #74 Robert Glover 16. #0 Rob Clark 17. #99 Brett Woodley 18. #08 Paul Hudson 19. #20 Justin Reynolds 20. #721 John Bennett 21. #31x Hal Vickery 22. #69 Ron Dicandio 23. #54 Brandon Thomson 24. #33 Derrick Wood 25. #4 Travis Towell 26. #74x Charles Jett 27. #15 Billy Bellflower 28. #50 Jeff Wright DNS
SUPER LATE MODEL
1. #57 Chad Pierce 2. #22 Dusty Cornelius 3. #4 Blake Lehr 4. #52 Matthew Stichmann 5. #15 Joe Piazza 6. #57x Doyle Boatwright 7. #68 Russ Shaw 8. #18 Jared Allison 9. #11 Gary Bierlein 10. #9 Kurt Jett DNS
OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED
1. #95 Harold Crooms 2. #30 Mark Emberson 3. #4 Thomas Stinson 4. #27 Jason Garver 5. #68 Butch Hardegan 6. #9 Kurt Jett 7. #97 Matt Wheeler 8. #8 Randy Froehlich 9. #33 Gary Fountain Sr. 10. #4b Alan Bruns 11. #72 Norman Woodring 12. #38 Dave Debelius 13. #72 Ricahrd Dickinson 14. #5 Jon Compagnone
SUPER STOCK
1. #49 Jason Foster 2. #74 Lee Wagner 3. #49x Sean Bass 4. #44 Jason Pick 5. #7 Vince Keeler 6. #3 James Frisbie 7. #28 Roger Benton 8. #114 Todd McCreary 9. #05 Jeff Parrish 10. #11 Dennis Synder 11. #97 Scott Keena 12. #43 Cara Wells 13. #86 Johnny Brown 14. #8 Tobi Smith 15. #8 Matt Jarrett 16. #69 Gary Cameron 17. #15 Rick Taylor 18. #4b Kent Bruns 19. #05 Bob Starr DNS
MINI STOCK
1. #99 Matthew Perkins 2. #97 Kelly Jarrett 3. #07 Dick Laszlo 4. #77 Randy Blakeslee 5. #10 Michael Seay 6. #17 Scott Jarrett 7. #92 Pedie Allison 8. #85 Rex "Boneman" Hollinger 9. #24 John Cook
JR STOCK 8-11
1. #63 Zachary Curtis 2. #78 Luke Gaier 3. #51 Wes Railing 4. #4T Elizabeth Trocki 5. #17 Jessica Railing 6. #64 Jeff Cuddy DNS
1. #A1 Rob Reynolds 2. #27 Steve Anderson 3. #12 Gomez Alvarez 4. #D2 David Leeper II 5. #16x Bob Snyder 6. #8x Neal Kirby 7. #45 David Czerwinski Jr. 8. #69 Nathan Haystead 9. #77 Gary Thomas 10. #10 Sebastian Pulido 11. #66 Tom Stewart 12. #1R Raybo 13. #20x Richard Barrenechea 14. #22 Miguel Barrenechea 15. #37 Art Hendren 16. #2 Scott Moyer 17. #16 Robert Remus 18. #41x Amanda Carr 19. #51 Randy Cox 20. #14 Adam Soukup 21. #6 Bob Heina 22. #55 Denny Johns 23. #44 David Czerwinski 24. #8 Luis Guillen 23. #3D Shane Justin
