No rain on Wednesday for day two of the 2007 INEX/600 Series Winternationals at Orlando Speedworld... just bright sunny skies and a stiff breeze to go along with plenty of red-hot racing action. The Legend Car Chargers were first up on the program and the results were the same as day one with Gastonia, NC's Matthew Stover dominating both the heat and feature races.
R.S. Senter managed to lead lap one and two minor cautions allowed him to close in on the leader, but Stover was clearly the class of the field in taking his second straight win which may earn him a move up into the Semi Pro class for the remainder of the Winternationals. Senter was a strong second ahead of Alex Kempf, Dalton Bergman, Jamie Smith, George Cushman and Dean Moslow.
Legends Semi Pro action continued hot and heavy and featured a fantastic race for first place between John Stancill and eventual winner Zach Stroupe. The two swapped the lead back and forth several times in the closing laps and weren't afraid to use a little bit of bumper to loosen up the one which was in front at the time.
Unlike the previous night where the race was cut to 16 laps due to numerous cautions, just three yellows were needed on this day, all for relatively minor incidents.
Stancill led the opening 11 laps before Stroupe zoomed by only to see Stancill return the favor just five laps later. From there it was some great back and forth action until Stroupe was able to secure the top spot one final time with two laps to go. Stroupe claimed the win, his third in the last week including Sunday/Monday night Pro Challenge wins at New Smyrna Speedway.
Stancill held on for second and took over the Winternationals Semi Pro points lead. With grandpa Richard Childress in attendance, Ty Dillon had an impressive run for third ahead of J.R. Allen and the winner from the previous day Chelsea Schillig. Travis Baer came back from a crash the night before to claim sixth with Jimmy Norman, Tony Sansom, Gene Kirila and Shaughn McCormick rounding out the top ten. The remaining finishers were Corey Smith, Chad Hackenbracht, Parker Hammons, Kara Clarke, Tanner Berryhill, Darrell Vance, Ryan Moore, Greg Frye, Zach Zimmerly, Luke Fleming and Josh Williams who won the first heat and sat on the pole for the feature only to see his engine go sour almost immediately after the drop of the green. Stancill and Allen were the other heat race winners.
Nick Pistone had the pole again for the Legend Car Pro Division main event and actually got to start there after having to switch to a back-up car the day before which put him scratch on the field.
Pistone led the first two laps but could not hold off Craig Goess, Jr. who would drive off with his second consecutive victory. The only caution of the race came on the opening lap when Brandon Thomson spun his mount in turn one. Once Goess took the point, Pistone stayed within range but had to settle for the runner-up spot.
2006 Speedworld Legends Car Champion Kory Abbott raced to a solid third place finish with Cole Miktuk and Thomas Hartensveld earning the fourth and fifth positions. Completing the top ten were Paddy Rodenbeck, Scott Knox, Kyle Beattie, Cameron Patrick and Jesse Bunnell. Rounding out the finishers were Rette Causey, Kyle LaPier, Roger Austin, Jr., Paul Schrein, Jr., Chris Lemonds, Thomas Van Wingerden and Thomson.
Heats for the Pro class went to Pistone, Knox and Goess. Veteran Clay Hair had a front row starting spot again on Wednesday and made the most of it again, leading every lap for the second day in a row to capture the Legends Car Masters Division feature. The race ran green to checker and only Tim Brockhouse was able to keep Hair in view. Brockhouse's second place finish would be disallowed after tech inspection found an illegal brake rotor on his car.
That moved an elated Mike Verhaagh to second place, his best finish ever at his home track. Despite a smoking car, Cotton Spry made a late charge to third place with 2006 Florida State Masters Division Champion Andy Logan and fellow West Plam Beach resident Jimmy Rodriguez rounding out the top five and a good showing by the shoes from the Sunshine State.
Scotty Edwards took the sixth spot with the remainder of the top ten Brian Weimer, George Whitney, Gary Bursey and Larry Friddle. Completing the finishers were Frank Johnston, Bruce Little, Rick Whitmore, Bob Wilson, Ray Paprota, Tom Clarke, Ronnie Poland, Sr., Mike Beebe and Herman Greinig.
Masters Division heats were taken by Verhaagh, Hair and Brockhouse. The fans were treated to a great race in the Thunder Roadsters as eventually winner Thomas Van Wingerden and Jesse Bunnell swapped the lead a total of six times over the course of 25 laps. Van Wingerden just held on for the win ahead of Bunnell, Steve Carter and Tom Clarke.
The Bandeleros finally got to do some feature racing and there were four winners in four races.
In the Young Guns, it was Ryan Glenski taking the honors in the first race over Ronnie Bassett, Jr., Chad Finchum, Bryce Walker, Donovan Ponder and Meghan Dillner.
In the make-up race from Tuesday, the roles were reversed with Bassett taking the win over Glenski, Finchum, Walker, Ponder and Dillner.
The first feature for the Bandelero Bandits as a wild one that found Bodie Bellinger on top at races end ahead of Cody Blackburn, Critter Saile, Blake Jones, Layne Clifton, Zoey Guignardi, Dillon Bassett, Evan Bell, Nicholas Stroupe and Jesse Kirila.
Dillon Bassett switched to his back-up car after having problems in the first race, then promptly ran off with the Tuesday make-up event over Blackburn, Bell, Saile, Bellinger, Stroupe, Clifton, Guignardi, Kirila and Jones.
Action continues Thursday afternoon at 1:30 PM.
OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD - DAY 2 WINTERNATIONALS, FEB. 14
BANDOLERO BANDIT
1. #44 Dillon Bassett 2. #71 Body Blackburn 3. #97 Evan Bell 4. #12 Critter Saile 5. #48 Bodie Bellinger 6. #45 Nicholas Stroupe 7. #23 Layne Clifton 8. #99 Zoey Guignardi 9. #5 Jesse Kirila 10. #80 Blake Jones
BANDOLERO YOUNG GUN
1. #04 Ronnie Bassett 2. #28 Ryan Glenski 3. #19 Chad Finchum 4. #68 Bryce Walker 5. #8 Donovan Ponder 6. #51 Meghan Dillner
BANDOLERO YOUNG GUN
1. #13 Christopher McKinney
LEGENDS MASTERS
1. #29 Clay Hair 2. #7 Mike Verhaagh 3. #16 Cotton Spry 4. #1FL Andy Logan 5. #19x James Rodriquez 6. #8e Scotty Edwards 7. #40 Bruce Weimer 8. #9 George Whitney 9. #83m Gary Bursey 10. #8 Larry Friddle 11. #20 Frank Johnston 12. #19 Bruce Little 13. #06 Rick Whitmore 14. #23 Bob Wilson 15. #01 Ray Paprota 16. #66 Tom Clarke 17. #39 Ronnie Poland Sr. 18. #09 Bruce Little 19. #78 Hermann Greinig 20. #13 Tim Brockhouse
LEGENDS CHARGER
1. #26 Matthew Stover 2. #01 R.S. Senter 3. #99 Alex Kempf 4. #37b Dalton Bergman 5. #76 Jamie Smith 6. #20 George Cushman 7. #3 Dean Moslow, jr.
LEGEND SEMI-PRO
1. #51 Zach Stroupe 2. #20x John Stancill 3. #21x Ty Dillon 4. #01 J.R. Allen 5. #75 Chelsea Schillig 6. #66 Travis Baer 7. #2 Jimmy Norman 8. #55 Tony Sansom 9. #5 Gene Kirila 10. #34 Shaughn McCormick 11. #12 Corey Smith 12. #7 Chad Hackenbracht 13. #24 Parker Hammons 14. #211 Kara Clarke 15. #46 Tanner Berryhill 16. #87 Darrel Vance 17. #38 Ryan Moore 18. #121 Greg Frye 19. #94 Zach Zimmerly 20. #113 Luke Fleming 21. #6 Josh Williams
LEGEND PRO
1. #81 Craig Goess 2. #99 Nick Pistone 3. #5 Kory Abbott 4. #16 Cole Miktuk 5. #36 Thomas Hartensveld Jr. 6. #129 Paddy Rodenbeck 7. #86 Scott Knox 8. #96K Kyle Beattie 9. #20P Cameron Patrick 10. #96 Jesse Bunnell 11. #33 Rette Causey 12. #12x Kyle LaPier 13. #8 Roger Austin 14. #74 Paul Schrein 15. #11 Chris Lemonds 16. #12 Thomas Von Wingerden 17. #54 Brandon Thomson
THUNDER ROADSTER
1. #12 Thomas Von Wingerden 2. #96 Jesse Bunnell 3. #9 Steve Carter 4. #66 Tom Clarke
BANDOLERO BANDIT
1. #48 Bodie Bellinger 2. #71 Body Blackburn 3. #12 Critter Saile 4. #80 Blake Jones 5. #23 Layne Clifton 6. #99 Zoey Guignardi 7. #44 Dillon Bassett 8. #97 Evan Bell 9. #45 Nicholas Stroupe 10. #5 Jesse Kirila
BANDOLERO YOUNG GUN
1. #28 Ryan Glenski 2. #04 Ronnie Bassett 3. #19 Chad Finchum 4. #680 Bryce Walker 5. #8 Donovan Ponder 6. #51 Maghan Dillner
