LAKE CITY, FL (4/28) - Fans of open wheel racing action were able to get their fill this past Saturday at North Florida Speedway. Sixteen sprint cars flew under the green flag for their feature and T.W. Parkinson led the initial stage. Bruce Durden was on a mission, however, and leaped from eighth starting spot to third on the first lap. Durden quickly acquired second, then began putting pressure on Parkinson two laps later. Parkinson tried to hang tough, but traffic proved tougher as a lapped car forced him to drift high into the loose dirt in turn four. Parkinson tagged the wall and the resulting damage forced him to also strike the turn one wall which ended his night. Durden slipped past for the lead during all of this and maintained the point to earned the win despite numerous cautions and a mid-race challenge from Matt Kurtz that ended with two laps to go when Kurtz's car gave out. Durden earned his second consecutive victory at NFS and was trailed in order by Danny Jones, Otto Scrape, Willie Jude, and Mike McCance.
Open wheel fun continued with the 2007 NFS debut of the Florida Minisprint Association. Eddie Moss Jr. stormed past polesitter Jody McKenzie on the second lap and never looked back as he ran the table on the 18-car field. While Moss didn't make the race a runaway win, the outcome was never seriously in doubt as his car was just strong enough to maintain a comfortable victory margin. John Craddock and Andrew Griffin slugged it out for second during much of the event with Craddock getting the nod at the finish line. David Pleaugh made a couple of late race passes to take fourth and Matthew Wilson finished fifth.
The A-Modifieds gave the fans one more look at open wheel action and Mark Padgett gave the field a good look at the back of his #23 modified with a wire-to-wire win from the pole. Carlton Allen put on the best show of the race in working his way from sixth to second. Ronnie Chance finished third ahead of John Bradley and Jake Wood.
The full-bodied car fans didn't leave empty handed either. Shane Taylor rocketed from eighth to second in the first lap of the Pure Stock feature, then flashed past Gerald Lewis on the outside to take the lead on the following lap. When second place Lewis became mired in a trench war with Dean Jarvis, Taylor's bid for victory was practically sealed and delivered as long as he didn't commit any major gaffes. Taylor stayed error-free and nabbed his fifth Pure Stock win. Lewis held off Jarvis for second at the line with Rick Reed and Clay McRae rounding out the top five.
Street Stocks delivered a battle for the lead between Wayno Risner and Mark Canup for several laps until the pair made contact on the tenth lap and slowed on the backstretch. Third place David Ponton took full advantage of the mishap ahead by picking the outside lane and sticking with it to rush past both cars for the lead. Ponton was able to outdistance Canup in the closing laps to finish first at the stripe. After tech, however, the order of finish at the pay window changed and Trisha Taylor - Pure Stock feature winner Shane Taylor's better half - picked up her first Street Stock win. Second through fifth finishers were David Hart, Marvin Hassell, Kevin Davis, and Sonny Thompson.
Hobby Stocks boiled down to a head-to-head matchup between Scotty Nolan and Heath Walker. Both were coming off of recent wins and both were in prime form. The pair battled hard but fair throughout the entire event. Nolan was slightly faster, yet not fast enough to overtake Walker without some kind of help. Walker wasn't not in the giving mood when it came to making mistakes as he maintained a consistent line on the 3/8 mile oval and successfully defended against Nolan's best moves to hold on for the win. The lead pair finished well ahead of third place Matt Jeffers, who himself finished comfortably ahead of fourth place William Martin. Larry Green completed the top five.
The B-Modifieds, Late Models, and Mini Stocks will join the weekly Pure Stock, Hobby Stock, and Street Stock classes for racing this Saturday night. For more details, call the track at 386-754-8800 or visit www.northfloridaspeedway.com
