Robbie Cooper tops Extreme Modifieds at Orlando SpeedWorld
by Dave Westerman
The FASCAR Extreme Modifieds made their first ever appearance Friday night at Orlando Speedworld and even though the field wasn't strong in numbers, the drivers who took part represented some of the best in the State of Florida.
The entire eleven car field timed within a half-second of each other in qualifying with Immokalee's Lee Collins topping the speed chart with a lap of 14.060 seconds. Jason Garver of Starke timed in second quick at 14.130 seconds.
The top three from qualifying were inverted putting Clermont's Alan McCafferty on the pole with Garver outside and Collins inside row two. McCafferty took off like a rocket and set the early pace over Garver and Collins. After a few laps, Collins lost the third spot to Robbie Cooper just before the caution flew for a Dustin Beckelheimer spin on lap 25. During the caution, Collins headed to the pits as a tire was going down.
McCafferty continued to set the pace after the restart with Garver and Cooper hot on his heels while Collins rejoined the race a couple of laps down.
Things came to a head on lap 49 as Garver got into the back of McCafferty's machine going into turn three with McCafferty spinning. Officials ruled Garver at fault and sent him to the rear while McCafferty was place back out front.
McCafferty now had to contend with Robbie Cooper but Cooper was dialed in superbly and shot past McCafferty just after the restart and literally drove away from the field. Meanwhile, Collins pulled off the track and called it a night.
No one had anything for Cooper as he made it look easy over the remaining laps. McCafferty held on to second at the finish over Garver who drove his way back through the field to take the show spot. Chris Escott drove a steady race to claim fourth while Kurt Jett took fifth. Jerry "The Hammer" Symons crossed the line in sixth with the remainder of the top ten Skip Honaker, Mark Emberson, Beckelheimer, and Jimmy Wagner. Collins was the only car that did not finish.
The Sportsman class had plenty of trouble in their heat races with the cars of Barbara Pierce, Brandon Thomson, Justin Reynolds, Earl Beckner, Doug Samion and Andy Nicholls unable to start the feature. The feature race was relatively tame but filled with several "close calls."
Richard Height led the opening five laps before Matt Towell took over and drove to his first career Speedworld win. Newcomer Joe Shaver, a Southwest Florida driver who calls Charlotte County Speedway home, was very impressive.
After winning the first heat, Shaver came back to finish second in the feature in his first start here. Timmy Todd, Jr. came home third ahead of Jason Foster and Height while Brett Woodley, Eddie Thornton, Rodney Eary and Whitney Poole completed the finishers. Towell also won the second heat race.
The always exciting Super Stock feature was an all green flag affair until the white flag lap when Daniel Laszlo's engine blew up coating turns three and four with oil. The race was called complete at that point. James Frisbie had led every lap until then and he claimed the win over Lee Wagner, Roger Benton, Ron McCreary and Bobby Riley. Rounding out the top ten were Ray Mullis, Jack Kennedy, Jeff Parrish, Laszlo and Paul Matarazzo. Heat races for the 19 Super Stocks that signed in were won by Hoot Flynn and McCreary.
Josh Hermann set the early pace in the Mini Stock feature until he and Pedie Allison tangled in turn four on lap six. Allison, who had won the heat race earlier, was sent to the back of the small field for the restart while Hermann was put back on the point.
A late race restart would prove Hermann's undoing though as R.J. Arnone was able to dive underneath him and assume the lead with two laps to go. Arnone sped to the win, his second of the year, while Hermann held off Allison for second. Richie Laszlo was fourth and William Hindman took fifth spot.
Although there were just six trucks in the field the Quick Kids feature was a wild one. Fast qualifier and pole sitter Donnie Gray, Jr. got loose just as he went by the start/finish line to lead lap one. He kept things going in the right direction but gave up the lead to Randy Anderson. Gray would then be involved in a hard back stretch crash with Colby Clements on lap eight that ended the night for both youngsters.
As the field took the white flag, second-running Austin Stamper got into the back of Anderson's truck sending him into the turn one wall. Anderson was able to continue and he was placed back out front for a one lap dash to the checker. Anderson held on to take the win as he celebrated in victory lane in much the way his dad Wayne and grandpa Dickie have done here many times over the years. Jason Pyros took home the second spot ahead of Kevin Blum, Stamper, Gray and Clements.
The Action Gator Tire Strictly Stocks picked up some extra sponsorship from E&H Car Crushing, Denny Johns Racing and Wings of Eagles Martial Arts Academy.
The race saw four different leaders before Todd McCreary re-claimed the top spot from a faltering Jim Erb with two laps to go. McCreary sped to his third win of the year topping Rob Reynolds, David Leeper II, Neil Kirby and Brent Bruner. The second five consisted of Miguel Barrenchea, Glen Rhodes, Jason Keis, Harold Erb and Brenda Taylor. Nineteen Strictly Stocks were on hand with their heat races going to Kirby and Jim Erb.
The Palm Tree Computer Systems/BCS Welding/Orlando Graphix Junior Stock heat and feature were both dominated by Dillon Curtis as he would lay claim to his first career wins. Following Curtis home in the feature race were Justin Curtis, Derek Binde, Brandon Henault, Zachary Curtis and Jason Rosarius.
OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD MAY 18, 2007
EXTREME MODIFIED 75
1. #98 Robbie Cooper, Bronson 2. #32 Alan McCafferty, Clermont 3. #27 Jason Garver, Starke 4. #8 Chris Escott, St. Petersbury 5. #9 Kurt Jett, Orange Park 6. #66 Jerry Symons, New Smyrna 7. #2 Skip Honaker, Titusville 8. #30 Mark Emberson, Clermont 9. #27x Dustin Beckelheimer, Deltona 10. #17 Jimmy Wagner, Zephyrhills 11. #89 Lee Collins, Immokalee
FAST QUALIFIER: Lee Collins HARD CHARGER: Robbie Cooper
QUICK KIDS
1. #84 Randy Andeson, Wildwood 2. #78 Jason Pyros, St. Petesburg 3. #31 Kevin Blum, Morgate 4. #20 Austin Stamper, Debary 5. #19 Donnie Gray, Jr., Jacksonville 6. #17 Colby Clements, Vero Beach 7 #9 Thomas Warnick, Ormond Beach DNS
1 - 77 Todd McCreary 2 - A1 Rob Reynolds 3 - D2 David Leeper II 4 - 8N Neal Kirby 5 - 20 Brent Bruner 6 - 22 Miguel Barrenechea 7 - 63 Glenn Rhodes 8 - 28X Jason Kies 9 - 57 Harold Erb 10 - 24 Brenda Taylor 11 - 80 Steven Streight 12 - 41 George Brown 13 - 76 Gary Thomas 14 - 66 Tom Stewart 15 - 14 Bobby Betta 16 - 89X Jim Erb 17 - 7 Jimmy Scripter 18 - 42 Matt Sprenkle DNS
Mini Stock
1 - 30 R.j. Arnone 2 - 98 Joshua Hermann 3 - 92 Pedie Allison 4 - 07XX Richie Laszlo Jr. 5 - 89 William Hindman
Super Stock - Features
1 - 3X James Frisbie 2 - 74 Lee Wagner 3 - 14 Roger Benton 4 - 24PK Ron McCreary 5 - 52 Bobby Riley 6 - 316 Ray Mullis 7 - 79 Jack Kennedy 8 - 05X Jeff Parrish 9 - 07 Daniel Laszlo 10 - 32X Paul Margolio 11 - 29 Alaine Grogan 12 - 72 Nathan Haystead 13 - 43 Cara Wells 14 - 845 Michael Matarazzo 15 - 12OZ Jim Flynn DNS 16 - 25 Geno Smith DNS 17 - 40 Bob Starr DNS 18 - 4 John Guinn DNS 19 - 17 Sean Bass DNS More Results
Sportsman
1 - 14 Matt Towell 2 - 11S Joe Shaver 3 - 25 Timmy Todd Jr. 4 - 49 Jason Foster 5 - 23 Richard Hight 6 - 99 Brett Woodley 7 - 4 Eddie Thornton 8 - 6 Rodney Eary 9 - 00 Whitney Poole 10 - 3 Earl Beckner DNS 11 - 04 Doug Samion DNS 12 - 54 Brandon Thomson DNS 13 - 20 Justin Reynolds DNS 14 - 66 Andrew Nicholls DNS 15 - 57 Barbara Pierce DNS
