The Florida Mini Stock Challenge Series helped the fans at Bronson Motor Speedway celebrate Memorial Day with a 50 lap feature event Saturday Night.
The Fast Qualifying time was set by Robbie Storer in the Autoland entry. Second fast was Chris Thornton, last years champion, returning after a lengthy absence from the series. Third fast was Paul Combast, followed by Jonathan Camp and Chris Zimmerman. After tech inspection, Storer pulled a three for the inversion.
The field of Mini Stocks came to the green flag for the feature with Combast and Thornton on the front row, Storer and Camp in the second row, followed by Zimmerman, James Ellis, Mark Powers, Jesse Henley, Don Faunce and Rex Christensen filling the top ten starting positions.
The first attempt at starting the 50 lap race was waved off by flagman Derek Molloy, and the field reset for the second attempt. This start was good, and Thornton raced to the front, followed by Storer and Zimmerman.
Thornton looked like he had returned to last seasons’ form, but on this night Storer would be the man to beat. Storer’s front wheel drive Dodge showed why it is so well suited to short, tight race tracks. Storer took over the lead on lap 3, and would not be seriously challenged the remainder of the race.
Not that Thornton didn’t make a race out of it, as he never let Storer open a big lead, and was in Storers mirror every lap of the way. Thornton was able to run times as fast as Storer, but never got the opportunity to try and reclaim the lead. The two leaders continued to race tightly for the lead, and had opened a comfortable lead on third place.
The race was slowed for several minor cautions, and one red flag for a serious crash involving Don Faunce trying to knock down the turn 1 wall, when his car suffered a mechanical failure and drove straight into the wall. It was a big hit, and the car suffered significant damage. Fortunately the driver escaped uninjured.
After a brief red flag to clear the track , the race restarted, and Storer took off with Thornton once again filling his mirror. The front pair continued their private battle out front, while the rest of the field was still fighting for positions.
Storer looked to be checking out in the early stages of the race, but Thornton kept digging, and was able to once more close in on the leader, but was never able to make a move for the lead. Storer continued to run a smooth line on the speedway, and took the checkered flag or the win.
Final Results FMSC Bronson Speedway. 1. #9 Robbie Storer 2. #24 Chris Thornton 3. #13 Jonathan Camp 4. #29 Chris Zimmerman 5. #29X Mark Powers 6. #19 Paul Combast 7. #68 Mike Birk 8. #V3 Rex Christensen 9. #98 James Ellis 10. #23 Jesse Henley 11. #2 Don Faunce 12. #81 DNS Cody Blair
