IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 2, 2008 McCormick and White top Legends at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman It was a beautiful late afternoon and evening Saturday at Orlando Speedworld as all track activity stopped just after 5 PM so that everyone assembled in the pits could watch the spectacular launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Earlier in the day, many of the drivers put their cars on display at the main entrance to the track along State Road 50 which is one of two main routes people use to get to the Space Coast to view the launches. After the launch, several track employees went back out displaying signs offering free admission to the evening's races as traffic slowed to a crawl heading back to Orlando. A number of folks took the free admission offer and a nice crowd was on hand to watch the show. They were first treated to a make-up Legend Car feature race that had been rained out the previous Friday. This race would set the tone for the rest of the night as there was plenty of action from green to checker. Young Gerald White, Jr. grabbed the lead and held off a snarling pack of cars for 15 laps before Rick Wetmore spun out while running fourth. Following the restart, Shaughn McCormick got by White for the top spot but only held it for three laps before Alex Kempf got by to lead a pair of circuits before a mix-up with McCormick saw McCormick black-flagged for rough driving. White re-claimed the lead and held on for his second win of the year while Dave Gleason came home second for his best-ever finish. Kempf came back for third ahead of Mark Bibeau and Mason Ketterman with Dallas Ingram, Gary Verdier, Wetmore and McCormick rounding out the finishers. Tony Sansom and Ketterman took heat race wins for the regularly scheduled Legend Car racing and it was Ketterman leading the first four laps before McCormick sped past. Action was halted on lap six when the engine blew and caught fire in Verdier's machine. Verdier steered the car right to track officials and they put the fire out quickly with no injures to Verdier. McCormick had his way with the field in this one as he drove to an easy win, his second of the year. Some wild last lap action allowed Mark Bibeau to grab the runner-up spot at the checker, a career best. Kempf was third for the second race in a row while Sansom and Wetmore were fourth and fifth. Completing the finishers were White, Ketterman, Gleason, Eric Eichelberger, Gerald Campbell, Ingram, Tyler Smith, Charlie O'Melia and Verdier. The Legend Car Charger feature saw a first time winner in Taylor McKeever. Heat winner Mike Gleason led lap one but spun shortly thereafter and never could catch back up. Daniel Conlin, Sr. built up a good sized advantage but McKeever tracked him down and took the lead on lap 13 and the youngster never looked back from that point. Conlin was second followed by 12 year old Zach Harris, who was making his first-ever Legend Car start. Ted Ruffo, Roger Englund and Gleason rounded out the finishers. The Pro Challenge cars and trucks rounded out their "Adopt a Marine" weekend with another pair of 25 lap feature races. After Paul White won the heat race, it was Sam White grabbing the early lead in the first feature and holding it for ten laps before J.L. Snowden got by and raced off to his third feature victory of the weekend. Paul White was putting pressure on Snowden late in the going, but spun out on the last lap allowing Ryan Rust to move up to second at the checker. Jarrett Snowden was third followed by Rowdy Gordon, and Gene Dibble. Rounding out the finishers were Ron Stanley, Paul White, Bruce Gibson, Sam White and Daniel Miller. For the night cap, veteran Brad Sanders jumped behind the wheel of Stanley's #05 and led most of the way to take the win spoiling J.L. Snowden's effort at going four for four. Paul White came home second in this one as Snowden crossed the line in third followed by his son Jarrett and Ryan Rust. The remaining finishers were Sam White, Gordon, Dibble, Miller and Gibson. The Hearndon Construction Bandoleros saw Critter Saile back on top of the Bandit division as he won both the heat and feature. Jake Perkins was second in the feature race trailed by Coty Bibeau, Justin Bechtold, Cameron White, Daniel Conlin, Jr., Noah Cornman and Shawn Hooven. It was also both a heat and feature win for Donovan Ponder in the Young Guns as he led Mark Hooven, Zach Harris, Carl Haag and Danielle Stratton to the checker in their feature race. A nice field of ABC Towing Hurricanes put on their usual wild show with William Hindman's Mustang finally coming out on top of some heated racing. Ricky Solomon, Jr. was second ahead of Mark Walls, Brian Cosier and Gary Thomas. Completing the finishers were Tim Walters, Jr., Brenda Taylor, Shane Smith, Joey Silva, Ralph Cammarasana, Blaize Fisher, Devon Cuddy and George Berry. Heat wins went to Cosier and Tho OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD MAY 31, 2008 RAINOUT MAY 23 LEGENDS 1. #38 Gerald White, Jr. 2. #07 Dave Gleason 3. #99 Alex Kempf 4. #65 Mark Beebo 5. #22 Mason Ketterman 6. #33 Dallas Ingram 7. #69 Gary Verdier 8. #06 Rick Wetmore 9. #34 Shaughn McCormick DQ'D 10. #21 Devon McLeod DNS BANDOLERO BANDIT 1. #12 Critter Saile 2. #4 Jake Perkins 3. #54 Coty Beebo 4. #96 Justin Bechtold 5. #38 Cameron White 6. #20 Daniel Conlin 7. #30 Noah Cornman 8. #27 Shawn Hooven BANDOLERO YOUNG GUN 1. #8 Donovan Ponder 2. #17 Mark Hooven 3. #54 Zach 4. #48 Carl Haag 5. #83 Danielle Stratton PRO CHALLENGE RACE #1 1. #40 JL Snowden 2. #18 Ryan Rust 3. #4 Jarrett Snowden 4. #24 Rowdy Gordon 5. #7j Gene Dibble 6. #05 Ron Stanley 7. #25 Paul White 8. #33 Bruce Gibson 9. #1 Sam White 10. #00 Daniel Miller PRO CHALLENGE RACE #2 1. #05 Ron Stanley 2. #25 Paul White 3. #40 JL Snowden 4. #4 Jarrett Snowden 5. #18 Ryan Rust 6. #1 Sam White 7. #7j Gene Dibble 8. #24 Rowdy Gordon 9. #00 Daniel Miller 10. #33 Bruce Gibson CHARGERS 1. #57 Taylor McKeever 2. #11 Daniel Conlin, Sr. 3. #54 Zach Harris 4. #50 Ted Ruffo 5. #51 Roger Englund 6. #17 Mike Gleason 7. #34 Tim McCormick DNS LEGENDS 1. #34 Shaughn McCormick 2. #65 Mark Beebo 3. #99 Alex Kempf 4. #56 Tony Sansom 5. #06 Rick Wetmore 6. #38 Gerald White, Jr. 7. #22 Mason Ketterman 8. #07 Dave Gleason 9. #47 Eric Eichelberger 10. #39 Gerald Campbell 11. #33 Dallas Ingram 12. #4 Tyler Smith 13. #48 Charlie O'Meila 14. #69 Gary Verdier HURRICANES 1. #4s William Hindman 2. #19 Ricky Solomon, Jr. 3. #6 Mark Walls 4. #27 Brian Cosier 5. #76 Gary Thomas 6. #29 Tim Walters, Jr. 7. #86 Shane Smith 8. #36 Joey Silva 9. #53 Ralph Cannarasana 10. #7 Blaize Fisher 11. #4 Devon Cuddy 12. #24D George Berry 13. #24 Brenda Taylor DQ'D Have an opinion on this story? 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