IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

July 26, 2008 Beckner and Blakeslee Winners at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Even though there was no rain on Friday at Orlando Speedworld, torrential downpours earlier in the week had turned the facility into a virtual quagmire and made for a number of adjustments to the racing program. Because there were several spots on the track where "weepers" developed, it was decided in the drivers meeting that all races for the night would start in single file order as a safety precaution. A last minute "working-in" of the surface by track crews got the show off to a ten minute late start, but it seemed to do the trick as all heats were run off in just over a half hour. The feature races would be a much different story however. In the Super Late Models, Michael Williams was looking for his third straight win but that would not happen as his engine seized up in practice and he loaded his car in the trailer before the show began. Earl Beckner went on to dominate the heat race over what everyone thought was young Derrick Wood. However, it turned out that Derrick's dad, Ricky Wood, was actually in the drivers seat. Since track officials had not been informed of the driver change, Wood was placed at the tail of the feature race grid. At the start of the feature, Wood made a banzai charge and got tangled up with both Scott McKinley and Tom Root sending McKinley into the wall and causing damage to all three machines. Wood was set down for his actions as McKinley was able to continue while Root made repairs but got on the track a lap down. On the restart, Beckner was in a class to himself. His nearest challenger, Bobby Orr, dropped out at mid race with a badly overheating car. Root drove back to pass the ill-handling car of McKinley to claim second spot, but the pair would finish a full lap behind the winner. For Beckner, it was his first career Super Late Model win after scoring many victories here in Limited Late Models and Sportsman cars. Even though Orr dropped out, he was credited with fourth with Bob Green fifth, also out early with an overheating machine. The Mini Stock race also saw plenty of controversy as well. David Russell grabbed the early lead but was quickly tracked down by heat winner Pedie Allison. The two went at it tooth and nail for several laps before finally tangling on the front stretch with three laps to go. Russell's car took a hard shot in the wall but he emerged OK but highly upset. Officials DQ'd Allison for rough driving and he took his car pit side. The incident handed the lead to Randy Blakeslee but he and second-running Dylan Curtis tangled going down the back stretch on the next lap putting both to the rear of a now-shortened field of cars. Ray Mullis was the leader for the restart but he could not hold off Blakeslee who drove his Speedy Sprinklers car to his very first feature win of any kind after many years of trying and he was quick to thank his friend Dick Laszlo of Laszlo Racing and Performance for helping him get more speed out of a "worn out old race car." Curtis was impressive coming home second trailed by Mullis, the only three cars to finish. Russell was credited with fourth ahead of Matthew Perkins, Chase Miller and Jason Rosarius. Chris Smyth, driving Laszlo's Modified, led all the way for his second win in the class in 2008. Smyth topped Randy Froelich, Terry Bryant and Mark Emberson, who got on track nine laps down after the rear-end locked up on his car while he was leaving the pits. Smyth also won the heat. The Sportsman feature got off to a wild start as Jeff Wright, Andy Nicholls and Steve Farris spun simultaneously in turn three. As the field was being realigned, the red flag was displayed as track EMT's were called to the pits. Don Emberson, owner of Don's Paint and Body in Minneola and crew chief for his son Mark's Super Late Model and Modified cars, suffered an apparent heart attack just after the Modified feature and was transported by Orange County Fire Rescue to Florida Hospital East. As of Saturday morning, Mark Emberson reported that his father was resting comfortably but would need to remain in the hospital for a few days. On the restart, Derrick Wood took charge and raced to the Sportsman win over Pete Starr, Nicholls, Wright, Mike Santana and Farris. Nicholls took the heat race win. Bobby Simcox dominated the Super Stock feature leading wire to wire. Jason Pick put on a show as he came from the rear of the starting grid to claim second over Dennis Snyder, Austin Carr, John Bennett, Ray Mullis, Denny Johns, Randy Froelich and Billy Belflower. Simcox also won the heat. Neal Kirby, who had a huge group of fans cheering him on, topped the Action Gator Tire Strictly Stocks for the third time this year following a close battle with Rob Reynolds. Tim Walters, Jr. trailed in third followed by heat winner Glenn Rhodes, Miguel Barrenechea, Dustin Higdon, Ronald Chancey, Roger Benton and Alex Fortune. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD JULY 25, 2008 SUPER LATE MODEL 1. #36 Earl Beckner 2. #12 Scott McKinley 3. #19 Tom Root 4. #13 Bob Green 5. #30x Bobby Orr 6. #30 Mark Emberson DNS 7. #32 Michael Williams DNS 8. #33 Ricky Wood DQ'D MODIFIED 1. #07 Christopher Smyth 2. #8 Randy Froehlich 3. #08 Terri Bryant 4. #30 Mark Emberson SPORTSMAN 1. #33 Derrick Wood 2. #95 Pete Starr 3. #66 Andy Nicholls 4. #50 Jeff Wright 5. #151 Mike Santana 6. #7 Steve Farris SUPER STOCK 1. #61 Bobby Simcox 2. #44 Jason Pick 3. #11 Dennis Snyder 4. #8 Austin Carr 5. #121 John Bennett 6. #316 Ray Mullis 7. #55 Denny Johns 8. #1 Randy Froehlich 9. #15 Bill Bellflower MINI STOCK 1. #77 Randy Blakeslee 2. #6 Dylan Curtis 3. #09 Ray Mullis 4. #31 David Russell 5. #99 Matthew Perkins 6. #14 Chase Miller 7. #42 Jason Rosarius DNS 8. #92 Pedie Allison DQ'D STRICTLY STOCK 1. #8 Neil Kirby 2. #A1 Rob Reynolds 3. #29 Tim Walters, Jr. 4. #63 Glenn Rhodes 5. #22 Miguel Barrenechea 6. #18 Dustin Higdon 7. #19 Ronald Chancey 8. #9 Roger Benton 9. #88 Alex Fortune Have an opinion on this story? 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