IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

August 17, 2008 Emberson tops Super Lates, Beckner Modifieds at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman It was an absolutely perfect night for action Friday at Orlando Speedworld with fans treated to ten feature races and although there were ten winners in the races, the big winners on the evening were the local area firefighters who were on hand to support one of their own as quite a bit of money was raised for the Kibler family as they deal with the loss of their young child to an aggressive form of leukemia. It would turn out to be a great evening for Clermont's Mark Emberson. Mark's dad, Don Emberson, was back at the track less than a month after suffering a severe heart attack in the pit area and undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. Mark had several people keeping an eye on his dad making sure the most strenuous thing he did was watch the races from the grandstands. Emberson would make his dad proud with his efforts in the Super Late Model feature. Emberson grabbed the lead from heat winner Bobby Orr on lap 18 and sped to his first career win in the class taking the checker several lengths in front of Orr. Earl Beckner came home third trailed by Phillip Myburgh and Derrick Wood. In the Modified feature it was Earl Beckner's turn to score his first win in the class. Driving Donnie Lewis' "Moonshine Runner," Beckner started from the pole and held off the field the entire distance despite a deflating left rear tire. Emberson's great night continued with a second place finish in the Modifieds ahead of heat winner Shain Held, Chris Smyth, Art Kunzeman and Rick Johns. The Legend Cars were on the Friday night card and it was Taylor McKeever dominating the Charger feature taking the win well in front of Ted Ruffo, Mike Gleason, Roger Englund and Zach Harris. The Legend Car "A" Main saw a big mix-up on the intial start involving Tony Sansom, Rick Wetmore and Dalton Bergman. Bergman's car hit the wall and knocked off a wheel and tire. Bergman was done for the night while the others continued. Jimmy Norman stormed out to an early lead but found himself in second by lap six as Gerald White, Jr. made the pass for the point. Caution flew on lap 11 as Gary Verdier spun on the back stretch. White's car began to loosen up and Norman re-passed him for the lead on lap 15. Just as the field was about complete lap 20, Norman got loose in turn four and an inadvertent tap from White sent Norman spinning. Norman was sent to the rear of the field for the restart and it would take three more tries to get the race back under way due to several spins. Drivers were complaining there was fluid on the track, and, after the cars were checked, it was Dave Gleason getting sent to the pits as the culprit for laying down the wet stuff. White set sail at this point while Norman was putting on a show coming for the rear. Norman got a huge break with two laps to go as Verdier brought out the final caution with another spin. Norman was able to get by Sansom for second spot but was unable to track down White who took his second straight win here. Norman checkered in second followed by Sansom, Wetmore and Mark Bibeau. Rounding out the top ten were Charger winner McKeever, Mason Ketterman, Verdier, Gleason and Bergman. Norman won the heat. The Super Stock feature was a real heart breaker for Scott Smith. Smith grabbed the lead at the outset and was looking very strong until his right front tire went flat on lap ten. First heat winner Jason Pick took over for a pair of laps but could not hold off Bobby Riley who sped by and drove to the win. Pick spun out of second place on the final lap allowing young Austin Carr to take the runner-up spot for a career-best finish. Veteran Ron McCreary was third in a team car to Riley's with second heat winner John Hodge (who was celebrating his 50th birthday) getting fourth and Denny Johns fifth. The remainder of the top ten were Pick, Billy Belflower, Scotty Edwards, Brent Tyler and Smith. R.J. Arnone dominated the Mini Stock action winning both the heat a feature. Arnone finished well in front of point leader Randy Blakeslee and Chace Miller. The fourteen year old Miller is now wheeling the potent car that Pedie Allison won the championship with last year. Despite a big crash with Dylan Curtis that saw much of the body ripped off his car, William Hindman came back to finish fourth while Ray Mullis was fifth. Ron DiCandio finally got his first "official" Sportsman win of the year leading all the way to take the win over Andy Nicholls and Jeff Wright. DiCandio's other visit to the winner's circle was derailed in tech earlier in the year. This time his car passed with flying colors while the DQ bug bit Wright, whose third place finish was nullified. Heat winner Derrick Wood moved up to third in the final order trailed by Mike Santana and Alex DiCandio. "No Brake" Jake Perkins scored his initial victory in the Hearndon Construction Bandoleros by taking the Bandit feature holding off Critter Saile all the way. Jeffery White took a career-best third spot in front of Cameron White, Kevin Muglach and Coty Bibeau. Perkins also won the heat. The Bandolero Young Guns again fell victim to Donovan Ponder as he dominated both the heat and feature. Zach Harris finished second followed by Carl Haag. Neal Kirby came back from two incidents to claim the win in the Action Gator Tire Strictly Stocks. Glenn Rhodes finished a close second trailed by Rob Reynolds, Ricky Solomon, Jr. and Tim Walters, Jr. Completing the top ten were Don Dangler, Dustin Higdon, newlywed Brenda Taylor, heat winner Devon Cuddy and Joey Woliver. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD AUGUST 15, 2008 BANDOLERO BANDIT 1. #4 Jake Perkins 2. #12 Critter Saile 3. #15 Jeffrey White 4. #38 Cameron White 5. #97 Kevin Muglach 6. #65 Coty Beebo 7. #30 Noah Cornman DNS 8. #9 James Crow DNS BANDOLERO YOUNG GUN 1. #8 Donovan Ponder 2. #54 Zach Harris 3. #48 Carl Haagh CHARGER 1. #57 Taylor McKeever 2. #50 Ted Ruffo 3. #17 Mike Gleason 4. #51 Roger Englund 5. #54 Zach Harris LEGENDS 1. #38 Gerald White, Jr. 2. #2 Jimmy Norman 3. #56 Tony Sansom 4. #06 Rick Wetmore 5. #65 Mark Beebo 6. #57 Taylor McKeever 7. #22 Mason Ketterman 8. #44 Garyu Verdier 9. #07 Dave Gleason 10. #37 Dalton Bergman SUPER LATE MODEL 1. #30 Mark Emberson 2. #30x Bobby Orr 3. #36 Earl Beckner 4. #24 Phillip Myburgh 5. #33 Derrick Wood MODIFIED 1. #51 Earl Beckner 2. #30 Mark Emberson 3. #55 Shain Held 4. #07 Chris Smyth 5. #9 Art Kunzeman 6. #4 Rick Johns SPORTSMAN 1. #20S Ron Dicandio 2. #66 Andy Nicholls 3. #33 Derrick Wood 4. #151 Mike Santana 5. #22 Alex Dicandio 6. #50 Jeff Wright DQ'D MINI STOCK 1. #30 R.J. Arnone 2. #77 Randy Blakeslee 3. #14 Chace Miller 4. #42 William Hindman 5. #09 Ray Mullis 6. #6 Dylan Curtis SUPER STOCK 1. #52 Bobby Riley 2. #8 Austin Carr 3. #4Q Ron McCreary 4. #00 John Hodge 5. #55 Denny Johns 6. #44 Jason Pick 7. #14 Bill Bellflower 8. #7i Scott Edwards 9. #99 Brent Tyler 10. #01 Scott Smith 11. #15 Kerry Bellflower 12. #98 Matt Jarrett 13. #11 Dennis Snyder DNS STRICTLY STOCK 1. #8 Neil Kirby 2. #63 Glenn Rhodes 3. #A1 Rob Reynolds 4. #19 Ronald Chancey 5. #29 Tim Walters, Jr. 6. #70 Don Dangler 7. #18 Dustin Higdon 8. #24 Brenda Taylor 9. #4 Devon Cuddy 10. #88 Joey Woliver DNS Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!