IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 13, 2009 Chris Young wins Legend Chargers at Orlando SpeedWorld Day number four of the 2008 Orlando Speedworld Winternationals Friday afternoon saw a new qualifying format and continued incredible weather as the events were run under bright sunny skies with temperatures in the mid 70’s. For the final two days of competition, the drivers opted to qualify for starting spots and add five laps to each feature race. The fastest driver on the clock in each class would then draw a 3, 5, 7, or 9 pill to invert the starting line-up for each feature. Quick time honors among the Legend Car classes went to Evan Finley (Chargers), Tyler Kivett (Semi-Pro), Clay Hair (Masters), Chase Elliott (Young Lions) and Dylan Ames (Pro) with Elliott turning the quickest overall time at 15.645 seconds. The Pro Challenge cars and trucks joined the festivities on Friday with Georgia’s Brandon Williamson setting quick time at 15.136 seconds. Thunder Car top qualifying honors went to Hunter Bledsoe (15.173) while Bandolero quick times were turned by Brady Boswell (Bandits), Dillon Bassett (Young Guns) and Brandon Bassett (Beginner Bandits). The inversion for the Legends Car Charger feature saw Matt Wallace and Josh Morris on the front row for the start. Wallace led the opening lap but tangled with Morris on the back stretch during the second lap. Brian Kolb was an innocent victim as he tagged the wall hard trying to miss the other cars. Kolb was out while Wallace a Morris continued. That gave the lead to Chris Young for the restart but he held the spot for just a pair of circuits before fast-timer Evan Finley shot past bringing Blake Jones with him. Wallace spun in turn one to bring out the second caution on lap six. Following the restart, Finley and Jones went at it tooth and nail until they tangled completing lap 13 sending both to the rear of the field for the next restart with Young now back in the lead. A lap 16 tangle between Dean Kretsmas and Tyler Mullins slowed the action one final time and cut the number of laps to 20 due to time constraints. The final lap was a wild one as Young just barely held off Chrissy Wallace for the win while Jones and Finley got together again going into turn three with Finley looping his car. Jones crossed the line in third but was penalized behind Finley in the final run-down for over-aggressive driving. Third place eventually ended up in the hands of Andy Yoder while Tony Boavia was fourth and Taylor McKeever fifth. Finley wound up sixth with Jones placed behind him in seventh. Mullins, Morris and Dave Simile completed the top ten. Zach Alspach had the pole position for the Legends Car Semi Pro feature and jumped out to a quick lead following a pair of false starts that saw the field eventually start the grind in single-file order. Alspach held on for several laps but Alex Kempf grabbed the top spot on lap eleven and began to pull away. Two laps later, Alspach, Hunter Bledsoe and Kenzie Ruston, running second through fourth, tangled coming off turn two with major damage to all three. All of the drivers were OK but done for the day. Kempf now found fast qualifier Kivett right behind him for the restart but the local campaigner from Vero Beach, FL stayed his ground and took his second win of the week. Kivett, who also has a pair of checkered flags on the week was second, so it appears the rubber game of their match will take place on Saturday. Taking the show spot was Brandon Huff while fourth and fifth went to Michael Lester and Cullen Camasta. Rounding out the top ten were George Cushman, Zach weaver, Todd Eury, Drew Higginson and Alspach. Wednesday winner John Sossoman started from the pole in the Legends Car Masters Division feature but led only one lap before fast qualifier Clay Hair jumped to the point. One laplater a wild multi-car tangle on the back stretch saw Gary Bursey go for a wild ride although his machine did manage to stay on all fours. When it was all said and done, the cars of Bursey, Bob Merino and Scotty Edwards went pit side although Edwards was able to make repairs and return to the race. Hair continued to lead but was getting plenty of pressure every lap from Ira Laughey. Things were slowed once again on lap 19 as Joe Graf spun in turn two. Just after the restart, Hoyt Demis and John Sossoman bumped in turn four causing a chain reaction behind them that eventually saw Darrell Vance pound the wall. Vance, again an innocent victim of someone else’s driving, was not hurt but done for the afternoon. Carlos Moore spun on the front stretch to bring out the final yellow flag with two laps to go but Hair was up to the task and held off Laughey for his second straight win. Sossoman held on for third in front of Tim Brockhouse and Chris Weddle while Cy Harvey, Kevin Foisy, Dave Gleason, Edwards and Doug Dugger completed the top ten. The Legends Cars Young Lions again provided some incredibly close action along with a pair of scary single-car wrecks. Justin Grimes led from the pole but the field was put under caution when Kyle Benjamin hit the turn three wall very hard. Benjamin was unhurt but his car went in the pits on the ABC roll-back. Grimes had his hands full with a host of challengers and Dale Dodge, Jr. was finally able to slip by for the lead on lap 15 just before something broke on fast qualifier Chase Elliott’s machine and he slammed the wall extremely hard in turn three. After a couple of minutes, the young driver, son of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Bill Elliott, emerged shaken but unharmed. Following the restart, there was some wild racing that saw Grimes retake the lead on the 19th lap and hold on for the win. This time it stuck in the tech area after Grimes crossed the line first on Wednesday only to be disqualified. Dodge held on for second ahead of Evan Swilling, Scott Hensley (up from 12th on the starting grid) and Chad Finchum. The second five consisted of Travis Braden, Jake Morris, Harrison Rhodes, Trevor Alspach and Austin Leitner. Third-starting Nick Pistone jumped to the lead on the opening lap of the Legends Car Pro Division feature and was out front when his car suddenly quit on lap ten. Pistone could not get his machine off the speedway and brought out the only caution of the race on lap twelve. Daniel Hemric took over when Pistone dropped out and led the remaining distance for his first win of the Winternationals. Former Speedworld champion Kory Abbott was second trailed by Andrew Smith, Thursday winner Jimmy Heavlow and Kyle Beattie. Completing the top ten were Dylan Ames, Rette Causey, Cameron Patrick, Mike Alcaro and Currie Pierce. Adam Welch made a bold three-wide pass to take the lead then went on to win his first Thunder Car feature of the week. Hunter Bledsoe, Jim Fluharty and Dave Sondles trailed Welch to the checker. When leaders Kyle Weatherman and Brady Boswell tangled with just four laps to go, Kyle’s brother Clayton Weatherman took advantage and raced to his first win of the week in the Bandolero Bandits. Tanner Rumburg came home second in front of Kyle Weatherman, Boswell, Ray Beebe and Daniel Conlin, Jr. A big wreck on the back stretch in the Beginner Bandits feature sidelined the cars of Payton Ryan and Joseph Graf. Both of the youngsters were pretty shaken up but A-OK after being consoled by mom and dad. Brandon Bassett ended up taking the race win for his second straight in the class while little Macy Causey, in just her third race ever, took second. Dillon Bassett made it three in a row in the Bandolero Young Guns taking another easy win over Luke Demis, Justin Thomas and Jesse Little. The Pro Challenge feature had fast qualifier Brandon Williamson and Legend Car driver Chad Finchum on row one for the start of their 50 lap headliner. Williamson grabbed the early lead and started setting a blistering pace while fourth started Jarrett Snowden in his U.S. Navy/Napa Toyota began to work his way forward taking second from Finchum on lap sixteen. By half-way, Williamson had built up a full straightaway advantage. On lap 29, Kyle Benjamin took third from Finchum. Williamson took the victory well in front of Snowden as the 50 laps were all run under green. Benjamin was third ahead of Finchum and Brady Boswell. Rounding out the finishers were Tim Forbes, Kyle Wilson, Tracy Wallace, Brad Sanders, Malcom McMaster and Howard Brennan. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD - WINTER NATIONALS FEBRUARY 13, 2009 Thunder Car - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 54 Adam Welch 2 - 8 Hunter Bledsoe 3 - 5 Jim Fluharty 4 - 4 Dave Sondles Pro Challenge - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 20 Brandon Williamson 2 - 4 Jarrett Snowden 3 - 71 Kyle Benjamin 4 - 19 Chad Finchum 5 - 2 Brady Boswell 6 - 04 Tim Forbes 7 - 05 Kyle Wilson 8 - 32 Tracy Wallace 9 - 12 Brad Sanders 10 - 3 Malcolm Mcmaster 11 - 56 Howard Brennan Chargers - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 49 Chris Young 2 - 04 Chrissy Wallace 3 - 17 A.j. (andy) Yoder 4 - 33 Dave Simile 5 - 57 Taylor Mckeever 6 - 97 Evan Finley 7 - 80 Blake Jones 8 - 81 Tyler Mullins 9 - 95 Josh Morris 10 - 33T Tony Bonavia 11 - 52 Theodore Filides 12 - 21 Dean Kretschmas 13 - 54 Zach Harris 14 - 4 Matt Wallace 15 - 29 Brian Kolb More Results Masters - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 29 Clay Hair 2 - 17 Ira Laughy 3 - 14 John Sossoman 4 - 00X Tim Brockhouse 5 - 00 Chris Weddle 6 - 81 Cy Harvey 7 - 55 Kevin Foisy 8 - 07 Dave Gleason 9 - 8E Scotty Edwards 10 - 20 Doug Dugger 11 - 8 Larry Friddle 12 - 16 Joe Graf 13 - 15 Marty Griffin 14 - 9 Carlos Moore 15 - 26 David Wilkerson 16 - 13 Jackie Ryan 17 - 1 Hoyt Demis 18 - 87 Darrell Vance 19 - 17 Ed Mummert 20 - 42 Robert Merino 21 - 65 Gary Bursey Bandolero Young Guns - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 44 Dillon Bassett 2 - 03X Luke Demis 3 - 99 Justin Thomas 4 - 03 Jesse Little Pro - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 21 Daniel Hemric 2 - 5 Kory Abbott 3 - 62 Andrew Smith 4 - 48 Jimmy Heavlow 5 - 84 Kyle Beattie 6 - 77 Dylan Ames 7 - 33 Rette Causey 8 - 20 Cameron Patrick 9 - 39 Mike Alcaro 10 - 16 Currie Pierce 11 - 05 Bayley Currey 12 - 9X Will Prance 13 - 66 Dusty Davis 14 - 111 Darren Sherwood 15 - 28 James Edsall 16 - 11 Chris Lemonds 17 - 2 Jimmy Norman 18 - 99 Nick Pistone Bandolero Bandits - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 18 Clayton Weatherman 2 - 15 Tanner Rumburg 3 - 6 Kyle Weatherman 4 - 2X Brady Boswell 5 - 89 Ray Beebe 6 - 20 Daniel Conlin 7 - 44 Brandon Bassett 8 - 33 Macy Causey 9 - 13 Payton Ryan 10 - 12 Joseph Graf Semi-Pro - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 99 Alex Kempf 2 - 66 Tyler Kivett 3 - 21 Brandon Huff 4 - 13 Michael Lester 5 - 20C Cullen Camasta 6 - 31 George Cushman 7 - 166 Zach Weaver 8 - 19 Todd Eury 9 - 02 Drew Higginson 10 - 67 Zachary Alspach 11 - 8 Hunter Bledsoe 12 - 39 Kimzie Ruston 13 - 10 Rs Senter 14 - 32 Cameron Michael Young Lions - Features Finish Start Car Driver 1 - 63 Justin Grimes 2 - 8 Dale Dodge, Jr. 3 - 1 Evan Swilling 4 - 5 Scott "the Hensley 5 - 19 Chad Finchum 6 - A1 Travis Braden 7 - 99 Jake Morris 8 - 36 Harrison Rhodes 9 - 76 Trevor Alspach 10 - 05 Austin Leitner 11 - 43 Cody Humphreys 12 - 01 Tyler Lester 13 - 9 Chase Elliott 14 - 71 Cody Blackburn Have an opinion on this story? 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