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VANMETER CLAIMS FLORIDA FIGURE 8 SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP HONORS
Speedrome Media
The dust has settled on the Florida Figure 8 Championship presented by the World Figure 8® Racing Tour. Champions were crowned in four divisions over the extended weekend series at the Auburndale Speedway with Indianapolis, Indiana’s Eddie VanMeter topping the standings in the headlining Figure 8 group. All the points were deemed official at noon today after the Polk County Florida area weather became a deciding factor in the outcome.
VanMeter wins his first-ever crossover series title after a runner-up result Friday behind teammate Casey White and scoring a victory in last evening’s 100-lap main event. He stands atop a North vs. South clash that had 27 different drivers competing in the renewal of a classic battle. Second place point finisher and NASCAR rising star Michael Cherry made the biggest impact on the Figure 8 landscape. The 19-year-old driver piloted a Gordon Brown owned car to a third place Friday as well as a runner-up performance Saturday. Rounding out the podium series competitors was the ultimate road warrior RJ Norton Jr. The hammer was a factor every time the cars hit the race track.
The Mini Stock portion of the tour saw home track specialist Chris Spring polish off the action. The 2nd spot went to feature winner Eugene Davis while all-around sportsman Donald Guy took third. In the Scrambler title tussle, it was Bobby Kelley Sr hoisting the 5-foot championship trophy. He bested Dustin Parsons and Matt Brown in the three days of racing. And finally, it was Matt Bozeman who went nearly perfect to capture the V-8 Bomber crown. He topped Saturday’s feature winner Derek Gray for the title with Jarrel Cook rounding out the final podium.
The World Figure 8® Racing Tour would like to thank the Auburndale Speedway for welcoming us into their home. And we are very appreciative to all the drivers, teams, and enthusiastic fans that supported the exciting action this weekend. We would like to extend an invitation to everyone for the $20,000 to win, 33rd Annual World Figure 8® Championship held September 10th to 12th, 2009 at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Here are the Florida Figure 8 Championship Final Standings:
1 Eddie VanMeter 303 2 Michael Cherry 284 3 RJ Norton Jr 271 4 Ben Tunny 269 5 Gary Bedell 263 6 Wayne Calkins 259 7 Casey White 243 Tony Anderson 243 9 John Baranauskas 236 Neil Herne III 236 11 Jimmy Thompson 233 12 Bobby Towe 228 13 Ron Sorensen Jr 204 14 RJ Norton III 191 15 Rodney Davis 164 16 Charles Herne 146 17 Bob Hage 116 18 Darryl Hage 111 19 Cliff Rousseau 110 20 Tim Taylor 107 21 Seth Nistok 105 22 Paul Grynewicz 85 23 Robbie Hage 79 24 Bobby Mobley 70 25 John LaValle 30 26 James Crawford 25 Robbie Powell 25
