IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 21, 2009 Jermey Colangelo wins Orange Blossom 100 at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman There is an old saying in motorsports that goes "to finish first, you must at first finish," and the old adage proved true for young Jeremy Colangelo as he drove his RE/MAX Mark Martin Performance Special to the biggest win of his career Friday night at Orlando Speedworld in the Orange Blossom 100 for Super Late Models. A nice field of eighteen Super Lates made the trek to the three-eighths mile oval with Wayne Anderson setting quick time in his dad Dick Anderson's #92 at 13.64 seconds, just a tick of the watch quicker than the 13.65 of Tim Russell. Colangelo timed third quick at 13.70. The top five from qualifying were inverted for the start placing Rich Clouser and Sam Watt on the front row. Watts grabbed the lead at the drop of the green leaving Clouser to fend off a host of other competitors for second. Russell was on the move and quickly zipped by Clouser and closed fast on Watts. Lap six saw the first caution flag and it was for the two leaders as both Watts and Russell spun in turn two after getting a little too close in turn one. Both were sent to the rear of the field for the restart with Clouser now assuming the point. During the caution period, former Orange Blossom winner David Rogers took his car to the pits with mechanical ills while John Kennedy also called it quits. Following the restart, Anderson sped by Colangelo to take second, then made quick work of leader Clouser bringing Colangelo with him into second with Clouser now having to contend with Daniel Webster for third spot. Anderson was able to maintain about a two car length lead over Colangelo as the lead pair began dealing with lapped traffic. At half-way the top ten saw Anderson leading Colangelo, Webster, Russell (who had driven like a man possessed from the back of the field), Clouser, Jason Vail, Corey Freed, Eddie Gainey, Jared Allison and Blake Koch. Koch brought out the caution on lap 61 with a spin on the backstretch and by now Russell was back in third and easily had the fastest car on the track. As the field took green, second-running Colangelo simply moved over and let Russell go by. It took Russell just a handful of laps to catch Anderson and the fans were then treated to some awesome side by side racing until the two tangled in turn one on lap 82. For the second time in the race, the two cars that had been battling for the lead were now relegated to the back of the restart line-up as Colangelo assumed to front position. The battle was not over between Anderson and Russell though as Russell appeared to have something to prove as he drove by Anderson's car on the outside groove following yet another great battle, albeit back in the field this time. Anderson would then retire his car to the infield with just two laps remaining. Meanwhile, Colangelo maintained his advantage all the way to the checker to score the biggest win of his young career and will now have his name etched on the Orange Blossom 100 trophy alongside such notable names as Marty Handshaw, Will Cagle, Jack Cook, Pete Orr, Gary Balough, Dick and Wayne Anderson and many others. After the race, Colangelo admitted he didn't have the best car out there. "We were just sorta hanging on," he said. "I figured I'd just let Tim (Russell) go and see what happened. Fortunately for us they got together and here we are in victory lane. It's really unbelievable." Daniel Webster had a great run coming home second after starting seventh while Jason Vail came from 11th on the grid to third driving a smart, steady race. Corey Freed, who arrived late and missed most of practice after his tow vehicle was involved in a fender-bender on the way to the track, came home fourth while Clouser brought his machine in for fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Brian Finney, Jared Allison, Tim Russell, Blake Koch and Dusty Cornelius. All were running at the finish. Anderson was credited with 11th with Eddie Gainey, Mark Emberson, Rusty Ebersole, Sam Watts, David Rogers, John Kennedy and Martin Maresca completing the finishing field. The Taylor Racing Products Pro Trucks made their season debut and the race pretty much belonged to Royal Palm Beach veteran Scott Reeves as he took the lead from Whitney Poole on lap four and drove to an easy victory. Poole, driving easily her best race ever in the Pro Trucks, held off a determined Ben Kennedy for second while Brandon Duchscherer came back from a late race tangle to nab fourth over Tim Sozio and Anthony Sergi. The Mini Stocks also made their season debut and it was the "Old Pro" Pedie Allison, driving a new car, who was the dominant factor as he grabbed the lead from Dylan Curtis on lap five and never looked back in claiming the victory. Curtis held off David Russell for second place with Rob Reynolds and Jamie Dixson completing the top five. Justin Reynolds was in top form as he took the win in the Super Stock feature. Previous weeks winner Billy Cuddy had to settle for second this week while James Frisbie came back from an early spin to take third over David Gould, Denny Johns, Delaun Fifeld and John Bennett. The Strictly Stocks saw Jim "Crusher" Erb take the win in his Acura despite constant pressure from Neal Kirby who had to settle for the runner-up spot. Ricky Solomon, Jr. took third ahead of Bruce Gayton and Danny Binda while William Hindman, Tim Walters, Jr., Rocky Stone, Shane Smith and Jessie Cuddy completed the top ten. Twelve-year-old Shawn Hooven, making his first start as a Young Gun, grabbed the Bandolero win over his older brother Mark Hooven and Donovan Ponder while 14-year-old Louis Potter won his first-ever race in the Novice Trucks over Kenneth Lilley. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD MARCH 20, 2009 SUPER LATE MODELS ORANGE BLOSSOM 100 1. #05 Jeremy Colangelo 2. #33 Daniel Webster 3. #407 Jason Vail 4. #12 Corey Freed 5. #9 Rich Clouser 6. #80 Brian Finney 7. #18 Jared Allison 8. #36 Tim Russell 9. #21 Blake Koch 10. #22 Dusty Cornelius 11. #92 Wayne Anderson 12. #8 Eddie Gainey 13. #30 Mark Emberson 14. #23 Rusty Ebersole 15. #73 Sam Watts 16. #11 David Rogers 17. #0 John Kennedy 18. #14 Martin Maresca DNS TAYLOR RACING PRODUCTS PRO-TRUCKS 1. #21 Scott Reeves 2. #00 Whitney Poole 3. #96 Ben Kennedy 4. #407 Brandon Duchscherer 5. #16 Tim Sozio 6. #20 Anthony Sergi MINI-STOCKS 1. #92 Pedie Allison 2. #6 Dylan Curtis 3. #31 David Russell 4. #A1 Rob Reynolds 5. #8 Jamie Dixson LEGENDS 1. #54 Zach Harris 2. #34 Shaughn McCormick DNS SUPER STOCKS 1. #77 Justin Reynolds 2. #64 Billy Cuddy 3. #3 James Frisbie 4. #16 David Gould 5. #55 Denny Johns 6. #45 Delaun Fifield 7. #721 John Bennett STRICTLY STOCKS 1. #1 Jim Erb 2. #8 Neil Kirby 3. #19 Ricky Solomon Jr 4. #93 Bruce Gayton 5. #27 Danny Binda 6. #89 William Hindman 7. #29 Tim Walters Jr 8. #5 John Doe 9. #86 Shane Smith 10. #05 Jessie Cuddy EARLY SHOW BANDOLEROS 1. #27 Shawn Hooven 2. #17 Mark Hooven 3. #8 Donovan Ponder NOVICE TRUCKS 1. #49x Louis Potter 2. #17 Kenneth Lilley Have an opinion on this story? 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