IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 25, 2009 Bobby Good Tops Late Models at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman The very dry conditions plaguing Central Florida have caused numerous brush fires to flare up near Orlando Speedworld including a huge fire just north of the speedway. As competitors and fans entered the track Friday evening, they found that the U.S. Forestry Service and Orange County Fire Department were using land at the main entrance as a staging point to fight the fire. Fortunately the fire itself and the smoke related to it stayed well north of the track and everyone was treated to a great racing program. The Late Models were back for their third race of 2009 and did not disappoint the crowd as they put on an awesome race. Chad Akins, making his first start of the year here, got a great jump on the start from his third starting spot and grabbed the early lead. Akins set a blistering pace until lap 18 when Todd Allen looped his mount out of second spot going into turn one. Allen's spin allowed Bobby Good to move in on leader Akins and the pair ran nose to tail for several laps before Good was able to secure the top spot. A crash between Brett Woodley and Allen in turn four with two laps to go gave Akins one more hot at Good but Good was able to hold on for his second consecutive win in the class. Akins claimed second ahead of Alan Bruns, Donny Williams and Rapid Ron Dicandio. Rounding out the finishers were John Hanen, Woodley, Allen and David Myer. Alan Bruns backed up his third place finish in the Late Models with his first win of the year in the Modifieds. Shain Held led the opening three circuits before Bruns breezed by, never looking back as the race ran all 30 laps under green. Mark Emerson finished second for the third straight race while Matt Wheeler took third after a great battle with Chad Pierce in the Debelius #38. Earl Beckner battled an overheating car to fifth ahead of Held, Rick Johns, Ted Head, Bruce Packer, Dick Laszlo and Matt Jarrett. A good field of Super Stocks were on hand to tune up for next weeks All-Star 50 and defending track champion Bobby Cuddy was back in form taking his first win of the year. Justin Reynolds led the first three laps but Cuddy was on a mission as he grabbed the top spot and led the rest of the way. Reynolds and Billy Cuddy had to restart from the rear of the field after a lap five altercation in turn four. Reynolds' streak of bad luck continued as he retired shortly after the restart with a badly smoking car. Bobby Cuddy's pace was slowed twice more by minor cautions but he raced to the win despite late pressure from Auburndale Speedway regular Bobby Mobley who was very impressive in his first run here. Point leader David Gould continued his string of strong finishes taking third. Gould has finished no worse than fourth in the seven outings for the Super Stocks this year. Fourth place went to a resurgent Billy Cuddy with fifth going to Jim "Crusher" Erb. Rounding out the top ten were Shannon Kelly, Danny Frye, Brent Tyler, Cody Keeler and Ernest Stickle. Three time Speedworld Legends Car champion Kory Abbott made his first appearance of the year but his team was debating whether to load up or race after discovering a cracked head in warm-ups. Abbott made the decision to race and try and break the win streak of Alex Kempf. After starting dead-last in the field, Abbott took the lead from Gary Verdier on lap two. One lap later, Verdier and Kempf tangled on the front stretch sending both to the back of the restart line-up. Kempf would then take a second trip to the back after crossing paths with Rick Wetmore on lap ten. Abbott looked to have the race in the bag, pulling out to a big lead on the restart only to have his engine explode in a ball of flame on lap twelve. Abbott scampered out unscathed but his decision to race ultimately proved to be costly. Zach Harris found himself out front for the restart but it took Kempf just one lap to speed past and secure his fourth consecutive Legends win. Harris took second with Wetmore third ahead of Verdier, Ted Ruffo, Critter Saile and Abbott. The Strictly Stock class was a bit low on cars but that didn't hamper the action as the "grocery-getters" put on the best show of the night. Neal Kirby led the first two laps before William Hindman snared the lead only to lose it a few laps later to Tim Walters, Jr. Hindman had trouble and looped his car in turn two near mid-race and was forced out with a broken water pump belt. From that point, Walters managed to hold off repeated challenges by several drivers, just finishing ahead of last weeks winner Jessie Cuddy. Bomber Bill Loomis grabbed third with Kirby fourth and Allen McClelland fifth. Tanner Cornwell topped Michael Held and Zach Harris in the Bandolero feature. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD APRIL 24, 2009 Late Model - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 5 19 Bobby Good - 40 2 3 51 Chad Akins - 36 3 2 4B Alan Bruns Clermont , Fl 32 4 6 111 Donny Williams - 28 5 8 20S Ron Dicandio - 24 6 1 04 John Hanen Ormond Beach, Fl 20 7 7 99 Brett Woodley - 16 8 4 55 Todd Allen - 12 9 9 60 David Myer - 8 Modified - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 2 4B Alan Bruns Clermont , Fl 40 2 6 30 Mark Emberson Groveland , Fl 36 3 4 96 Matthew Wheeler New Smyrna, Fl 32 4 5 38 Chad Pierce Orlando , Fl 28 5 9 51 Earl Beckner - 24 6 3 55 Shain Held Orlando , Fl 20 7 7 4 Rick Johns Orlando , Fl 16 8 11 92 Ted Head - 12 9 8 15 Bruce Packer - 8 10 10 07 Dick Laszlo - 4 11 1 72 Matthew Jarrett Orlando , Fl 4 Super Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 6 52 Bobby Riley - 40 2 9 29 Bobby Mobley - 36 3 7 16 David Gould - 32 4 8 64 Billy Cuddy - 28 5 2 99X Jim Erb - 24 6 13 23 Shannon Kelly - 20 7 10 13 Danny Frye - 16 8 4 99 Brent Tyler - 12 9 3 2 Cody Keeler Sebastian , Fl 8 10 11 11X Ernest Stickle - 4 11 5 316 Joe Bandur - 4 12 12 54 Brian Lynch Jr - 4 13 1 77 Justin Reynolds Merritt Island, Fl 4 14 14 721 John Bennett St Cloud, Fl 4 Legends - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 6 99 Alex Kempf - 40 2 3 54 Zach Harris - 36 3 4 06 Rick Wetmore - 32 4 1 44 Gary Verdier - 28 5 5 51X Ted Ruffo - 24 6 2 12 Critter Saille - 20 7 7 5 Kory Abbott - 16 Strictly Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 2 29 Tim Walters Jr - 0 2 7 05 Jessie Cuddy - 0 3 8 0 Bill Loomis - 0 4 1 8 Neil Kirby - 0 5 5 1 Allen Mcclelland - 0 6 3 27 Dan Binda Orlando , Fl 0 7 4 89X William Hindman - 0 8 6 82 Jim Erb - 0 Bandolero Bandits - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 2 54 Tanner Cornwell - 40 2 1 55 Michael Held - 36 Bandolero Young Guns - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 1 54B Zach Harris - 40 Have an opinion on this story? 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