IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 13, 2009 David Rogers tops Bright House Challenge at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman After three weeks of inactivity due to heavy rain and wet grounds, it was a complete turnaround at Orlando Speedworld with bright sunshine but temperatures hovering in the mid 90's that greeted race teams unloading their race cars Friday afternoon at Orlando Speedworld. Later, the temperatures cooled somewhat but the action was red-hot as local veteran David Rogers didn't let his 13th starting spot deter him as he drove to a convincing win in the Brighthouse Challenge 50 lap Super Late Model race presented by Boggy Creek Air Boat Rides. Eighteen Super Late Models signed in for action but that number was reduced by one as Bob Green blew a head gasket on his brand-new engine during hot laps putting the nice-guy low-buck racer on the sidelines for the remainder of the evening. Defending Brighthouse Challenge champion Tim Russell was on the money in qualifying, tripping the clocks at 13.694 seconds to edge veteran Joe Winchell who came in with a time of 13.762. Rounding out the top five in time trials were B.J. Mcleod, Matt Bowers and Jeremy Colangelo. Luck didn't stay with Russell though as he drew a "9" pill for the inversion placing Blake Koch and Wayne Anderson on the front row for the half-century run. You don't want to give Wayne Anderson the early edge over a field of Late Models by letting him have a front row starting spot because he usually will take full advantage of it, and that's what the veteran driver from Wildwood did as he sped out front with fourth-starter Brian Finney right on his back bumper. Pole sitter Koch was having early problems and spun to bring out the first caution on lap three. Following the restart Finney began to work hard in the high groove and actually led lap six before falling back. Tim Russell was trying to make a charge but spun in turn two during lap eight. As the cars behind him started to check up, B. J. McLeod rode over the car of Dusty Cornelius and tagged the wall. Russell was upset over the call to send him to the back of the field for the restart, feeling he got "turned" and he eventually took his car to the pits. McLeod's beautiful new machine sponsored by race sponsor Boggy Creek Air Boat Rides was done for the night while Cornelius pitted for repairs and returned to the fray. Anderson, who was driving son Randy's car in the race, continued to head the field on the restart but now had a rear view full of Joe Winchell. Only two laps were run under green before Jason Vail spun in turn three to bring out the yellow a third time. Green flag racing was the order at that point as Anderson worked to hold off Winchell and Jeremy Colangelo. David Rogers, who started 13th after a less than stellar qualifying effort, looked to be the fastest car on the track as he bolted into the top five and was challenging Colangelo when the latter spun in turn one to bring out the caution for a fourth time on lap 37. One lap after the restart, Rogers dusted off Winchell and took second. At almost the same time, leader Anderson spun all by himself in turn two in a cloud of smoke to bring out yet another yellow flag. As Anderson took his spot at the rear of the field for the restart, Rogers now found himself in the lead. By this point, Rogers' car was absolutely hooked up and he drove away from Winchell. Meanwhile, Anderson's car definately had something amiss as he slowed and pulled into the infield. Rogers easily led the last few laps taking the win several car lengths in front of Winchell who had his best SLM run here in quite some time. Matt Bowers was steady all race and took the checker third followed by 11th starter Rich Clouser and Finney. Rounding out the top ten were Daniel Webster, Colangelo, Koch, Cornelius and Shaughn McCormick. Jason Vail was 11th while Anderson was credited with a 12th place finish ahead of Mark Adams, Corey Freed, Russell, McLeod and John Kennedy. The evening also saw a pair of first-time winners starting with Mark Avery who survived a wild Mini Stock feature to score his first Speedworld win. There were so many caution flags in the Mini Stock race that it was cut from a scheduled distance of 25 laps to 15 just so the fans could get home before sunrise. Track officials were at wits end as quite a bit of rough driving was taking place causing several drivers to receive the "consultation" flag to discuss their on-track actions. After Jim Erb was spun out of the lead, Avery took over and was in the place to be in this race - in front of everybody else - all the way to the checker. David Russell and Pedie Allison survived several altercations and spin-outs to grab second and third while Erb raced from the back of the field to take fourth with Cody Blair netting fifth spot. Rounding out the top ten were Kelly Jarrett, Rex "Boneman" Hollinger, Matt Perkins, Rob Reynolds and Chace Miller. The Super Stock feature proved to be the tamest of the evening as Brent Tyler led the entire distance for not only his first win at Speedworld, but the first win of his career. Tyler grabbed the lead at the outset as the challenges came from Denny Johns and David Gould. However that pair would tangle putting Johns in the pits and leaving Gould with an ill-handling mount the rest of the way. That gave Tyler the edge he needed as he held off John Bennett for a well-deserved win. Gould held on to claim third spot in front of Joe Bandur, Billy Belflower, Cody Keeler, Danny Frye and Johns. Cody Blair made it Back to back wins in the Taylor Racing Products Pro Trucks as he made quick work of the field in their 25 lap run. Several caution flags slowed the pace and allowed several drivers a shot at the young driver from Winter Park, but Cody had his truck "dialed in" and won handily over Ben Kennedy. Anthony Sergi crossed the stripe in third followed by Scott Reeves, Charlie MacNichol, Whitney Poole, Kyle Schram, Zachary Curtis and Ken Lilley. From the "ho-hum, what else is new" department, Alex Kempf made it seven wins in a row in the Legend Cars. The first five laps were pretty interesting as each one was led by a different driver. But once Kempf got to the point it was all she wrote as he pulled away to yet another victory. Zach Harris, who will make his debut in a Limited Late Model soon, celebrated his 14th birthday by taking the runner-up spot while Rick Wetmore had yet another strong run in third. Ted Ruffo bounced back from an early spin to take fourth ahead of Critter Saile, Roger Englund, Danny Conlin, Donovan Ponder and Mark Hooven. William Hindman drove his Monte Carlo to the Strictly Stock win, his first of the year. Tim Walters, Jr. led the early going but had to settle for second trailed by Todd McCreary, Art Hendren, Neal Kirby, Bruce Gayton, Luis Guillen, Jr., Dustin Higdon and Michael Dyer. Bandolero action saw Jonnie Varga take his second win of 2009 in front of Tanner Cornwell, Noah "Little Gator" Corman, Daniel Conlin, Jr., Matthew Green and Michael Held. Bandolero Bandits - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 Jonnie Varga 2 2 Tanner Cornwell 54 3 Noah Cornman 30 4 Daniel Conlin 48 5 Matthew Green 22 6 Michael Held 55 Bright House Challenge - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 David Rogers 11 2 Joe Winchell 64 3 Matt Bowers 84X 4 Rich Clouser 9 5 Brian Finney 80 6 Daniel Webster 33 7 Jeremy Colangelo 05 8 Blake Koch 21 9 Dusty Cornelius 22 10 Shaughn McCormick 34 11 Jason Vail 407 12 Wayne Anderson 86 13 Mark Adams 28 14 Corey Freed 12 15 Tim Russell 36 16 BJ McLeod 78 17 John Kennedy 0 18 Bob Greene 13 DNS Legends - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 Alex Kempf 99 2 Zach Harris 54 3 Rick Wetmore 06 4 Ted Ruffo 51X 5 Critter Saille 12 6 Roger Englund 51 7 Daniel Conlin 05 8 Donovan Ponder 58 9 Mark Hooven 54X 10 Jake Perkins 59 DNS Mini Stock - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 Mark Avery 78 2 David Russell 31 3 Pedie Allison 92 4 Jim Erb 51 5 Cody Blair 81 6 Kelly Jarrett 97 7 Rex Hollinger 85 8 Matt Perkins 99 9 Rob Reynolds A1 10 Chace Miller 14 Novice Trucks - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 Kenneth Lilley 17 Strictly Stock - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 William Hindman 89X 2 Tim Walters Jr 29 3 Todd McCreary 6.7 4 Art Hendren 37 5 Neil Kirby 8 6 Bruce Gayton 93 7 Luis Guillen, Jr. 8X 8 Dustin Higdon 1 9 Michael Dyer 32 Super Stock - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 Brent Tyler 99 2 John Bennett 721 3 David Gould 16 4 Joe Bandur 316 5 Billy Bellflower 14 6 Cody Keeler 2 7 Danny Frye 13 8 Denny Johns 55 Taylor Racing Products Pro-Trucks - Features Pos Driver Car # 1 Cody Blair 15 2 Ben Kennedy 96 3 Anthony Sergi 20 4 Scott Reeves 55 5 Charles Macnichol 99 6 Whitney Poole 00 7 Kyle Schram 2S 8 Zachary Curtis 63 Have an opinion on this story? 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