by Dave Westerman

Photo Courtesy of Chuck Green Photography

 When you race stock cars in Florida you know you’ll have to deal every so often with Mother Nature. The only questions are when will it rain, for how long and how hard. The wet stuff held off Saturday night at Auburndale Speedway just long enough for almost the entire show to be completed. Unfortunately the Mini Stock and Scrambler feature races fell victime to a brief, but fairly heavy shower just shy of 10PM. Before that, fans were treated to four very good feature races plus a vehicle extrication demonstration by Polk County Fire and EMS on “First Responders Night.”

The Auburndale Trucks were back in action but lost two teams early on in practice as the transmission went south on J.R. Garcia’s truck during the first practice session. Young Jason Rosarius found that his crew had installed an incorrect rear end in his truck and he too found his machine in the trailer way too early.

Brent Tyler looked good in driving his immaculate Cleanse-All sponsored Chevy to the heat race win and set the pace at the start of the feature. But as the field exited turn two on the opening lap, Tim Sozio spun sending the field scattering. Keith Lilley, in a brand new truck, slammed the wall very hard. Lilley wasn’t hurt but his new mount was a mess. Several other trucks received various amounts of cosmetic damage.

On the second start, veteran David Hartin out-ran Tyler into turn one and grabbed the early lead. Mike Smith got by Tyler and quickly ran down the leader who was battling a very loose race truck. Smith made the pass for the point on lap nine only to see his pace slowed a lap later when Tommy King went around in turn two.

Smith set sail on the restart as Hartin was left to contend with several competitors. Hartin lost the groove and slid back to fifth spot before he could get in line. Smith’s run up front was slowed one final time as Chayne Hammond spun on lap 20.

Smith had no problem earning his first win of the year while Tyler had his best finish of the season in second. Nick Hernandez took the checker in third while Sozio ran a steady fourth and took over the point lead. Hartin held on for fifth with Wally Warrick, Jim Cowhey, Jr. and Hammond trailing. Lilley and Roger Blevins rounded out the top ten.

Chris Zimmerman made his second appearance of the year a good one as he captured the Modified Mini Stock headliner. Scotty Sharpe grabbed the early lead from the pole after posting the heat race win while point leader Jason Rendell had engine trouble not long after the green flag dropped, coming to a halt at the top of turn one after oiling down the race track.

Zimmerman was on the charge though and took second from Corbin Gibbs on lap eight. Zimmerman then chased down Sharpe and made the pass for the lead and eventual win on lap 19. Sharpe claimed the runner-up slot and re-took the point lead in the class. Lee Davis returned to action and posted a third place finish with Gibbs and Mike Sweet fourth and fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Drew Carter, Bo Collier, Danny Dobbins, Dennis Jones and Rendell.

Mechanical problems were the norm rather than the exception in the Street Stock class. Dave Colpritt headed home early in the afternoon after dropping a valve in the engine of his machine virtually eliminating him from a run at the point championship. Jason Deaton had his new car out but left the track early in the heat race and did not run the feature.

James Wright III was the big force on the evening winning both the Street Stock heat and feature race. By the time the checkered flag flew, only three cars would be crediting with finishing. Wright took the win followed by Jeff Waterman. Kyle Peters crossed the line in third but was disqualified in tech when his battle-scarred racer came up 40 pounds light on the scales.

Cody McDuffie was thus credited with third. Point leader Matt McCrary and Bobby Mobley claimed the fourth and fifth spots although neither driver’s machine could make it to the finish.

It had been several months since V-8 Bomber point leader Josh Borem had tasted victory, but he led wire to wire on this night holding off a furious challenge from James Wright III just as rain began to fall. Preston Davis made his typical charge from the back of the starting grid to net a third place finish ahead of Larry Chumney, Sr. and Matt Johns. Gene Harrison won the heat race.

Fred Harrison, Jr. won the Mini Stock heat race over Chris Spring and James Pate while Richard Brown won the Scrambler heat in a close finish over Kimberly Gullett and George Gorham, Jr.

Next week, September 18th, will feature the return of the Late Models going for 100 laps and $3,000 to win. Also on the card are the Mini Cups, Kids Club, Sportsman, Legend Cars, Bandoleros, Street Stocks and Scramblers. Racing starts at 7PM. For more information call 863-551-1131 or log on to www.auburndaleracing.com powered by Palm Tree Computers.

OFFICIAL RESULTS – AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY – 9/11/10:

AUBURNDALE TRUCKS:
1-#23 Mike Smith
2-#99 Brent Tyler
3-#37 Nick Hernandez
4-#16 Tim Sozio
5-#25 David Hartin
6-#72 Wally Warrick
7-#2 Jim Cowhey, Jr.
8-#18 Cheyne Hammond
9-#87 Keith Lilley
DQ #15 Roger Blevins
DQ #1 Tommy King
DNS #18X Jason Rosarius
DNS #13 J.R. Garcia

MODIFIED MINI STOCKS:
1-#29 Chris Zimmerman
2-#89 Scotty Sharpe
3-#77 Lee Davis
4-#2 Corbin Gibbs
5-#55 Mike Sweet
6-#85 Drew Carter
7-#02 Bo Collier
8-#36 Danny Dobbins
9-#45 Dennis Jones
10-#15 Jason Rendell

STREET STOCKS:
1-#56 James Wright III
2-#42 Jeff Waterman
3-#25 Cody McDuffie
4-#5 Matt McCrary
5-#29 Bobby Mobley
6-#15 Joe Parnell
DQ# 53 Kyle Peters
DNS #99 Jason Deaton
DNS #4 Dave Colpritt

V-8 BOMBERS:
1-#111 Josh Borem
2-#56 James Wright III
3-#89 Preston Davis
4-#96 Larry Chumney, Sr.
5-#51 Matt Johns
6-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr.
7-#33 Derrick Trocke
8-#18 Kevin Barton
9-#88 Gene Harrison