by Andy Sandall, FASCAR Media

 The Bright House Challenge Series for Super Late Models was the headliner at New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday night as the fans made their way out to the track to celebrate Memorial Day weekend. There was plenty of action in the other divisions, including local favorite Cody Blair making an attempt to take down wins in four separate divisions, and the night would end in the most fitting way possible with an active servicewoman taking down the win to close the night’s racing.

 The first feature of the night saw the E-Modifieds joined by a pair of recent Sportsman winners in the shape of #23 Mike Pletka and #27 Phil Luizzo as these two divisions ran a combined race. The race at the front would be dominated by #15 Cody Blair, making his first appearance of his scheduled four that night, and #6 Rich Clouser, getting an early taste of the track before heading back out in his Super Late Model. Blair would take the early lead and leave Clouser in his wake before the #6 was back on his rear bumper and looking for a way underneath.

 The halfway point was soon reached with Blair blocking every attempt by Clouser to find a way past, but the race took a decisive turn as Blair came around turn 4 looking visibly loose, having to catch his car and slow as he slid around and back onto the front straight. Clouser instantly capitalized to power down the inside and set off to put some distance between himself and 2^nd place. Soon it was obvious that Blair was fighting a seriously unsettled car in every corner. Thanks to the distance the leaders had put between themselves and the field in the opening laps Blair was able to come home in 2^nd place behind Clouser, as Pletka led Luizzo home in the Sportsman race out on track at the same time. Little did Blair realize that this disappointing run would actually turn out to be the high point of a disastrous night for him.

 Next up on the schedule was the much anticipated Pro Truck feature, coming just a week after a controversial race that saw young rivals #20 Anthony Sergi and #24 Bruce Bennett come together towards the end of the race, finishing Sergi’s race prematurely and that ended with a two-day technical inspection for Bennett before the result could be officially confirmed. Naturally the starting position draw put Sergi on outside pole with Bennett directly behind him, but before the race could start the drama began as #15 Cody Blair saw his night quickly go from bad to worse with mechanical issues on the warm-up laps that saw him heading back to the pits, unable to get back out and take up his place in the line-up.

 Right from the off it was Sergi and Bennett who raced up to the front, both using the high line to their advantage to move around pole-sitter #7 Thomas Warnick and Bennet’s fellow 2^nd row starter #8 Bobby Kennedy. Sergi and Bennett would waste no time in pulling away and restarting last week’s epic battle, but coming with them would be #28 T.J. Duke who was determined to prove that this was no two-horse race. Soon the race was hitting a rhythm that saw Sergi comfortably running in the fast high groove, but sitting with enough track underneath him to encourage Bennett to look low and see if he could squeeze his way through. Bennett would look with every turn, but Sergi kept cranking up the laps and was showing no sign of letting go of his lead.

 Soon Bennett would start to pull alongside, and the cars began to race door-to-door with Dukes clamped right on the two leader’s tails. Sergi would just keep his nose ahead and his faith in the higher line and his truck’s speed was rewarded as the two reached the halfway mark with Bennett still unable to get underneath and snatch the lead from Sergi’s hands. The tension would quickly be broken when #10 Blake Suttie span in turn 4 to bring out the first caution of the night. It would take two attempts to get back underway as Sergi won the first psychological battle of the race by forcing Bennett into making a horrendous false start that saw him warned from the flagstand, having jumped way back in turn 3 under the pressure to make this restart count.

 Sergi would time his restart perfectly to pull ahead of Bennett and get himself back onto his favored line to build himself the biggest lead he had enjoyed so far. Bennett would work his way back and again place himself right on the inside rear quarter of Sergi’s truck, but with laps counting down he now needed to make a move and prove he had the speed to get to the front. His tactic was to run hot into turn 3 and try to power his way underneath to the lead, but he would find Sergi’s determination unbreakable as each time Sergi resolutely held onto his favored line, knowing he had to pace to pull away out of turn 4 and be back in front by the straight.

 Finally Bennett had just one lap left and again ran as hard as he could into turn 3 and under the leader’s car, but once more Sergi held his line, put his foot on the gas and powered out of the turn to take the win by a car length. Duke would be rewarded for his patient race with a well-deserved 3^rd place ahead of #10 Blake Suttie, but it was the young drivers ahead of him that would take all the plaudits. After such an acrimonious end to the previous week’s race it was to both Sergi and Bennett’s credit that they came back out and put on a tremendous race that was both hard fought but totally clean and that saw both drivers thoroughly deserve the applause the received from the fans.

 The Pro Truck race proved a perfect appetizer for the Bright House Challenge Series race that was to follow, as a field of Super Late Models made their way out onto the track to do battle. The fast qualifier in afternoon practice was #9 Rich Clouser, doubling up after his early win in the E-Modifieds, but the draw for inversion saw him demoted back down to 9^th place. This would put #34 Shaughn McCormick up at the front alongside #127 Brandon Booth and leave pre-race favorite #11 David Rogers handily placed on the 2^nd row.

 From the start the initiative would be taken by Booth as he moved out to the front, but Rogers would find himself blocked and stranded on the high line behind McCormick, allowing #96 Ben Kennedy through to set off in pursuit of the leader. The lead group would close together again as Rogers settled in behind Kennedy, leaving McCormick to fend off the attacks from behind by #64 Joe Winchell, Clouser and #33 Gary Fountain. Quickly Rogers found his way underneath with a powerful pass heading into turn 1 to take 2^nd place, but the cars would be slowed down behind the pace truck as Fountain got into trouble coming out of turn 4, turning around down the front straight and heading backwards into the pit-lane wall. A broken rear-end was the diagnosis, and Fountain was soon back in the pits with his racing over for the night.

 Booth knew the restart would be crucial, but with such experience and talent around him it was no surprise when the green flag waved that Rogers was quickly around him into the lead, bringing Clouser through for company. By the next lap Booth had dropped even further back as Kennedy and Winchell demoted him to 5^th in their chase for the lead. Rogers and Clouser would put some distance between themselves and the field, and the race soon resembled the earlier truck race as Rogers sat comfortably on the higher line, keeping ahead of Clouser’s low runs into the turns.

 But with Rogers seemingly in control the race turned on its head when he inexplicably ran high in turn 2 to let Clouser through, and began to visibly slow. His was left thanking #05 David LeBeau for saving his race as the back-marker span in turn 3 to bring out the caution flag, leading to a lengthy clean-up for dropped fluids that gave Rogers time to head back to the pits for a tire check and adjustments to correct whatever had forced him briefly off the pace.

 Clouser would waste no time at the restart in getting onto the faster high line and pulling away, putting distance between himself, Kennedy and Winchell as Rogers was left to move through the pack after initially finding himself blocked. Patience was the key as Rogers waited until he had the perfect line to move through and set off after the leaders. This move would be important as it pulled him clear of McCormick who was soon in trouble as he brushed the front straight wall, his car bucking and sliding all over the track before he wrestled it back under control heading into turn 1. This had obviously done more damage than just scraping his side body panels, as two laps later in exactly the same place he suffered a blow-out to his right rear tire, exploding with enough force to blow the rear body panels of his car. At this speed all McCormick could do was hang on and hope his car was up to the job of protecting him, and by the time he came to rest all the way down against the turn 1 wall his car was minus its roof and most of its bodywork, but most importantly of all the driver was safe and able to climb out, ready to race again another day.

 Rogers would get another lucky break during the caution as Winchell was forced to return to the pits to deal with overheating that would see him restart as last of the lead cars, crucially putting Rogers immediately behind Clouser at the restart. Rogers made short work of Kennedy, leaving the youngster who earlier that day had attended his High School graduation to deal with the charging Winchell who had already reclaimed 4^th place. Clouser now had Rogers filling his mirrors as Rogers looked high and low, with Clouser matching his every move with a block of his own.

 With 5 laps to go Rogers forced the issue, looking down the inside of Clouser in turn 3 and bringing the leader low to cover the line. Clouser’s was now forced to mirror Rogers every move until he could hold off the charge of no longer, and Rogers moved alongside Clouser in turn 1, pushing him high up the track before blasting away down the back straight and bringing the crowd to their feet. Clouser would do all he could to fight back, but Rogers had timed his run perfectly and had just one more lap to hold on. In no time Rogers was crossing the line to take the win by a car length ahead of Clouser, with Kennedy soon following in 3^rd, holding on in a close race with the always-exciting Winchell.

 The win was particularly poignant for Rogers coming so soon after the sad passing of Connie Holland, wife of his main sponsor Steve Holland of TM Ranch, and just a few weeks after his car was almost destroyed in a horrific crash at Five Flags Speedway. Clouser took a deserved 2^nd place in a race that he played a major part in making so exciting, while both Kennedy and Winchell had a great race between themselves for 3^rd. Elsewhere in the field #9z Zach Donatti and #23 Rusty Ebersole ran nose-to-tail for almost the entire 50 laps, while track regular #13 Bob Greene enjoyed his best race of the year before bowing out with just 15 laps to go.

 The following Mini Stock feature saw more heartbreak for #81 Cody Blair, although this time he managed to take the green flag on the 2^nd row, but applying the gas was the signal for his car to give up, bringing out the pace truck while he was removed to the pits. The second attempt at a start ended as quickly as it started once a flat tire for #13 Bruce Morehouse saw him lose control in turn 2, hitting #v3 Rex Christensen, and seeing both cars head back to the pits with only Christensen re-emerging onto the track. ‘Third time lucky’ seemed to be the key phrase, and this time the cars managed to get up to speed with #8 Jamie Dixson pulling away with #09 Todd Haught in hot pursuit.

 After the problems at the start the race would run for 25 green flag laps as Dixson slowly increased his lead. Haught would do his best to reel him in as the race progressed, but the halfway mark saw Dixson push on once more and begin to draw away from the field. The checkered flags would see Dixson taking the win well ahead of Haught, who himself had put significant distance between himself and #14 Chace Miller in 3^rd.

 The Super Stock race would be #5 Cody Blair’s last chance for glory on a night that had started with so many expectations. From the start the front row cars of #56 Bobby Holley and #01 Scott Smith pulled well away in the lead, leaving a battle behind them for 3^rd between a very loose #2x Mike Amato, Blair, #31 J. T. Tippins and #60 Ernie Tumminello. The erratic behavior of Amato’s car made him a dangerous obstacle on the track, but Blair’s wariness to pass him just gave Holley and Smith more time to pull away before eventually Amato’s car calmed down and Blair was able to advance to 3^rd place.

 Up at the front Holley and Smith were putting on a show and, just like in the earlier races, were setting themselves up with Holley riding the high line and leaving Smith to look low for a way round. The results here were no different either, as on every entry into the corner Smith pulled level only for Holley to power away out of the turn and down the straights. It took a tiny mistake by Holley to give Smith his chance on the 12^th lap when his car got loose for a split-second, but that was enough for Smith to move underneath and get his nose in front. However he still didn’t have the pace to get clear, and within 3 laps Holley had used the high line to good effect to push himself back in front.

 5 laps to go would be the signal for Smith to make his big move for glory, running hard under Holley into turn 3 and moving across his rival to block his counter-move. Holley would have to back off, giving Smith a big nudge to the rear to try and reclaim his place, but this unsettled his own car more than Smith’s and he was forced to back off and let Smith pull away. The 20^th lap would also cap a terrible night for Blair as way over on the other side of the track his #5 car was limping home to the pits, confirming his 3^rd ‘DNF’ from 4 races.

 By the checkered flag Smith was out on his own at the front, leading Holley home to take a good win in a hard-fought, exciting race. 3^rd place would be taken by #86 Rich Goodrich who had run another of his usual well-timed races as he accumulates points towards a genuine chance of the track championship.

 The action still hadn’t finished, and those fans who stayed right through to the end of the night’s racing were rewarded with a remarkable Strictly Stock race. After her first ever feature win a week ago #21 Maureen Dahm made the worst possible start as her car failed to respond to her right foot and she was left to pick up momentum at the rear of the field as she got up to race speed.

 With most of the racing happening well ahead of her it was noticeable that with each lap she was getting faster and faster, and slowly catching the 4 cars ahead of her. By the halfway point she had made her way onto the tail of #13 Tony Candolino, who she soon passed before dispatching of #9 Kevin Ross just a lap later. The #35 of Gino Tumminello was soon left in her dust as she made a neat pass by powering down the outside with two laps to go. Now just the #57 Joe Candalino stood in her way and she had one lap left to catch him in.

 The whole crowd was now willing her on as she flew out of turn 2 with Candalino well and truly in her sights. Making ground down the back straight she held her nerve and moved low to push under and through to the lead as the cars entered turn 4, not only holding off his fight back but pulling away down the front straight to complete a remarkable from-the-back win that delighted the fans. As she emerged from the car, proudly wearing her Army uniform that does double-duty as her racing suit at weekends, it was entirely fitting that the fans went into Memorial Day cheering and applauding one of the US Armed Forces finest, stood proudly in

The crowds filled the stands for an early Mother’s Day celebration on Saturday night at New Smyrna, with every Mom getting free admission and a flower as a thank-you for all they do, and for one Mom in particular it was an incredible evening as she watched her son complete a perfect weekend of racing. The action out on the track was fast and furious with plenty of cars finishing races minus several pieces of bodywork, and the busiest guys at the track were the wrecker crews!

 The week 9 action started off with a Super Stock 25-lap feature that saw the initial 10 cars that took the green flag quickly reduced in number as the cars slid, span and wrecked their way through a race that took the best part of 45 minutes to complete. The first lap would pass without incident as #56 Bobby Holley made his way up from the 2^nd row to pass pole-sitter #86 Richard Goodrich, and he would be joined by #1 Chad Pierce before the caution lights were back on after #21 Mike Dahm’s car went up in smoke on the back straight. Although the quick-thinking Dahm did his best to pull off the racing line and back into the pits as soon as possible, the potential for fluids having been dropped meant the track buggy was quickly dispatched to check on the condition of the track surface.

 The restart would again see Holley and Pierce running at the front, leaving Goodrich to tussle with #60 Ernie Tumminello for 3^rd place. Goodrich would concede his place a lap later, losing a further position quickly as #211 Jarrett Korpi powered underneath him through turn 4. Korpi now had his sights set on 3^rd place and would make his move on Tumminello heading into turn 1, sending the #60 high up the banks to slide through on the low side and claim the place. Tuminello fought back, but as Korpi’s car got loose in turn 4 Tumminello had no choice but to slam on his brakes, losing control of his own car and hitting the side of the unlucky #15 Michael Wofford who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wofford would get pinned between the nose of Tuminello’s car, who pushed him low down the track, and the rain barrels that protect the entrance to pit road, but thankfully after being pulled apart both cars were able to continue.

 The restart would claim a second car, this time as #35 Chuck Hill got loose in turn 2, headed high up the bank and rode up the back straight wall, only to bounce back down onto the track with the telltale concrete scrapes down the side of his body and tires, and he would retire on the next lap. By now Korpi was fighting it out with Pierce for 2^nd place, but coming underneath his car would again slide, bang wheel’s with Pierce’s car and spin him out coming onto the front straight. Thankfully Pierce was able to quickly gain control of his spinning car and pull it away from the front wall, but again the pace truck was called back out to bring the cars back into formation.

 Pierce would restart strongly on the outside line but suffered more contact, this time with #22 Bruce McGonigal, and would again taste the concrete as the pair hit the high turn 2 wall. They were soon joined by Korpi, who had nowhere to go and plowed into the stranded cars, but was able to get clear and head into the pits. Pierce would also be swiftly pulled away from the wall by track staff and head back to the pits for new tires, while Korpi would retake to the track once the badly damaged front bodywork had been pulled from his car. Sadly McGonigal’s night was done as he left the track aided by the tow-truck.

 Incredibly the race had still only managed to complete 7 laps and by now only 6 cars remained out on the track. Holley would once more take off at the green flag and shoot away into the lead, but just 2 more laps would be completed before Korpi lost yet more bodywork, this time thanks to a sliding Tumminello in turn 4 who clipped Korpi’s car to remove the last remaining panel from the front of Korpi’s car, and forced the buggy back out again to retrieve the debris from the track. The lap-count would finally hit double figures on the next restart, although the obvious looseness of Korpi and Tumminello in the turns was a cause for concern, and so it was that with just 10 laps down Korpi slid up into the #60 car in turn 2 and pushed Tumminello up into Goodrich, forcing him high and into the wall. Amazingly Goodrich was also able to continue once pulled clear by the wrecker crew, but enough was enough for the race officials and Korpi received the dreaded black flag from the flag-stand as he passed under caution, ordering him to return to the pits and sit-out the rest of the action courtesy of the rule that removes any driver who causes three cautions in one race.

 Thankfully the rest of the race ran trouble free, helped in no small part by the lack of cars now out on the track, and Holley was able to put on a show as he raced with Pierce for the win. Pierce would set himself up for a last-lap effort and came out of turn 4 hard to race Holley to the line, but it was too little too late as Holley brought his car home by 2 lengths. Tumminello fought his ill-handling car to bring it home in 3^rd, ahead of the steady but determined Goodrich and his own brother #60T Gino Tumminello. Even thought the action on the track had finished the battle for the win had only just begun, and so it was that well after the crowds had headed home the race result was settled in a post-race engine teardown that saw both Pierce and Holley disqualified for motor rules infractions, handing Ernie Tumminello the win and bumping Goodrich and his brother Gino up into 2^nd and 3^rd places.

 The carnage of the Super Stock race also had a knock-on effect in the evening’s scheduled ‘Powder Puff’ race, where friends, relatives, wives and girlfriends of the drivers raced the Super Stocks for 10 laps in a special Mother’s Day event, but with so few of the cars making it to the end of the race the field for this was missing few of the expected entries. It was actually the most badly damaged car of all, the #211 of Jarrett Korpi that was still missing all it’s bodywork, that took an easy win at the hands of Shyanne Mathers. Right from the start she blasted away from the field for the win, lapping some of her competitors multiple times before taking the checkered flag. Her only real competition of the night came from the mysterious #51 Willamena Franscesca Montoya, who kept up for most of the race despite being in a much underpowered car, but pulled off the track with just one lap to go and disappeared into the night before anyone could find out who she was. This gave 2^nd place to #56 Tracy Holley, ahead of #60T Dawn and #60 Valerie Tumminello.

 Perhaps the best Mother’s Day present of all was delivered by Cody Blair to his Mom and family in the grandstands as he attempted to build on his two Orlando Speedworld wins the previous night with two features at New Smyrna. First of all he brought his E-Modified out for their 25-lap race, where it took him just ½ a lap to move through from the 2^nd row to the lead and begin to pull away. The battle behind him would quickly split as #54 David Hite eased away from the pack, leaving a good race behind him for 3^rd between #6 Rich Clouser, # 5 John Compagnone and #00 John Hodge.

 It would be Hodge who bought out the first caution of the race with 15 laps gone after his best outing of the year came to a premature end thanks to the slippery track conditions, his low spin in turn 2 being followed by a push back to the pits with his night’s racing over. Blair would again take the lead from the restart, and despite another caution after a spin from Hite with 2 laps to go he had the race sewn up, winning by several car lengths from Clouser, who just held off Hite in a race for the line.

 That made it 3 wins out of 3 for Cody Blair, but the best was yet to come as he climbed through the window of his Mini Stock for the 4^th race of his weekend. This time it took his #81 car 9 laps to pass leader #09 Todd Haught, although this was partly due to what was nearly a much worse incident on the front straight as Blair misjudged his distance from Haught’s rear-end as they drafted into turn 1, Blair driving the nose of his car right under Haught’s car, lifting him off the ground and dropping him back down. Haught would bump the wall as he regained control, and Blair would lift off the gas to prevent a bad accident, but once settled back down again both cars were able to resume their race at the front.

 A late caution for reports of debris on the track pushed Blair and Haught alongside each other one last time, and the restart was nearly disastrous for Blair as he missed a gear as the green flag waved, giving Haught the advantage with just 3 laps to go. Blair dropped back into 2^nd place and bided his time, even though there was barely 1 ½ miles of racing to go, but his patience was rewarded just one lap later as Haught’s got loose in turn 2 allowing Blair to capitalize on the ill-timed slide and power around the outside and back into the lead. There was no looking back as Blair completed an incredible feat to win by several car lengths, followed home by Haught and #23 Wayne Wells. But the story of the weekend was Blair that included two wins in his E-Modified, a hard-fought win in a battle-scarred Pro Truck and finally a tight battle to claim another Mini Stock victory. Fittingly on this weekend he was joined in victory lane by his Mom and family to take the applause from the appreciative crowd.

 The other feel-good story of the night came in the Sportsman race as a New Smyrna regular who can always be found in the pits helping anyone who needs a hand, but who rarely gets the opportunity to climb into the driver’s seat himself, managed to claim a tremendously hard-fought win in a race that went the whole distance without a caution and saw the lead change hands several times. With #57 Anthony Sergi up on the pole the young driver making his 3^rd start of the weekend in three separate divisions would hold the advantage until the 5^th lap when track regulars #11 Donnie Williams and the #23 car, this week not in the hands of owner Mike Pletka but being driven by Rusty Ebersole, came through to relegate the youngster back to 3^rd. Behind the leaders the #45 of Mike Soukup, complete with an outrageous rear-quarter wing that looked more like it would be more at home on an ocean-going yacht than on a race car, had moved forward from the rear of the field to pass Orlando Speedworld points leader #66 Andy Nicholls, himself making a rare start on the half-mile track.

 As the race settled down Soukup would quickly join the fight up at the front in 3^rd place, tucking in behind Williams and Ebersole as laps ticked over. By the time the 17^th lap was in the books Ebersole had decided to make a move, nudging Williams hard to the rear in turn 3 and passing through on the low-side to take the lead. With his car obviously unsettled Williams would drop back to 3^rd on the next lap as Soukup used the extra grip his massive wing was obviously giving him to blast around the high line and take 2^nd place. One lap later Soukup would try an audacious move under Ebersole down the back straight, only to suddenly find back-marker #51 Ed Kennedy cruising around at the bottom of the track, forcing Soukup to back off the gas and drop in behind Ebersole until a better opportunity afforded itself.

 This came with just three to go, as Soukup found himself much faster in the middle of the turns than Ebersole, and able to use his aerodynamically superior car to accelerate away much earlier than his rival. So as the cars hit turn 2, Soukup floored his gas pedal and powered away to take the lead with just two laps to go. Ebersole would use all his experience to fight back, but his clever crossover move was blocked by Soukup, leaving the #45 to take an unlikely win that saw him run all the way from the rear of the field to the front in 25 green flag laps.

 With more flexibility in their body rules than any other division allowing the ludicrously-sized wing on the rear of his Sportsman car – that later caused problems as his team attempted to load the car back into their enclosed trailer! – there could be no doubt that the wing that had everyone talking had obviously given him extra grip and speed in the turns. But on this night there were plenty of smiles and congratulations being passed around the pits for this popular pit-side regular and his team. Of course, it now remains to be seen how quickly word of his win gets around the other Sportsman racers, and just how big these wings will become over the coming weeks!

 The night ended as usual with the Strictly Stocks, and another win for a driver who is rarely seen taking to the high-banked half-mile. This time the win went to young #51 Wes Railing, more usually seen getting faster and better with every passing week at Orlando Speedworld. Railing would take the lead early on and never look back as the field strung out all around the track. He would be followed home by #9 David Brannon in a distant second place, with #21M Maureen Dahm picking up a well-deserved 3^rd place on her return to the track after sustaining damage in a crash a few weeks earlier. 4^th place – and most of the crowd’s applause – would go to #35 Chris Brannon, who again dropped off the pace midway through the race to thrill the crowd with a display of drifting around the turns, sending tire smoke and molten rubber up into the stands with every passing lap.