by Dave Westerman
Fans who have been calling and e-mailing Auburndale Speedway asking “When is the next School Bus Figure 8 race?” will finally get their wishes fulfilled this week as the buses will be back in action along with the Figure 8 cars to give everybody plenty of “intersection action.”
Also on tap will be a pair of feature events for the Legend Cars, the Florida State Bandolero Championship race, plus the V-8 Bombers, Mini Stocks and Scramblers. Ending the evening will be a big Demolition Derby. Three School Bus Figure 8 races have been held this year and have produced three different winners. Gary Swing, Danny Taylor and Robert Aaron have all taken the checkered flag first this year and all three are expected in action again this week. The Figure 8 cars have run just twice this year with Figure 8 veterans Jimmy Thompson and Wayne Calkins scoring the victories. Calkins leads the point standings by ten points over Wayne Whitehead with Rockin’ Rodney Davis just six points behind Whitehead.
The Legend Cars will start the evening running their Regional Qualifier that was rained out at Punta Gorda Speedway two weeks ago. Since Punta Gorda Speedway is closed this week and this is the last week drivers are eligible for national points, the race has been moved here to Auburndale. Only those cars who qualified for the race at Punta Gorda are eligible for the Regional Qualifier and the winner gets an automatic spot in the Nationals that will be held next month at Langley Speedway in Virginia. The Legends will then run another feature for both national and Auburndale Speedway points. All cars that show up will be eligible for this race.
“There were 21 cars that took time at Punta Gorda but several of them are South Florida drivers who don’t travel very much,” says Russ Thomson who heads up Legend Cars of Florida. “I expect anywhere from 12-15 cars to take part in the first race although there will be 20 or more in the pits that will be eligible for the second race,” says Thomson.
Jake Perkins continues to lead the point standings at Auburndale. He has a somewhat comfortable 26 point edge on Gerald White, Jr. although the Auburndale point race will continue for several more weeks even though the national point races will be decided after this weekend. Mason Ketterman has taken over third in the point standings, but by just two markers over Justin Brown.
The Florida State Championship for the Bandoleros should attract a big field this week. Cameron White has already wrapped up the Bandit (8-11 year old) title while Teddy Lively has extended his Outlaw (12 years and older) point lead to 40 over Andy Metz. It looks like it will be a no-holds-barred battle to the finish of the Mini Stock point championship between defending champion Fred Harrison, Jr. and former title holder Chris Spring. Harrison has been chipping away at Spring’s lead over the last month and trails now by just 16. Between the two, they’ve won 18 features so far this year with Harrison scoring his tenth win two weeks ago.
Josh Borem finally had his car sorted out two weeks ago and the V-8 Bomber point leader scored his fifth win of the year after a long dry spell. Borem now has a 70 point edge over Buddy Phillips, Jr. with no one else really close enough to challenge the front running duo.
Kimberly Gullett extended her point lead in the Scrambler class last week to 30 over Brian Tyre by finishing second to George Gorham, Jr. Richard Brown is third in points and has closed to within 46 of second place Tyre.
Pit gates open at 2PM Saturday with grandstand gates opening at 5PM. Racing begins promptly at 7PM. Adult admission is $12, seniors are $10 and kids aged
5-12 are $5. Children age 4 and under are free. A “Family Four Pack” for two adults and two kids aged 5-12 is just $25.
NOTES:
Over 60 drivers are eligible for the “bonus” money and contingencies up for grabs in the final Late Model race of the year on October 16th. Tim Russell established himself as the favorite to take home the $5,000 top prize by driving to his third win of the year in convincing fashion last week. After being shuffled back to eighth position at the beginning of the race, Russell methodically picked his way through the field and passed Johnathan Guy for the lead on the 66th lap. Guy turned in an outstanding performance finishing second in just his third-ever Late Model race. Veteran David King surprised even himself with a nice third place finish. Even if a driver hasn’t run at Auburndale in one of the Late Model races this year, they can still enter the October event. If they win, it will still pay a nice $4,000. A full payout along with contingency awards will be posted soon.
We wonder if lady drivers Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, Shawna Robinson etc. can claim they won the first race they ever entered… Well Kristin Clements can make that claim after winning the Kids Club feature last week in her very first competition. After scaring her dad (and co-pilot) half to death with a bold move to take the lead and eventual win in the heat race, Kristin led all the way to win the feature. Fans were amazed at how small the nine-year-old little lady is after she got out of her car for a victory lane photo… She is barely three feet tall!
The new Auburndale Speedway T-shirts provided by Royal Tees have been selling like hotcakes… The shirts are just $15 and if you are wearing your t-shirt when you come to the grandstand ticket window, you get $2 off your adult admission!!
So how are Auburndale’s Legend Car drivers doing in the national point standings? If you didn’t know, all Legend Car (and Bandolero) drivers earn national points through U.S. Legend Cars International/INEX every time they race from March through September each year. Drivers are grouped in four divisions; Pro, for drivers with the most experience under the age of 40, Semi-Pro which is the novice class, featuring the drivers that are new to the sport or have been inactive in other forms of racing for a while, the Young Lions Division which is designated for the drivers between the ages of 12 and 16 and the Masters Division which is for all drivers age 40 and older. Since the car stays the same from division to division, it is the driver that makes the difference!
Lakeland’s Gerald White, Jr. who races primarily just here at Auburndale, is ranked 24th nationally out of 321 drivers who have earned points in the Pro division. Donovan Ponder, who has just begun racing at Auburndale again, is the point leader at Friday night track Orlando Speedworld just a stone’s throw from his Orlando home and he is ranked 29th nationally in the Pro division. 395 drivers have earned Masters Division points and Auburndale’s sombrero-wearing Dave “Too Tall” Gleason is a very nice 20th in the national standings. Roger “Tail Bone” Englund is ranked in the 22nd position. Mason Ketterman has had a great year running both at Orlando and Auburndale along with the Florida Tour races and sits in tenth spot in the Legend Semi-Pro points nationally out of a whopping 397 drivers who have earned points. Danielle Stratton is ranked 29th in Semi-Pro points. Auburndale point leader “No Brake” Jake Perkins is also rated 10th nationally in the Young Lions division, but a good week could see him move up even higher in the standings as he’s only two points out of eighth. Auburndale drivers Zach Napoleon and Dakota Baggette are ranked 24th and 30th nationally out of the 207 Young Lions drivers who have earned points nationally.
Ryan Shattuck has had quite a year in the Bandoleros. After winning several races at Auburndale Speedway early in the season, the young driver who hails from Islamorada in the Florida Keys, moved his racing up north where he competed in the full Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte, NC Motor Speedway. Shattuck won the Bandolero Outlaw championship for the Summer Shootout and is now back at Auburndale where he’s scored back-to-back wins. Shattuck is currently 8th in national Bandolero Outlaw division points but a really good weekend could move him much higher in the standings… he’s just 48 points out of third place nationally. So far 141 drivers have earned Bandolero Outlaw points nation-wide this year.
Darrell Krentz of U.S. Legend Cars International paid a visit to Auburndale Speedway recently and liked what he saw. Expect a major announcement concerning the Legend Cars and Bandoleros at Auburndale Speedway to be forthcoming in the next few days.
Prize packs for “Lindsey’s Little Racers” this week are being sponsored by McGee Automotive and Tire of Winter Haven. Along with all the goodies for the winning kids, each prize pack will contain a free oil change from McGee Automotive for their mom or dad’s car! Free ice creams will also be given away this week courtesy of drivers Corey White (Legend Car #2) and Richard Brown (Scrambler #62). All kids aged ten and under will get a special “ticket” when they come through the gate and will be eligible for the prizes. The next bicycle give-away is set for Saturday night, October 9th.
Current Point Standings as of September 18, 2010:
LATE MODELS:
1-#07 Jeff Scofield 483 (2 wins)
2-#50 Perry Lovelady 441
3-#17 Ryan Lisak 437
4-#407 Jason Vail 411
5-#36 Tim Russell 408 (3 wins)
6-#49 Ron Lofquist 398
7-#21 Kevin Ingram 382
8-#22 David King 369
#33 Daniel Webster 369 (1 win)
10-#5 Joe Boyd 307
OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS:
1-#56 James Wright III 1134 (2 wins)
2-#75 Bobby Blake 1024 (2 wins)
3-#98 Wayne Morris 1018 (1 win)
4-#87 Keith Lilley 963 (2 wins)
5-#01 Von Pope 740
6-#19 Kevin Macy 598 (1 win)
7-#03 Kyle Bookmiller 596 (2 wins)
8-#10 Travis Roland 585 (1 win)
9-#07 Harold Crooms 572
10-#00 Shawn Harper 526
SPORTSMAN:
1-#71 Dave Dunkin 552 (7 wins)
2-#13 Mark Medeiros 534 (2 wins)
3-#22 Brandon Duchscherer 314 (1 win)
4-#8 Austin Carr 278 (1 win)
5-#1 Bart Weatherford 238
6-#89X Brett Jenkins 232
7-#55 Richard Elkins, Jr. 218
8-#60 Richard Fiore, Jr. 214
9-#19 Chris Lewellen 198
10-#77 Lance Daubach 190
MODIFIED MINI STOCKS:
1-#89 Scotty Sharpe 460 (2 wins)
2-#55 Mike Sweet 440 (2 wins)
3-#15 Jason Rendell 438 (3 wins)
4-#45 Dennis Jones 298
5-#07 Bruce Anderson 218
6-#37 Brandon McSwain 190 (1 win)
7-#26 Jimmy Pugh 186
8-#85 Drew Carter 182
9-#38 Burt Morse 170 (2 wins)
10-#77 Lee Davis 154 (1 win)
TRUCKS:
1-#16 Tim Sozio 216 (1 win)
2-#2 Jim Cowhey, Jr. 210
3-#99 Brent Tyler 186
4-#1 Tommy King 182
5-#87 Keith Lilley 170 (3 wins)
6-#15 Roger Blevins 160
7-#37 Nick Hernandez 154 (1 win)
8-#18 Chayne Hammond 128
9-#23 Mike Smith 124
10-#54 Zach Harris 122
LEGEND CARS:
1-#59 Jake Perkins 796 (6 wins)
2-#38 Gerald White, Jr. 770 (8 wins)
3-#71 Mason Ketterman 690
4-#8 Justin Brown 688 (1 win)
5-#07 Dave Gleason 636
6-#31 Lynn Wiles 556
7-#4R Zach Napoleon 468
8-#7 Dakota Baggette 416
9-#4 Tyler Smith 410 (4 wins)
10-#21 Devin McLeod 380
STREET STOCKS:
1-#5 Matt McCrary 882
2-#42 Jeff Waterman 852 (4 wins)
3-#4 Dave Colpritt 730 (4 wins)
4-#56 James Wright III 700 (8 wins)
5-#29 Bobby Mobley 570 (4 wins)
6-#53 Kyle Peters 506 (2 wins)
7-#17 Kyle Hall 492
8-#25 Cody McDuffie 428 (1 win)
9-#142 Chris Spring 298
10-#65 Ken Lawrence 250
MINI STOCKS:
1-#42 Chris Spring 1054 (8 wins)
2-#21 Fred Harrison, Jr. 1038 (10 wins)
3-#40 Jason Swilley 658
4-#3 Chris Narramore, Sr. 532 (3 wins)
5-#33 Donnie Guy 470
6-#4 Marilyn McCrary 412
7-#551 Mark Wells 400
8-#88 Kevin Steadman 326
9-#46 Randy King 302
10-#2 Dwight Ryals, Jr. 240
V-8 BOMBERS:
1-#111 Josh Borem 852 (5 wins)
2-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr. 782 (1 win)
3-#89 Preston Davis 594 (3 wins)
4-#56 James Wright, Jr. 512 (2 wins)
5-#88 Gene Harrison 478 (2 wins)
6-#96 Larry Chumney II 424 (3 wins)
7-#0 Paul Bookmiller 352
8-#51 Matt Johns 348
9-#105 Jeff Lacey 308
10-#96 Larry Chumney, Sr. 276 (2 wins)
SCRAMBLERS:
1-#28 Kimberly Gullett 678 (2 wins)
2-#66 Brian Tyre 648 (2 wins)
3-#62 Richard Brown 602
4-#00 Chad Cutting 438 (1 win)
5-#71 Dave Canfield 398 (1 win)
6-#8 Richie Acres 328 (4 wins)
7-#1 George Gorham, Jr. 242 (1 win)
8-#42 Mike Bauer 220
#77 Jeremy Watts 220
10-#51 Matt Johns 216 (1 win)
MINI CUPS:
1-#21 Rick Ragan 188 (1 win)
2-#74 John Beach 184
3-#7 Harold Crooms 134 (2 wins)
4-#47 Brandon Beach 130
5-#07 Tyler Scofield 114 (1 win)
6-#14 Sam Scott 112 (1 win)
7-#2 Skip Baird 104
8-#22 Rick Cline, Sr. 102
9-#27X Dale Pulst 82
10-#46 Frank Beach 80
BANDOLEROS:
BANDITS:
1-#38 Cameron White 902 (4 wins)
2-#5 Derek Sobel 148 (2 wins)
3-#30 Noah Cornman 130
4-#55 Michael Held 90
5-#1Jr Dustin Turnage 44
4-#19 Keith Sinkula 42
OUTLAWS:
1-#96 Teddy Lively 596 (6 wins)
2-#48 Andy Metz 556 (2 wins)
3-#11 Daniel Conlin, Jr. 270
4-#13 Ryan Shattuck 236 (4 wins)
5-#03 Jake Hunter 228
6-#1 Mark Bibeau 208
7-#65 Coty Bibeau 128 (1 win)
8-#83 Joey Padgett 74
9-#16 Nick Baluch 58
10-#65 Daniel Conlin, Sr. 28
FIGURE EIGHTS:
1-#14 Wayne Calkins 76
2-#31 Wayne Whitehead 66
3-#89 Rodney Davis 60
4-#0 Jimmy Thompson 40 (1 win)
#8 Robbie Powell 40 (1 win)
6-#4 Terry Zimmerman 36
7-#A6 J.R. Meyer 34
8-#35 James Crawford 32
9-#89 Ricky Todd 30
#0 Paul Bookmiller 30
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