|
| U{M Modified Tour Races Into Ocala Speedway Friday Night | by Dave Westerman
Ocala Speedway will play host to the third race of the United Promoter's Modified (UPM) Tour's inaugural season Friday night.
Veteran St. Petersburg driver Dwayne Dempsey has the point lead going into this event by virtue of his win two weeks ago at Cordele, GA Motor Speedway. Dempsey has a slim five point advantage over Starke's J.F. McClellan and Tampa's Rob Partelo who won the season opener for the UPM Tour at Citrus County Speedway. Tied for fourth in points are Mike Johnson of Tallahassee and Dade City's Mike Wilson.
Over thirty of the open wheel hot rods are expected including current Ocala Speedway point leader Johnnie "The Rat" Newsome ofTampa and David Baxley of Anthony, one of the 2002 Ocala Speedway OWM Champions who sits currently second in 2003 points.
The Gerstner brothers out of Tampa, John and Jeremy, are expected in the field along with Gainesville drivers Larry Martin and Kevin Durden. Archer's Patrick "Doughboy" Williams will be at the wheel of the bright orange Armstrong Homes entry while Alan McCafferty of Clermont, last week's runaway winner in the WIND-FM Modifieds, will be a big favorite in the Central Florida Machine & Speed "Silver Bullet."
Other possible entries include the Father/son duo of Buddy and Philip Kessler, The Vann Brothers Red and Raymond, John Foerg, Gary Southard, Greg Nordstrom, Jamie Burrows, Brian Campbell, Chris Fadling, Mike Bennett, Rick Hall, Greg Slone, Darren "Action" Jackson, Bobby Dixon, and a host of others.
Things are getting interesting in just about every other division at Ocala Speedway including the Diamond H Air and Heat Sportsman class where a little "bumpin' and bangin'" has been the norm this year so far.
Belleview's Patrick "Sweet Pea" Mennenga left the track with quite a few battle scars last week, but he also left with the point lead too.
Mennenga is two points ahead of Bronson's Robbie Cooper and steady Charles Hornbeak out of Moss Bluff. Tom Posevac and Frank Buchanan round out the top five in points.
Two wins and a show have Belleview driver Tommy Roberts on top of the K-Country Street Stock tally going into week four of racing. Just five points back is 2002 Street Stock champ Doug Webster with young Kyle Maynard in third only one point behind Webster. Mark Mitchell sits fourth in points while Estle Morrow has been having some good runs in his new car and is fifth in the standings.
The Modified Mini Stocks have run only one points race so far this season. Citrus County Speedway co-promoter Jimmy Wear, by virtue of winning the feature on opening night, leads the standings over Chris Hooker, Glen Ervin, Larry Goolsby and Wayne Wells.
A big battle appears to be brewing in the Four Cylinder Stock division between the Durbin brothers, Joey and Justin, and Tom Ellis. They were involved in a knock-down-drag-out finish last week where Ellis was penalized a position for "unsportsmanlike driving" and Joey Durbin's apparent third place finish was nullified in the tech shed due to weight.
Going into this week's action, Summerfield's Ellis has just a two point advantage over Justin Durbin while Joey's DQ dropped him well out of the point chase for now. Defending Four Cylinder Stock champion Ric Fort is now third, eight markers out of the top spot while Rick Kuhn and Weird Harold Barup hold down the fourth and fifth positions.
With the Steven A. Bagen Super Late Models getting a well deserved week off, fans will be treated to the first visit of the year by the Florida Open Wheel Lites that run modified Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha motorcycle engines.
Top drivers in the "Lites" include Jacksonville drivers Rick Lundeen, Ron Towles and Bob Quick, New Smyrna's Dan Nyhan, Bartow's Jim Harrison, Brian Gingras of Winter Haven, Kissimmee's Allen Davis, Jim Biglin of Port Orange, and many others.
Pit gates open at 4PM, Granstands at 6PM, UPM Modified Tour qualifying is at 7:30 with racing starting promptly at 8PM.
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS (TOP TEN):
UNITED PROMOTER'S MODIFIED TOUR
1) Dwayne Dempsey, St. Petersburg #6 99
2) J.F. McClellan, Starke #01 94
3) Rob Partelo, Tampa #93 94
4) Mike Johnson, Tallahassee #19 90
5) Mike Wilson, Dade City #79 90
6) John Gerstner, Tampa #77 86
7) Larry Martin, Gainesville #07 84
8) John Foerg, Clermont #1 78
9) Chris Fadling, St. Leo #29 78
10) Jeremy Gerstner, Tampa #70 75
Patrick Williams, Archer #57 75
DIAMOND H AIR & HEAT SPORTSMAN
1) Patrick Mennenga, Belleview #16 139
2) Robbie Cooper, Bronson #98 137
3) Charles Hornbeak, Moss Bluff #67 137
4) Tom Posavec, Dunnellon #01 129
5) Frank Buchanan, Belleview #07 128
6) Kathy Ray, Floral City #63 128
7) Charles Kopach, Clermont #53 126
8) Big John Smith, Coleman #31 117
9) Jim Higginbotham, Belleview #76 116
10) Roger Damron, Chiefland #76D 99
MODIFIED MINI STOCKS
1) Jimmy Wear, Inverness #13 50
2) Chris Hooker, Floral City #1X 49
3) Glen Ervin, Morriston #0 48
4) Larry Goolsby, Williston #27 47
5) Wayne Wells, Paisley #23 46
6) Jeff Stalnaker, Sr., Ocala #10 45
7) Marlon Durbin, Belleview #46 44
8) Jamie White, Dade City #21 43
9) Joey Brinson, Keystone Heights #26 42
10) Rick Sirmans, Pinellas Park #05 41
K-COUNTRY STREET STOCKS
1) Tommy Roberts, Belleview #44 148
2) Doug Webster, Ocala #72 143
3) Kyle Maynard, Ocala #07 142
4) Mark Mitchell, Anthony #71 140
5) Estle Morrow, Ocala #02 134
6) Chuck Stewart, Ocala #8Ball 127
7) Bobby Taylor, Crystal River #66 124
8) David Chastain, Leesburg #17 118
9) Rick Hart, Ocala #13 117
10) Jamie Dunn, Citrus Springs #24 114
FOUR CYLINDER STOCKS
1) Tom Ellis, Summerfield #31 146
2) Justin Durbin, Morriston #34 144
3) Ric Fort, Candler #2 138
4) Richard Kuhn, Ocala #47 135
5) Harold Barup, Ocala #3 131
6) Joel Byall, Ocala #40 126
7) Harry Drier, Ocala #61 124
8) Dan Sanderson, Dade City #7 118
9) Randy Futch, Dunnellon #9-11 117
10) Chris Noce, Ocala #99 115
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
or send a letter to the editor!
|
