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| Sportsman 50 Lapper with 911 Rescheduled for Saturday Night at New Smyrna Speedway | by Jane Smith
Samsula, Fla (July 16, 2003) The Rain Gods have not been very favorable to New Smyrna Speedway raining out most every Saturday night. But hopefully things will be better this Saturday as the 911 Racing Series joins the FASCAR Sportsman for a 50 lap event.
When the 911 Series came to Orlando SpeedWorld not long ago, they did not have enough cars show up for their own features so it was decided to put them with the Sportsman who were running 50 laps that night. Well, that was a hit with the fans and made the race far more exciting to see our Sportsman being chased by blue lights on a racetrack.
This Saturday night once again the Sportsman will look into their mirrors and see "blue lights a flashing" as they race for 50 laps. The blue lights will definitely be chasing Bill Spade who drives the No. 15 Sportsman and leads the points with 386 points.
Ron Lufcy runs second in points in the Sportsman division with 312 points followed by Chris Peludat with 244, Bill Love with 228 and Jim Snyder with 192. This will mark the first time these guys have been chased by blue lights on a racetrack and should give the fans one great race and some pretty exciting memories.
David Rogers has proven that he is the "King" of New Smyrna Speedway as he has won all but two Super Late Model features. Rogers leads the points with 388. Wayne Parker and B.J. McLeod are tied in second with 288 points, 100 points each behind Rogers. B.J. has one win this season at New Smyrna Speedway and is definitely ready for the second. Parker has gotten better and better each week as he wheels his No. 3 Super Late.
Guy Thoms comes in fourth with 192 points followed by David Frohlich with 144 points. Frohlich recently won his "first" Super Late Model feature at New Smyrna being the only other driver besides McLeod to win a feature. But Frohlich, who runs the Florida Pro Series and is in the top ten in points, has a Florida Pro race this weekend at Hialeah which may play in favor of Joe Fitos to move into fifth place. Fitos runs sixth with 120 points, only 24 points behind Frohlich.
Brian Bellaw with his Jolly Rogers/Blackie's Saloon No. 77 Late Model is looking for a repeat Championship. Bellaw, who almost quit in 2003, leads the points for the Late Models by 316. But it is Tim Clark that is chasing Bellaw and stands second in points with 224. Clark has won a few features in 2003 and has shown that his new No. 8 Late Model is definitely ready for a Championship.
Mark Smith is only 20 points behind Clark and comes in third. Smith, who has had some good luck and bad, has a way of bouncing back quickly. Timmy Todd and Larry Osteen are tied in fourth and fifth with 172 points each. This class is beginning to get a few more Lates each week and we are still looking for any Late Models that wish to race and have no place to try out New Smyrna Speedway.
Bobby Blake and Mark Vandevender are in a heated battle for the Open Wheel Modified points lead. Blake holds only a 4 point lead over Vandevender. These two will definitely make it a battle down to the wire for the Championship.
Matt Wheeler sits in third with 172 points but tied in fourth, fifth, and sixth are Jim "Hoot" Flynn, Justin Henderson, and David Castello. Henderson is the 2002 Open Wheel Modified Champion and Castello is the 2002 Mini Stock Champion. Watch these three as they run to untie their points.
Ted "Mr Mini Stock" Vulpius has a 20 point lead over Tim "Missileman" McPhail in the Mini Stock division. These buys battle it out every weekend and both have feature wins under their belts. Rex Christensen comes in third with 368 points followed by David Castello with 180 points and Ben Hutto with 172 points. Castello came into the season late but has proven that the No. 1 Mini can definitely make up points fast as he wheels his way around the track. This will definitely be one division to watch as they battle for the Championship.
Ron Whaley leads the Super Stock division with 448 points but Charlie Collins is not far behind with 428 points. These two put on a great show each week as they battle each other for the lead and the Championship.
Coming in third in points is Jeff Colburn with 332 points followed by early points leader Josh Wronkowski in fourth. Mike Amato rounds out the top five with 220 points.
Grandstands open at 6 p.m. with racing action at 7:30 p.m. New Smyrna Speedway is located between SR44 and SR417 between I-4 and I-95 eight miles west of New Smyrna Beach in beautiful Samsula, Florida
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