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| Big Weekend for Orlando SpeedWorld if Mother Nature Will Just Behave | by Jane Smith
Bithlo, Fla (July 23, 2003) Rain, rain go away, all the racers want to play.
So sings the racers of Orlando SpeedWorld who have the need for speed but no help from Mother Nature. The rain held off last Friday night long enough for the heat races and the 100 lap Goodyear Challenge Series but washed out all the other divisions. Enough with the rain for sure!!!!
This weekend Orlando SpeedWorld will see the FASCAR Pro Mods run a 50 lap feature. Coming into Friday night's action and tied for the points lead are Jerry Symons and D.J. Hoelzle with 202 points each. But Hoelzle and Symons hold only a three point lead over third place Alan McCafferty who sits at 199 points.
Bryan Campbell comes in fourth with 172 points over Skip Honaker who runs fifth with 142 points. Red Vann, Jim "Hoot" Flynn, Matt Wheeler, Alan Bruns and Raymond Vann round out the top ten.
This event was rained out at Orlando before and then at Lakeland's USA International and rescheduled for the following weekend when it was rained out again. The Pro Mods went to Citrus County the next night and got rained out there. Hopefully Friday night will be the night when they finally get to have a race.
The Bandolero Nationals will be running at Orlando SpeedWorld on Saturday so expect to see a large number of Bandoleros in the field on Friday night as they practice for Saturday. Over 100 pre-entries were sent in from California to Texas to all over the south.
Saturday, July 26 Schedule for the Bandolero Nationals:
Registration and Pit Gate Open 8 A.M.
Practice by Division 9 - 12 Noon
Qualifying 12:30 - 1:30 P.M.
Lunch Break 1:30 - 3:30 P.M.
Heat Races 4:00 - 7:00 P.M.
Features 7:00 P.M.
On the program for Friday night along with the Pro Modifieds and the Bandoleros will be the Super Lates, Sportsman, Mini Stock and Super Stock. Strictly Stocks have the night off. Due ot the rainout last Friday night, double features will be seen in the Sportsman, Mini Stock and Super Stock.
Once again B.J. McLeod and Rusty Ebersole will battle for the points lead in the Super Late Models. McLeod and Ebersole are tied at 420 points each but the good thing about this division is that Ebersole and McLeod are great friends and love racing each other side-by-side. They put on a great show for the fans and you never know which one will come out on top.
Ricky Wood in his No. 33 Super Late comes in third with 244 points followed by Ronnie Roach who missed some of the racing action this year but has returned for the second half of the season. David Hart rounds out the top five.
Richard Hight has built up a very good lead in the Sportsman division and with double features Friday night, could really move ahead. Hight leads with 495 points. Michael Albert comes in second with 368 points followed by Doug Samion with 256 points. Danny Shearer and Rob Kayse round out the top five with 216 points and 180 points respectively.
Tim "Missileman" McPhail has built up a good points lead in the Mini Stock division with 424 points. Dick Laszlo, in the only mini truck in the field, holds second with 304 points with Sean "Weasel" Bass coming in third with 296 points. Newcomer Mike Williams has shown some of his dad's driving skills as he sits fourth in points with 156 points. Randy Blakeslee rounds out the top five with 128 points.
Cory Freed is looking to repeat his Super Stock Championship from 2002 and leads the points with 408 points. Bob Wines comes in second with 336 points followed by Ron Whaley in third with 284 points. Mike Soukup and Billy Cuddy round out the top five.
Grandstands at Orlando SpeedWorld open at 6 p.m. with racing action at 8 p.m. Qualifying for the Pro Mod 50 lapper will be at 6:30 P.M. depending on car count. Orlando SpeedWorld is located between SR50 and SR520 in Bithlo, Florida
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