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| Modified Tour and Bicycle Races Highlight SpeedWorld Weekend | by Dave Westerman
Everything from the high-speed Modifieds to Kids racing bicycles is on tap this weekend at Orlando Speedworld.
The Penske Racing Shocks United Pro Modified Tour will be the featured attraction in FASCAR sanctioned Friday night action for the fourth of twelve scheduled races in 2004.
Top Modified drivers from all over the State of Florida will be in action for the 50 lap race including current Tour point leader Lee Collins and last week's Speedworld Modified winner Jim "Hoot" Flynn.
The Mini Stocks, Sportsman, Super Stocks and Strictly Stocks will also be on this week's car while the Super Late Models have the week off.
Pit gates open at 2PM, grandstand gates at 6PM with Pro Modified qualifying at 6:45PM and racing at 8PM.
The kids will get to have some fun on Saturday night as all youngsters ages 11 and under can bring their bicycles and race on the race track for fun and trophies. Kids can bring their bikes to either the pit or grandstand side of the track and everyone gets a chance to race.
Also, there will be a special ladies "Powder Puff" race using the Hurricane division cars. Any of the ladies wishing to race should register in the pit office before racing begins for the evening.
The RE/MAX Legends Cars will again be the feature attraction along with the Bandeleo Bandits, Young Guns, and Outlaws as well as the Hurricanes.
Pit gates open at 3PM, grandstands at 5:30PM and racing starts at 7PM with adult admission just five dollars or you can pick up free admission coupons at Auto Parts of Taft, just south of the Orange Avenue/Landstreet Road intersection in South Orlando.
SPEEDWORLD NOTES:
It took seven races and some bad luck for Patrick Conrad, but a new face was in RE/MAX Legends Car victory lane Saturday night in the form of 13 year old Sam Watts who drove from the rear of the field after an early incident to take a win that was very popular with the crowd. Conrad and Jeremy Colangelo have been the class of the field recently but Conrad blew an engine last week and Colangelo ended up in the wall after hitting the oil. Both will return this week although Colangelo will be in a back-up car.
Deland's Joey Strehle had a rather uneventful Super Late Model race last week, but the ride home was more than uneventful. Strehle and his family pulled into a convenience store to get a drink. Thankfully they did as Joey noticed smoke coming from the trailer vents. Apparently a tool box came loose in the trailer and one of the tools shorted out the race car battery causing it to catch fire. Strehle managed to put out the fire with minimal damage to his car and trailer although he had quite a bit of cleaning up to do before he could load up his Classic Car and race Saturday night.
Modified racer Chad Pierce had some extra help during Wednesday night's practice session in preparation for Friday's big Pro Tour race as several members of David Rogers' TM Ranch crew were swarming over the car trying to help Pierce get a better "handle" on it. Rogers also was on hand and did a little "test driving" for Pierce and car owner Donnie Lewis.
There's a bit of a battle brewing among Brevard County General Motors car dealerships in the Super Stock Class. Bob Beiler's car is sponsored by Lane Pontiac/Buick/GMC while John Castro's machine is sponsored by rival Ron Norris Pontiac/Buick/GMC.
Hard to believe but the first "Crasharama" of the year is now less than a month away. The event is slated for Friday night, May 14 and will feature School Bus Figure Eight racing, Boat & Trailer racing, demolition derbies and many more surprises.
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