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| SpeedWorld gets back to Friday/Saturday Racing this Weekend | by Dave Westerman
Fans can get ready once again for two big nights of racing action this weekend at Orlando Speedworld.
All six FASCAR racing divisions will be in action on the Speedworld oval Friday night with Orlando's Ricky Wood continuing to head the point chases in two classes.
Wood's second place finish last week allowed him to extend his points lead in the Super Late Model class by 28 over Jared Allison who kept pace by finishing third in last weeks feature race behind winner Michael Williams.
Wood maintains a reasonably healthy 64 point advantage over Mark Emberson in the Modified division, but Emberson has been able to cut into Wood's lead over the past two races after switching from his #34 to the teams' other car, the #30 which was formerly driven by Chuck Burkhalter.
Chad Ashley has the biggest point lead of any driver right now as the Auburndale speedster's third win of the year last week has seen him open up an 82 point margin in the Mini Stock class over a great three-way battle for second that sees Dick Laszlo and R.J. Arnone now tied for second just four points ahead of fourth-place Sean Bass.
Richard Hight of Intercession City continues to maintain a 48 point lead in the Sportsman standings after last weeks 50 lap run. Bobby Joe Woodley holds on to second by 20 markers over Justin Hall who is just 16 points in front of Bruce Gayton.
Steady Bob Beiler of Melbourne Beach remains on top of the Super Stock points chase even though he has yet to claim a feature win this year. Ted Head is in second just eight points behind and knocking on the door. Ron Whaley, Bill Loomis and last weeks winner John Castro round out the top five in Super Stock points.
Richie Laszlo can put a big feather in his cap this week if he wins the Strictly Stock feature as it would be his tenth feature win in a row. Derek Slade almost ended Lazslo's streak last week but unbelievably ran out of gas in a 12 lap feature! Slade made up for that miscue by driving his Ford T-Bird to a win at New Smyrna last Saturday.
After a week off for the Bandolero Nationals in Mobile, AL, Speedworld will once again come to life on Saturday night with the RE/MAX Legends Cars, Bandoleros and Hurricanes along with the visiting Florida Open Wheel Lites.
Patrick Conrad continues to hold the RE/MAX Legends points lead by 84 over Sam Watts. Those two remain the only two drivers to have won a Legends Car main event this season but Jeremy Colangelo, Kevin Abbott and several others have their sights set on their first checkered flag.
Bandolero point leaders are Gerald White, Jr. (Bandits), Scott Jarrett (Young Guns) and Dave Jarrett (Outlaw) heading into this weeks action.
The Florida Open Wheel Lites (FOWL) are expected to bring a great field to the track headed up by such talented drivers as Rick Lundeen (at the wheel of his "Flying Grape"), Ron Towles, Bob Quick, Brian Gingras, Jim Biglin, George Landis and many more.
Pit gates open Friday at 4PM with grandstand gates opening at 6PM. Racing gets under way promptly at 8PM.
Saturday, pit gates open at 3PM, grandstands at 5:30PM and racing starts at 7PM on the dot. Adult admission to the grandstands every Saturday night is just $5 and kids 11 years of age and under are always admitted free on both nights.
SPEEDWORLD NOTES:
Speedworld drivers were up against some tough competition last weekend at the Bandolero Nationals which were held in Mobile, AL and for many of the drivers it was their first experience on a track with banking as the Bandoleros run on the flat inner portion of the Speedworld facility. All in all, the locals held their own and had lots of fun, which is what it's all about anyway.
One driver who didn't have too good of a time was Brandon Thomson. Thomson qualified fifth quick out of close to 30 drivers in his Bandolero class but got drilled from behind on the opening lap of his feature and became a punching bag for the rest of the field as he was sitting sideways on the track. "I've never seen a car get hit by so many other cars at one time," commented Speedworld GM Dick Westfall who traveled all night from Orlando to attend the event. When it was all over, most of the body and both front wheels had been knocked off. The dashboard was split in two which damaged the electrical system allowing the throttle to hang wide open as Thomson then took a wild ride into the infield where track crews were finally able to shut off the engine by pulling the spark plug wire. Safety is the key to the construction of the Bandolero machines and Thomson emerged from the mess without a scratch. Undaunted, Thomson and his crew headed up by dad Russ Thomson plan to have the car race ready Saturday night.
There will be a new shoe behind the wheel of Donnie Lewis' "Moonshine Hauler" Modified this week as Ronnie Roach will take over the driving chores. Chad Pierce, who has won two features with the car this year, has left the seat to concentrate on his Late Model.
The Ron Jon Automotive #17 Sportsman is expected back at the track this week after a layoff of over a year. "The Man from Pine Hills," Ted Head, will be the new driver.
Two former Classic Auto Racing Series champions are expected to debut new rides Friday night. Two time CARS champion Rodney Eary has a new Camaro-bodied Super Late Model ready to go while Eddie Thornton has purchased the Sportsman car formerly driven by Mike Albert. Albert himself got started in the Classic Car Series.
Bobby Fleckinger has added a second Super Late Model to his stable. Fleckinger had the car on track Wednesday night and looked pretty good. To get it, he traded "some airboat stuff."
Two names from the 1980's may be resurfacing soon as Gary English has indicated he may come out of retirement soon. English has both a Super Late Model and a Modified at his disposal. Long time Speedworld and New Smyrna Speedway fans may remember English's famous Cablevision-sponsored #66's which were always tough to beat. Meanwhile, Von Crews, who scored many wins at Speedworld in the old Sportsman/Limited Late Model class, has reportedly purchased a Modified that was driven by Dan Hammerbeck.
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