Herb Nueman, driving his beautifully prepared Monte Carlo late model, survived a series of spins and re-starts in a wild season opener for the LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN DIVISION and won the fifty lap feature at Bronson's famed " bullring" Saturday nite. 15 cars started the first event of the year for this special series that features the high-dollar cars running for large purses once per month.

After two false starts, the leaders got it on and it wasn't until lap three that the cars of Patrick Williams and Kevin Durdin got together on the front stretch in heavy traffic. A wild slide ensued as Williams tried to " gather up " his # 18 Monte Carlo while the rest of the field slammed on the binders to keep from hitting him and Kevin Durdin. On the re-start it was Mike Faulk in his new #36 Monte Carlo out front with Patrick Williams and Herb Nueman in hot pursuit. Turn four was the action spot again as Williams, Nueman and Roy Staines spun.
Nueman's car sustained right side damage and had to re-start from the rear . Patrick Williams scooted into the pits for some fast repairs and was able to return.

Now, the DRIVING started. The big crowd of enthusiastic fans were treated to some fender to fender racing as Nueman and Williams tore through the field. Mike Faulk's car faltered , allowing Nueman and Williams to get by on lap # 24. The last 26 laps saw spectacular racing as Nueman got by Williams. He held on while Williams held off Roy Staines' Monte Carlo for the finish.

MINI-STOCK
Steve Griffen, who has had some good rides in other equipment (Southern Pro Trucks in Lakeland) showed the crowd that he is a young man with a future and won the MINI-STOCK feature after having tangled with other cars earlier. The Bronson rules put cars involved in a crash to the rear, so it was from there that Griffen had to start his charge to the front. Clint Foley ran second in the Bronson Family Restaurant #7 while Chet Marlowe finished third in his # 74 Mini-truck. Jeff Stalnaker and Charlie Stalnaker had their cars going good until both were involved in crashes. Jeff and Steve Griffen tangled early on lap # 6, while Charlie had trouble with several slower cars in the feature. One thingis for sure, these hard chargers willl be back next week. They always make this division exciting. Josh Hars and the Dr. Jay's entry were really " hooked up " in the early going, but the car broke on lap # 6, much to the dissapointed of Josh's loyal fan club and his crew. Thiscar and driver has already proven that they can win and they'll be back next week.

PURE STOCK

Talk about determination! Steve Seymour ( # 88) and his dedicated crew work hard every week to get the Autozone Camero home first. Things did'nt start out so well Saturday nite as the car lost it's harmonic balancer just as it was starting out for practice. The crew rushed back to Dunnellon, picked up a new balancer and just made it to line for the feature. As only great racing stories are written, Steve then went onto notch his first feature win!
Seymour's ride was'nt an easy one as his car kissed the wall on lap # 11, thus earning him the " Darlington Stripe" that is becoming synonmous with turn four of the " bullring". Jerome Brown and Corkey Miley had good runs going in their Cameros, but spins on their part put both cars to the rear for re-starts. Excellent driving on the part of both of these popular drivers saw them weave through traffic and finish up front. The day belonged to the Camero's asthey represented the first three positions at the finish. It is one that Steve Seymour isn't likely to forget for a long time!

4-CYLINDER CRUISERS

John Naber made it three feature victories in a row as he brought the# 3 Mini-Truck home first in the cruiser class. He had some work to do tonite to get by Chad Dixon in his # 27 Toyota and Jeff Stalnaker, Jr. who finished third. Ryan Nagele had his # 9 entry running strong and ran with the leaders all feature long.

SOME INTERESTING THOUGHTS-- Steve Griffen and Steve Seymour both had to re-start at the rear of their respective features to pull off their wins. This is no small feat on the Bronson high banks! AND-- if youthough the action was hot and heavy this week, come on out and be with us again this Saturday nite. Racing is at 7:30 sharp. See ya'll at the "bullring"!

RESULTS

LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN

1) # 98 Herb Nueman, Inverness, Fla.
2) # 18 Patrick Williams, Archer, Fla.
3) # 60 Roy Staines, Silver Springs, Fla.

MINI-STOCK

1) # 1 Steve Griffen, Ocala, Fla.
2) # 7 Clint Foley, Dunnellon, Fla.
3) # 74 Chet Marlowe, Williston, Fla.

PURE STOCK

1) # 88 Steve Seymour, Dunnellon, Fla.
2) # 93 Corkey Miley, Hernando, Fla.
3) # 25 Jerome Brown, Newberry, Fla.

4-CYLINDER CRUISER

1) # 3 John Naber, Dunnellon, Fla.
2) # 27 Chad Dixon, Ocala, Fla.
3) # 10 Jeff Stalnaker, Jr., Ocala, Fla.

by Gil Peck



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