by Jane Smith
Haulers and drivers greeted the FASCAR staff last Friday, as 32 of Florida's best Super Late Model drivers waited to unload and practice for the first race of a three day event for the Sunbelt l25 Triple Crown. It was quite the sight to see as the round track drivers waited with their haulers and the Night of Fire drag drivers waited also to get into their pits.

As the sun went down and the stars and moon began to peek their sleepy eyes, the night air called for sweatshirts, sweaters, and jackets. Fans waited for qualifying, and soon 31 of the 32 cars in the pits were down on pit road. Brian Payne, #41, of Knoxville, Tennessee was the first to qualify; but it was BJ McLeod with a time of 13.348 on the pole. Friday, November l7, was also BJ's seventeenth birthday and the pills were in his favor as he drew himself the pole. Second fast was Travis Kittleson with a l3.381, Johnny Kaye with a 13.504, Justin Drawdy with a 13.536 and Mike Fritts with a 13.537.

The Friday night race belonged to BJ McLeod. He had fast time, he was on the pole, he led from the pole, and he never gave up that position. Every restart he was right there. And what more perfect for his l7th birthday than a win for the first race of the Triple Crown.

Most of the drivers moved on over to New Smyrna after loading up in Orlando. A few did not make the trip - Brian Finney, Jim McCoy, Shelby Howard, Todd Kuntze, Robert Yoho, and Billy Pratt. But the fans still saw 24 of the best drivers in Florida. And once again, jackets and sweaters were needed as the sun set over the speedway.

Justin Drawdy in the #12 Super Late set fast time with a 18.147 followed by Bruce Lawrence with a l8.176, Ricky Carlton with a 18.204, Mike Franklin with a l8.204 and Mike Fritts with a l8.205. After pills were drawn, it was Mike Fritts in the #27 Super Late on the pole and Ricky Carlton on the outside pole.

For most of this race, it was the Mike Fritts and Ricky Carlton show, battling each other every lap for that number one spot that every driver wants. Then, it was Dick Anderson and Mike Franklin, Jr. fighting out for third and James Powell, III closing in on them. But Fritts hit the wall and Ricky Carlton took the lead for his first Sunbelt 125 Super Late Model win of race number 2.

Race 3 saw some very weary drivers, crews and track employees. With very little sleep, the cars slowly made their way out into the warm sun of DeSoto Speedway for practice. For some of the 30 drivers in the pits for race 3, this was the first time on the racing surface for them. Jonathan Brown set fast time with a 14.400 with BJ McLeod at 14.540, Dick Anderson at 14.963, Ricky Carlton at 14.608 and Justin Drawdy with a 14.679. Brown drew a 9 and the field was inverted giving James Powell, III the pole.

As the green flag dropped on lap 1, the yellow caution flag came out for the #84 and #81 with the #81 into turn 3 wall. The race was red flagged for the #8l and the safety crew went to work to clean the track and help the driver. Luckily, the driver was only shaken but out of the race. The race was restarted once again with James Powell, III taking the lead.

Caution 2 came out on lap 4 for the #40, #74, and #31 that all went around between turns 3 and 4. All were able to come back around and continue to race. The race was restarted on lap 8 until on lap 11, the third caution flag flew once again for the #74 which had gone around in turn 3. Lap 14 saw the restart until lap l9 when the yellow flew once again for the #84 and #74 which both went into the pits.

Racing continued from lap 21 to lap 28 when the caution flew for the fifth time for the #2 of Randy Fox in turn 3 and 4 wall. During this time, the #78 of BJ McLeod had worked his way up into the second spot behind Powell.

Caution 6 on lap 39 came out for the #88 of Travis Kittleson that had gone around. The #12 of Justin Drawdy which had run hard all three races came into the x with mechanical problems. The race was restarted on lap 41 and in the restart, Lee Collins in the #89 was shuffled back into the pack from his fourth place running position. Lap 49 saw caution 7 for the #32 which was trying to get off the track. Caution 8 on lap 53 came out for the #l6 of Bruce Lawrence and the #2 of Randy Fox in turns 1 and 2.

Lap 55 saw a restart and BJ McLeod shot out to the front but the caution was brought out and it was ruled that BJ jumped the start. The green was then flown again until caution 9 came out for the #9 of Jonathan Brown and the #72 of Mike Franklin, Jr. The two tangled with Brown being sent to the rear. The race restarted on lap 65 with the #88 of Travis Kittleson coming off the track into the pits. On lap 72, the #34 of Ricky Carlton moved into the third spot. Lap 75 saw caution l0 for the #16 of Bruce Lawrence and the #9 of Jonathan Brown pulled in due to lack of steering. When the race restarted on lap 77 it was James Powell in the lead, BJ McLeod, Ricky Carlton, Dick Anderson, and Bobby Beauchemin, the 2000 SARA Late Model Sportsman Champion in fifth.

Caution 11 came out on lap 81 when the #l6 went around. Lap 83 saw the restart until lap 86 when the caution flag flew once again for the twelth time for the #40 of Shelby Howard. When the race was restarted on lap 87, it was Powell, McLeod, Carlton, Anderson, and Franklin. Lap 93 saw Anderson take over third and on lap 98 he had moved into second position. Then caution 13 came out for the #56 of Wayne Morris who took a short trip around in turns 3 and 4 on lap 110. The race restarted on lap 112.

During this time, the #78 of BJ McLeod had begun losing brakes and was quickly falling back. On lap 114 Anderson took the lead from Powell. Caution 14, the last of the yellow flags, flew on lap 116 for DeWayne Dempsey who was around between turns 1 and 2. The race restarted on lap 118 with Anderson in the lead, Powell, Carlton, Franklin and Cope.

After three hard days of some very good racing, no one won the $50,000.00 bonus since there was a different winner each night. And after points were totalled, it was Dick Anderson on top of the three day event. BJ had won on his birthday Friday, Anderson won on his birthday Sunday. And Anderson was the Points Champion of the Triple Crown with Jimmy Cope as the 2000 Florida Sunbelt Late Model Champion.

-Jane Smith



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