by Dave Westerman

Drivers and fans alike have something different to look forward to this Saturday night at Auburndale Speedway. As of Tuesday night crews finished installing four feet of tapered concrete to the bottom of the turns in hopes this will encourage more two-wide racing, especially in classes like the Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds and Auburndale Trucks.

As of Wednesday, all that remains to be done is to smooth out the dirt areas on the lower portion of the turns. There are no more “rumble strips” that drivers complained about for several years.

The first of the “big dog” classes to try the new layout will be the Open Wheel Modifieds. They will be joined by the Sportsman, Mini Cups, Legend Cars, Mini Stocks, V-8 Bombers, Kids Club and Bandoleros.

The Open Wheel Modifieds are one of the most competitive classes you’ll find anywhere. Steady Wayne Morris took home a win two weeks ago and moved into the point lead by 18 markers over two-time winner Kyle Bookmiller. Kevin Macy was leading the points two weeks ago but a less-than-stellar finish leaves him three points arrears of second place Bookmiller. Expect a good field of cars to be on hand to check out the new shape of the track.

Dave Dunkin’s big crash two weeks ago saw his 30 point advantage trimmed to just two by race winner Austin Carr in the Sportsman division. The rookie contender Carr has been super strong since jumping behind the wheel of Chuck Harrison, Sr.’s #22 and took his first career victory in that race. Mark Medeiros is still a close third in Sportsman points just 16 back of Carr.

The Mini Cups are hoping for a better showing than their very “choppy” race of a few weeks back that saw the number of laps cut due to time constraints. Sam Scott holds a four point advantage over Harold Crooms and is 12 points up on third place John Beach.

Jake Perkins broke Gerald White, Jr.’s three-race win streak last Saturday night but White still holds the Legend Car point lead by 22 over Perkins while Justin Brown is just two points behind “No Brake Jake.”

After a wild race last week, Chris Spring has re-taken the Mini Stock point lead by just a pair of markers over Fred Harrison, Jr. who had his first DNF last Saturday after a bit of an “altercaton” with Spring. Chris Narramore, Sr. bounced back from a blown engine the week before to lead all the way in last weeks feature and remains third in the point chase, 20 behind leader Spring.

After a string of mechanical problems, Josh Borem got back in victory circle last week in the V-8 Bombers stretching his point lead over Buddy Phillips, Jr. to 60.

Pit gates open at 2PM, grandstands open at 5PM and racing begins at 7PM.

NOTES:

Expect a big night of racing on May 22nd as the Late Models return for the AMF Chassis/Chassis Works 100. Drivers expected include the winners of the two previous Late Model races this year, Jeff Scofield and Tim Russell along with Kevin “The Bulldozer” Ingram, veteran Perry Lovelady, Joe Boyd, Jason Vail, Danny Maddox and many more. Aaron’s will be on hand with a host of giveaways for the fans including a 60-inch big-screen TV. “Lucky Dog” will also be on hand to entertain the kids as well.

The track will host a special open practice night on May 21st that is open to the public. Admission will be $10 and is for the pit area only. Following practice there will be free food, drinks and beer plus a live band sponsored by Elkin’s Repair Service.

Racing legend Will Cagle was in the pits assisting grandson Chad Cutting for the final time before heading up to his summer home in North Carolina. Cagle lives not far from another racing legend, James Hylton, and helps the former NASCAR “Independent” work on his ARCA cars from time to time. Cutting has purchased the Dodge Omni formerly driven by Gene Harrison and ran the car for the first time last week while Jerry Cutting took over Chad’s old mount, renumbered 26.

Speaking of Gene Harrison, he moved up to the V-8 Bomber class last week as did fellow Scrambler driver Matt Johns. They finished third and fourth in the feature with Johns one spot in front of Harrison.

Auburndale Speedway’s new-look website should be up and running by this weekend.

Points as of May 8, 2010:

LATE MODELS:

1-#07 Jeff Scofield 201

2-#407 Jason Vail 167

3-#21 Kevin Ingram 165

4-#50 Perry Lovelady 156

5-#49 Ron Lofquist 153

6-#54 Ryan Lisak 132

7-#82 Danny Maddox 122

8-#39 Tyler Laing 120

9-#36 Tim Russell 103

10-#27 Cody Lane 100

?

OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS:

1-#98 Wayne Morris 517

2-#03 Kyle Bookmiller 499

3-#19 Kevin Macy 496

4-#56 James Wright III 492

5-#87 Keith Lilley 464

6-#75 Bobby Blake 436

7-#01 Von Pope 381

8-#00 Shawn Harper 357

9-#35 Ron Abney 324

10-#3 Harold Cannon 303

?

SPORTSMAN:

1-#71 Dave Dunkin 198

2-#22 Austin Carr 196

3-#13 Mark Medeiros 180

4-#51 Kyle Alford 146

5-#1 Bart Weatherford 118

6-#92 Ted Head 88

7-#60 Richard Fiore 84

8-#19 Chris Lewellen 70

9-#8 Brandon Duchscherer 66

#47 Bobby Mobley 66

?

MODIFIED MINI STOCKS:

1-#89 Scott Sharpe 256

2-#15 Jason Rendell 222

3-#55 Mike Sweet 208

4-#45 Dennis Jones 176

5-#38 Burt Morse 170

6-#26 Jimmy Pugh 162

7-#07 Bruce Anderson 126

8-#09 Jessica Robbins 82

9-#77 Lee Davis 80

10-#37 Brandon McSwain 72

?

TRUCKS:

1-#72 Keith Lilley 100

2-#1 Tommy King 78

3-#16 Tim Sozio 72

4-#2 Jim Cowhey, Jr. 70

5-#13 JR Garcia 60

6-#15 Roger Blevins 56

7-#77 Lance Daubach 46

8-#37 Nick Hernandez 44

9-#36 Austin Stamper 32

10-#99 Brent Tyler 30

?

LEGEND CARS:

1-#38 Gerald White, Jr. 360

2-#59 Jake Perkins 338

3-#8 Justin Brown 334

4-#71 Mason Ketterman 310

5-#07 Dave Gleason 272

6-#31 Lynn Wiles 216

7-#4R Zach Napoleon 194

8-#7 Dakota Baggette 162

9-#83 Danielle Stratton 146

10-#51 Roger Englund 136

?

STREET STOCKS:

1-#5 Matt McCrary 386

2-#42 Jeff Waterman 382

3-#4 Dave Colpritt 350

4-#56 James Wright III 284

5-#17 Kyle Hall 246

6-#48 Eddie Hartin 202

7-#29 Bobby Mobley 200

8-#65 Ken Lawrence 166

9-#3 Kevin O’Quinn 150

10-#16 Andy Harvard 122

?

MINI STOCK:

1-#42 Chris Spring 508

2-#21 Fred Harrison, Jr. 506

3-#3 Chris Narramore, Sr. 488

4-#33 Donnie Guy 470

5-#88 Kevin Steadman 292

6-#46 Randy King 270

7-#40 Jason Swilley 230

8-#4 Marilyn McCrary 202

9-#551 Mark Wells 158

#55 Steve Routt, Jr. 158

?

V-8 BOMBERS:

1-#111 Josh Borem 482

2-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr. 422

3-#0 Paul Bookmiller 352

4-#56 James Wright Sr 272

5-#42 Brandon Duchscherer 178

6-#96 Larry Chumney, Sr. 128

7-#14 Donnie King 124

8-#29 Brian Harbin 118

9-#18 Kevin Barton 94

10-#60 Greg Valdez 92

?

SCRAMBLERS:

1-#28 Kimberly Gullett 352

2-#66 Brian Tyre 348

3-#00 Chad Cutting 292

4-#62 Richard Brown 258

5-#51 Matt Johns 216

6-#4 Scott Russ 202

7-#71 Dave Canfield 184

8-#42 Mike Bauer 148

9-#52 Gary Brown 138

10-#9 Ashton Hunt 130

?

MINI CUPS:

1-#14 Sam Scott 88

2-#07 Harold Crooms 84

3-#74 John Beach 76

4-#1 Rick Ragan 68

5-#08 Tyler Scofield 56

#47 Brandon Beach 56

7-#27x Dale Pulst 54

#37 Rick Cline, Sr. 54

9-#48 Carlos Pinto 52

10-#24 Mike Holt 42

?

DWARF CARS:

1-#42 Jonathan Guy 98

2-#0 Sonny O’Sullivan 92

3-#25 Johnny Bass 68

4-#00 Bo Bass 44

5-#00 Donny Bass 42

6-#99 Terry Taylor 32

#9 Zane Davis 32

8-#0z Dan Statter 30

?

BANDOLEROS:

BANDITS:

1-#38 Cameron White 388

2-#5 Derek Sobel 148

3-#11 Coty Bibeau 44

4-#30 Noah Cornman 42

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OUTLAWS:

1-#13 Ryan Shattuck 146

2-#96 Teddy Lively 142

3-#48 Andy Metz 138

4-#1 Mark Bibeau 34