by Dave Westerman

There was rain all around Auburndale Speedway Saturday afternoon and early evening, but none of the wet stuff fell directly at the track allowing for a full night of great competition.

The Open Wheel Modifieds were back in action and in qualifying it was James Wright III the fastest, turning a lap at 14.302 seconds topping the 14.392 lap of Von Pope. Keith Lilley, Kyle Bookmiller and Travis Roland rounded out the quickest five in time trials.

The re-draw for the 40 lap feature saw Lilley on the pole with Pope outside of him. Roland and Harold Crooms made up row two while fast-timer Wright lined up fifth with Bookmiller in sixth.

Lilley wasted little time grabbing the early lead. Pope gamely tried to make the outside line work but had to settle in third spot behind Lilley and Roland. Wright zipped by Pope and took third on lap nine as Roland was putting constant pressure on Lilley. By lap 15, Wright had caught the leaders and the race was on.

The first caution flag flew on lap 25 for a two car altercation coming off turn two involving Crooms and Bookmiller and both continued. On the restart, Lilley missed a shift but was able to keep the lead along with avoiding piling up the cars behind him. The second yellow flag came out on lap 29 for a John Markovich spin.

Lilley, Roland and Wright continued to run bumper to bumper with some good, clean racing as they left the rest of the field in their wake. Lap 35 saw the final caution as Crooms took a wild slide off turn four into the infield grass.

Lilley, who has had nothing but bad luck in the Modifieds this year, got the monkey off his back with a wire-to-wire win and praised Roland’s clean driving in his victory lane interview. Roland backed up his June win with a strong second while Wright grabbed yet another third place finish. Pope came home fourth while Tommy Schnader took fifth spot. Completing the top ten were Bookmiller, Johnnie Newsome, Bobby Blake, Shain Held and Markovich. All 15 starters were running at the finish.

There’s a new “hot dog” in the Sportsman class as young Lance Daubach of Plant City simply put on a show in taking his first-ever win in the class in just his second time out in his new racer.

This one was a fantastic race from start to finish with the entire field running side-by-side the opening three laps. Heat winner Richard Elkins, Jr.

led the first two laps before a very strong Brett Jenkins took over on lap three. Daubach got by Elkins for second on lap five but was a good distance behind the leader.

Daubach began to eat away at Jenkins’ lead while Elkins and point leader Dave Dunkin started a crowd-pleasing dogfight for third. Daubach was flying and zoomed past Jenkins for the top spot on lap 20. Three laps later, the only caution of the race flew for a tangle involving Josh Todd and Mark Medeiros. Brandon Duchscherer slowed with a flat tire just before the restart to keep the yellow out but was able to return again before the green flag flew.

Daubach had no trouble scooting to the win while Jenkins finished a solid second. Elkins will have to take a hammer to beat out the body damage on his car from Dave Dunkin’s repeated attempts to snatch third spot toward the end of the race, but he held on to the position ahead of Dunkin and Jerrell Cook.

Gerald White, Jr. added to his point lead with a green to checker victory in the Legend Car feature. Tyler Smith started sixth and gamely worked his way to second, but with the race running without a caution flag, Smith had no chance of catching the fleet White. Jake Perkins took the checkered flag in third followed by Seth Adams and Justin Brown. Lynn Wiles, Mason Ketterman, Devin McLeod, Matt Larmore and Dakota Baggette rounded out the top ten. Heats went to White and Perkins.

The Street Stocks ran a rare all-green flag race and it was Bobby Mobley leading every lap for his second win of the season. Dave Colpritt kept Mobley honest in the early going and fell back a few car lengths at the checker but still finished a solid second. James Wright III picked up his second third place finish of the evening while point leaders Matt McCrary and Jeff Waterman were fourth and fifth. The rest of the top ten were Jerrell Cook, Kyle Hall, Cody McDuffie, Robert Crisp and Richie Shepherd. Mobley also won the heat race.

Fred Harrison, Jr. returned to victory circle in the Mini Stocks leading every lap as yet again another feature race went all the way without a yellow flag. Point leader Chris Spring was a distant second ahead of Jason Swilley, Mark Wells and Shawn Jenkins.

The V-8 Bombers saw Gene Harrison snare his second win of the year in wire-to-wire fashion in a race slowed twice, once for a big-time blown engine in Buddy Phillips, Jr.’s car. Harrison topped Larry Chumney II, Preston Davis, newcomer Frank Pierce and Jeff Lacey.

Teddy Lively added to his win streak in the Bandoleros as he led most of the way to make it four straight victories. Cameron White took second with young Jake Hunter taking a third in just his second week out. Heat winner Andy Metz was fourth ahead of Michael Held and new driver Dustin Turnage, Jr.

Next Saturday night, July 31st, it’s Family Fun Night featuring a Demolition Derby, 100 lap Enduro race, Figure 8’s, 4 Cyl. Figure 8’s, V-8 Bombers, Scramblers, Street Stocks, Legend Cars, Bandoleros and the Kids Club. Racing starts at 7PM. For more information call 863-551-1131 or log on to www.auburndaleracing.com.

OFFICIAL RESULTS – AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY – 7/24/10

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OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS:

1-#87 Keith Lilley, Lakeland

2-#10 Travis Roland, Lake Alfred

3-#56 James Wright III, Lakeland

4-#101 Von Pope, Haines City

5-#19 Tommy Schnader, Largo

6-#03 Kyle Bookmiller, Riverview

7-#31 Johnnie Newsome, Ocala

8-#75 Bobby Blake, Zephyrhills

9-#55 Shain Held, Orlando

10-#62 John Markovich, Eaton Park

11-#29 Ricky Coffin, Lutz

12-#07 Harold Crooms, Lakeland

13-#65 Ken Lawrence, Auburndale

14-#9 Ron Armillei, Land O’ Lakes

15-#98 Matt Jarrett, Orlando

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SPORTSMAN:

1-#77 Lance Daubach, Plant City

2-#89x Brett Jenkins, Lakeland

3-#55 Richard Elkins, Jr., Auburndale

4-#71 Dave Dunkin, Lakeland

5-#47 Jerrell Cook, Eagle Lake

6-#13 Mark Medeiros, Lake Wales

7-#48 Eddie Hartin, Lakeland

8-#22 Brandon Duchscherer, Eagle Lake

DQ-#89 Josh Todd, Polk City

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LEGEND CARS:

1-#38 Gerald White, Jr., Lakeland

2-#4 Tyler Smith, Clermont

3-#59 Jake Perkins, Ocala

4-#5 Seth Adams, Mulberry

5-#8 Justin Brown, Orlando

6-#31 Lynn Wiles, Plant City

7-#71 Mason Ketterman, Palm Bay

8-#21 Devin McLeod, Zephyrhills

9-#67 Matt Larmore, Clermont

10-#7 Dakota Baggette, Lakeland

11-#99 Leroy Moore, Brooksville

12-#4R Zach Napoleon, Wesley Chapel

13-#81 Donovan Ponder, Orlando

14-#07 Dave Gleason, Orlando

15-#83 Danielle Stratton, Tavares

16-#51 Roger Englund, Palm Bay

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STREET STOCKS:

1-#29 Bobby Mobley, Eagle Lake

2-#4 Dave Colpritt, Lakeland

3-#56 James Wright III, Lakeland

4-#5 Matt McCrary, Auburndale

5-#42 Jeff Waterman, Lake Wales

6-#46 Jerrell Cook, Eagle Lake

7-#17 Kyle Hall, Winter Haven

8-#25 Cody McDuffie, Lakeland

9-#88 Robert Crisp, St. Petersburg

10-#92 Richie Shepherd, Sarasota

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V-8 BOMBERS:

1-#88 Gene Harrison, Lakeland

2-#96 Larry Chumney II, Auburndale

3-#89 Preston Davis, Polk City

4-#7 Frank Pierce, Mulberry

5-#105 Jeff Lacey, Winter Haven

6-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr., Winter Haven

7-#29 Michael Smith, Auburndale

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MINI STOCKS:

1-#21 Fred Harrison, Jr., Polk City

2-#42 Chris Spring, Auburndale

3-#40 Jason Swilley, Auburndale

4-#551 Mark Wells, Seffner

5-#89 Shawn Jenkins, Lakeland

6-#2 Dwight Ryals, Jr., Plant City

7-#155 James Pate, Lakeland

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BANDOLEROS:

1-#96 Teddy Lively, Ruskin (Outlaw)

2-#38 Cameron White, Lakeland (Bandit)

3-#03 Jacob Hunter, Sebastian (Outlaw)

4-#48 Andy Metz, Lakeland (Outlaw)

5-#55 Michael Held, Orlando (Bandit)

6-#1Jr Dustin Turnage, Jr., Vero Beach (Bandit)

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