by Dave Westerman

Longwood’s Tim Russell used a “wait and see” strategy before scoring his third Late Model victory of the year Saturday night at Auburndale Speedway. Another large crowd enjoyed some early Fall-like weather and some great racing including a “feel good” win by a little nine year old girl who stands barely three feet tall.

Russell started off the evening by setting quick time among the 21 machines that survived afternoon practice. 23 cars signed in but both Raymond Lovelady and Gayle Haines suffered machanical ills and had their machines in the trailer by qualifying time.

Russell’s lap of 13.475 seconds topped the 13.577 lap turned in by Daniel Webster. Anthony Campi was third quick at 13.610 followed by Jason Vail, Ryan Lisak and Johnathan Guy. The re-draw saw Russell pull a six pill while Webster drew the pole with Guy starting from the outside pole slot.

Webster grabbed the initial lead as Guy slipped a bit on the high side and dropped to fourth. Russell also got hung on the outside and dropped back to eighth. The caution was out quickly at the beginning of lap two as Joe Boyd went around in turn two with Russell just missing him having to come to a complete halt on the low side of the track.

Webster set the pace on the restart but the yellow was back out again as Sean Bass, running as a teammate to Webster, tangled up with Johnathan Waters on the back stretch. The third caution flew on lap 11 when Jimmy Castleberry pounded the back stretch wall and rode the concrete all the way to turn three.

Castleberry was OK but his car needed a tow from the track.

Webster continued to hold the point but now had huge pressure from both Anthony Campi and Jason Vail. Campi grabbed the lead on lap 22 bringing Vail with him. Just one lap later, Vail dove under Campi going into turn one and the two raced side-by-side off turn two before encountering the lapped car of Waters who was blocking Campi on the outside lane. Campi took evasive action and, in turn, punted Vail off into the infield grass. Vail’s car slid wildly into the dirt bank surrounding the turn three light pole.

Unbelievably, Vail’s car received little damage and he returned to the race.

Both teams became livid when track officials placed the two drivers at the rear of the field for the restart as they felt the lapped car triggered the incident. Campi took his car off the speedway with damage from the encounter and did not return while Vail reluctantly restarted from the tail of the field.

That put Webster back out front for the restart ahead of Guy and Ryan Lisak and he began to pull ahead off the pair chasing him. The green was out only until lap 30 when Donny Williams went for a spin in turn two.

On the restart only some great driving would avoid a major mess. Webster’s car would not fire and he pulled off into the infield as second-running Guy somehow managed to keep from smashing into Webster’s slowing car. Other drivers weren’t as lucky as several found themselves looking the wrong way. Fortunately the only damage was cosmetic and everyone continued including Webster who pitted while the cars were being lined up, made repairs, and came back out to start from the rear of the restart line-up still on the lead lap.

Johnathan Guy now became the leader and he quickly began to put distance between himself and second place Ryan Lisak who found himself being hounded by Russell who had worked his way up to third spot. Again, green flag racing was short-lived as Josh Todd spun off turn four to bring out the caution on lap 40.

The field returned to green but just six laps later the leaders encountered their second close call of the event as David Weaver, running near the tail of the field, blew his engine headed into turn one. Before flagman Scott Jackman could throw the yellow, the lead group hit the oil. Guy did a “slide fo life” but kept going straight. Lisak spun and tagged the wall slightly while Russell somehow missed him. Several other cars spun or went sliding with Ron Lofquist also getting a piece of the concrete. Once again though, all the damage was merely cosmetic and only Weaver was out of the race.

No one was penalized and the field hit the half-way mark shortly after the green flag flew with Guy leading Lisak, Russell, David King, Steve Tregear, a resurgent Jason Vail, Rusty Ebersole, Jason Rendell, Webster and Ricky Diaz.

Lap 51 saw Russell finally get a run on Lisak and he took second spot with King following him through for third spot. Vail moved into the top five by passing Tregear on lap 54. Lap 61 saw caution number eight as Diaz spun in turn one.

The restart put Russell right on the back bumper of Guy and the race for the lead was under way. Russell was simply too strong and he powered by Guy on the outside to take the lead on lap 66 and began building a sizeable lead while Guy had a similar advantage over third place King.

Lap 79 saw the good race back to the front for both Vail and Webster come to an abrupt halt as the two tangled earning them both a trip back to the tail of the restarting field. One lap later, Diaz spun again for yellow flag number ten.

Russell continued to lead easily but would have to slow three more times before the end of the race. Both Donny Williams and Ricky Diaz spun at the same time on lap 86 for caution number 11. Webster made it an even dozen caution periods when he stopped on the back stretch one lap later needing a push back to the pit area. It would be a baker’s dozen 13 cautions when Vail spun out on lap 96 for the final caution.

Russell had no problem claiming his third Late Model win of the year with Guy, in just his third Late Model race of his young career, coming home with a strong second. Russell was very complimentary of his crew in victory lane saying his car was running great. He indicated he used plenty of patience and dodged a few bullets before taking the checker. Guy had little say in victory lane as he was completely exhausted after just his third 100 lap effort in the class. King was very happy to take the show position as the veteran driver continues to run impressively this year. Lisak came home with a nice fourth place finish and Tregear was very happy as his low-buck effort came home fifth.

Rusty Ebersole kept his car totally clean throughout the 100 laps and he earned a sixth place finish. Jason Rendell, driving a car that “has just been sitting around the shop,” took seventh followed by Josh Todd and Perry Lovelady. Vail came back to eventually take the checker in tenth.

Brandon Morris grabbed the lead from Mark Medeiros on lap nine and went on to score his first Sportsman win of the year. Just three minor cautions slowed the action in this 25 lap race as Medeiros held off fast qualifier Lance Daubach for second. Eddie Hartin was running fourth on the last lap but blew his engine and dropped to eighth in the final run-down.

Fourth eventually went to point leader Dave Dunkin with Richard Elkins, Jr.

fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Chuck Harrison, Jr., Richard Fiore, Jr., Hartin, Ricky Todd and Brandon Duchscherer.

The Legend Cars were back after a couple of weeks off and showed up 21 strong. Point leader Jake Perkins set quick time but would see Gerald White, Jr. grab the lead at the start of their 30 lap feature.

White stayed out front for five laps before Mason Ketterman sped by to take the point before Dakota Baggett slowed to a stop in turn four to bring out the first caution. White re-claimed the lead on lap nine just before Brady Marshall spun for yellow flag number two on lap ten.

White continued to hold the front spot but Kory Abbott was on the charge. Abbott, who made it to the track just before qualifying after finishing his afternoon performance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios where he is a stunt driver, started fifth but snared the lead from White on lap 13 with Perkins following him into second spot.

Caution was out again on lap 23 as Corey White and Chase Fitzgerald tangled in turn two. On the ensuing restart, White spun out and lost several positions. One final yellow flag was thrown on lap 24 for a Leroy Moore spin.

Abbott had Perkins keeping him honest but the Apopka driver, the only Floridian to qualify for the “Legends Million” race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in July, grabbed his first Auburndale win of the year. Perkins was second trailed by Ketterman, Lynn Wiles and Donovan Ponder. Completing the top ten were Dave Gleason, Baggette, Gary Verdier, Zach Napoleon and Seth Adams.

The Legend Cars also ran a special show for national points only on Friday night. Lynn Wiles set fast time and Jake Perkins won the race.

Bobby Mobley set quick time then led every lap of the Street Stock feature. Only one caution, for a lap four tangle between Austin Jenkins and Kyle Hall, slowed Mobley’s pace. Cody McDuffie came home second followed by Jeff Waterman, James Wright III and Kyle Peters. Point leader Matt McCrary took sixth with Chris Spring, Dave Colpritt, Hall and Jenkins rounding out the top ten.

George Gorham, Jr. also scored a wire to wire win in the Scramblers after setting fast time. Driving a new car, Gorham had a relatively easy run topping point leader Kimberly Gullett. Third spot went to Reggie Ware followed by Jerry Pruitt and Brandon Strivel. Richard Brown took sixth with Dave Canfield, Gary Brown, Jr., Lee Tanner and Brian Tyre completing the top ten.

Rick Ragan topped a somewhat short field of Mini Cup cars leading the feature all the way after winning the heat race. Skip Baird was a distant second followed by Brandon Beach, Frank Beach and Brett Suggs.

Bandolero action saw Ryan Shattuck pass fast qualifier Joey Padgett on the second lap then speed to his second straight win. Teddy Lively grabbed the runner-up spot while Padgett held on for third. Andy Metz was fourth and Daniel Conlin, Jr. fifth. Noah Cornman was the top finishing Bandit (8 to 11 year old) driver in sixth.

Nine-year-old Kristin Clements made a bold move to win the Kids Club heat race, then led every lap of the feature race to score the victory in her first-ever competition. Kristin was happy but shaking like a leaf in victory lane as she was joined by her dad who was the co-driver in the passenger seat for the win. Dakota Hunt was second ahead of Justin Cribbs and Drew Kingsley.

Next week the School Bus Figure 8’S return along with a Demolition Derby.

The Figure 8 cars will also make their third appearance of the year plus the V-8 Bombers, Mini Stocks, Scramblers, Legends and Bandoleros will also be on the card. The Legends will be running their Regional Qualifier and the Bandoleros will be running their Florida State Championship race. Racing action starts at 7PM. For more information call 863-551-1131 or log on to www.auburndaleracing.com powered by Palm Tree Computers.

OFFICIAL RESULTS – AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY – 9/18/10:

LATE MODELS:
1-#36 Tim Russell
2-#42 Johnathan Guy
3-#22 David King
4-#17 Ryan Lisak
5-#18 Steve Tregear
6-#23 Rusty Ebersole
7-#14 Jason Rendell
8-#89 Josh Todd
9-#50 Perry Lovelady
10-#407 Jason Vail
11-#111 Donny Williams
12-#49 Ron Lofquist
13-#33 Daniel Webster
14-#13 Ricky Diaz
15-#11 David Weaver
16-#72 Wally Warrick
17-#5 Joe Boyd
18-#21 Jonathan Waters
19-#81 Anthony Campi
20-#88 Jimmy Castleberry
21-#3 Sean Bass
DNS #7 Raymond Lovelady
DNS #60 Gayle Haines

STREET STOCKS:
1-#29 Bobby Mobley
2-#25 Cody McDuffie
3-#42 Jeff Waterman
4-#56 James Wright III
5-#53 Kyle Peters
6-#5 Matt McCrary
7-#142 Chris Spring
8-#4 Dave Colpritt
9-#17 Kyle Hall
10-#89 Austin Jenkins
11-#18 David Williams
12-#45 Joe Dowdy
13-#86 Jamie Castleberry

SCRAMBLERS:
1-#1 George Gorham, Jr.
2-#28 Kimberly Gullett
3-#96 Reggie Ware
4-#17 Jerry Pruitt
5-#7 Brandon Strivel
6-#62 Richard Brown
7-#71 Dave Canfield
8-#52 Gary Brown, Jr.
9-#67 Lee Tanner
10-#66 Bryan Tyre
11-#42 Mike Bauer

SPORTSMAN:
1-#56 Brandon Morris
2-#13 Mark Medeiros
3-#77 Lance Daubach
4-#71 Dave Dunkin
5-#55 Richard Elkins, Jr.
6-#8 Chuck Harrison, Jr.
7-#60 Richard Fiore, Jr.
8-#48 Eddie Hartin
9-#89 Richard Todd
10-#22 Brandon Duscherer
11-#111 Donny Williams
12-#07 Steve Smith
13-#89x Brett Jenkins
DNS #8x Austin Carr

MINI CUPS:
1-#21 Rick Ragan
2-#2 Skip Baird
3-#47 Brandon Beach
4-#46 Frank Beach
5-#3 Brett Suggs
6-#71 Duane Foster
7-#74 John Beach

KIDS CLUB:
1-#5 Kristin Clements
2-#99 Dakota Hunt
3-#18 Justin Cribbs
4-#55 Drew Kingsley

LEGEND CARS:
1-#5R Kory Abbott
2-#59 Jake Perkins
3-#71 Mason Ketterman
4-#31 Lynn Wiles
5-#81 Donovan Ponder
6-#17 Dave Gleason
7-#7 Dakota Baggette
8-#44 Gary Verdier
9-#1 Zach Napoleon
10-#5 Seth Adams
11-#38 Gerald White, Jr.
12-#8 Justin Brown
13-#2 Cory White
14-#14 Brady Marshall
15-#00 Anthony Cataldi
16-#83 Danielle Stratton
17-#51 Roger Englund
18-#96 Chase Fitzgerald
19-#21 Devin McLeod
20-#28 Joey Collins
21-#99 Leroy Moore

BANDOLEROS:
1-#13 Ryan Shattuck
2-#96 Teddy Lively
3-#83 Joey Padgett
4-#48 Andy Metz
5-#11 Daniel Conlin, Jr.
6-#30 Noah Cornman (Bandit)
7-#38 Cameron White (Bandit)
8-#03 Jacob Hunter

Next week the School Bus Figure 8’S return along with a Demolition Derby. The Figure 8 cars will also make their third appearance of the year plus the V-8 Bombers, Mini Stocks, Scramblers, Legends and Bandoleros will also be on the card. Racing action starts at 7 PM. For more information call 863-551-1131 or log on to www.auburndaleracing.com powered by Palm Tree Computers.
 

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