WEEK #2 AT NSS LAUNCHES TECH INTO SPOTLIGHT

by Andy Sandall
(03.20.10 – New Smyrna Speedway) The fans that made their way into the New Smyrna grandstands on a glorious Spring night had no idea that week 2 of the regular season would prove to be so controversial, but one look at the results sheet showed that the rulebook changes for 2010 were well in truly in effect and crucially were being enforced. By the time the lights went off in deepest Samsula a total of 10 cars that had taken to the track had been disqualified for rules infractions, with another driver seeing his night’s work stricken from the records due to his post-race actions in showing his displeasure to his rivals after an incredible Super Stock race. The night would also see the debut of the much talked-about E-Mod cars, a brand new variation of the popular modified class designed to tackle the long-standing criticism of the need for costly motors in this division head-on.

The E-Mods would provide the second race of the night, but first out came a field of predominantly young drivers in their Pro Trucks, making their second appearance of the season. With previous week’s winner #15 Cody Blair and multiple race winner #20 Anthony Sergi both starting at the back there was the opportunity for plenty of passing ahead, and sure enough both trucks were quickly making their way up to the front as the green flag dropped. At the front #28 TJ Duke and #82 Steve Jones were fighting it out door-to-door for the lead, but Blair was quickly up to 3rd place and chasing them down.

With just 5 laps in the books Blair suddenly went high in turn 1, repeating this in turn 4 before slowing down to a crawl as he came down the back straight, coming to rest high up the banks in turn 2 for a caution. A quick trip to the pits followed, and Blair was able to rejoin the race at the back for the restart, but with just two more laps under his belt he again slowed down and came to a standstill at the top of turn 4, this time needing assistance to get back to his pit crew. This would prove to be only the opening act in what became an evening of nightmares for Blair, who had planned on racing in three divisions during the evening’s program.

Duke would power away to the lead from the restart but with just 5 trucks now in the race the field was beginning to string out around the track, and this would be down to just 4 on the 20th lap as Jones went up in smoke and headed to the pits, meaning not only a caution but a clean-up to rid the racing surface of the substances pouring from his engine. From the restart Sergi would briefly challenge Duke at the front, but he would quickly fall back leaving Duke to take the checkered flag ahead of Sergi, #8 Bobby Kennedy and the last remaining car on track, #63 Zach Curtis.

But in 2010 taking the checkered flag in first place is only the first step towards claiming the win. Immediately after the race the winner now has to pull over and have their tires checked for hardness before progressing to the winner’s circle, which Duke duly completed satisfactorily and headed to the finish line for his photographs and post-race interview. But it took just a couple more races for the news to filter out that the top three trucks had all been thrown out in the post race inspection, handing the win to 3rd place finisher Curtis, and amazingly giving 2nd place to #24 Bruce Bennett and 3rd place to Cody Blair, neither of whom made it past the halfway point of the race.

The E-Modifieds made their debut on track next, with the small field probably hinting at the number of racers waiting to see how this division develops before committing to racing, or equally likely that a number of cars are still being built after the relatively recent publishing of the 2010 rulebook. With a new division always come new faces, although most of the names were familiar in this race albeit not necessarily from the old Florida modified races. Leading off the race from pole was #59 Chris Brannon, seen predominantly in 2009 competing with William Hindman in the Strictly Stock races. Another Strictly Stock regular #93 Bruce Gayton would start on the 2nd row, while at the back of the 5-car field was #15 Cody Blair, attempting to put a disastrous Pro Truck race immediately behind him.

Brannon would use pole position to stream away into a substantial lead, bringing long-standing modified racer #40 George Murphy with him at the front. Blair would also move around into 3rd place as both Gayton and #36 David Le Beau showed themselves to be well off the pace of the leaders, but again Blair would end the race with a ‘DNF’ as his newly-built car went up in smoke on the 5th lap, leading to a caution and seeing Blair back in the pits early for a second consecutive race. Once back up to speed it was Brannon and Murphy who again took off at the front to concentrate on a battle between themselves as the race developed.

Le Beau would pull his underpowered car off the track at the halfway mark, but Gayton would continue to put miles under his belt as the race wound down. By the time the checkered flag came out Brannon would take the win by a couple of car lengths ahead of Murphy, with Gayton back nearly 2/3rds of a lap in a distant 3rd place. Of course this was a new division for the 2010 season, and so the trip to the tech shed for post-race inspection was bound to be an interesting one, and so it was that both Brannon and Gayton were found to be illegal, handing the win to Murphy with Le Beau and Blair, who racked up less than 20 laps between them, taking the points for 2nd and 3rd places.

Some more familiar cars out onto the track next, and a much fuller field as the Super Stocks lined up in pit road to be led off by the shining, newly painted #51 of Butch Herdegen, making up the front row alongside the battle-scarred #211 of Jarret Korpi. These two would immediately head off at the front of the pack once the race got underway, and the field slowly developed as the first few laps were through. Behind them the familiar names of #01 Scott Smith and #56 Bobby Holley were making great strides through the traffic to position themselves handily as the race developed,

Numerous battles would develop around the track as the laps ticked over, Herdegen and Korpi racing hard at the front as old rivals Smith and Holley jostled for position as they chased down #3 Rob Kayse, who had settled down in a comfortable 3rd position behind the leaders. Elsewhere there was plenty of action for the fans further down the track as #15 Michael Wofford raced hard with #16 David Russell for 7th, while behind them #2x Mike Amato and #86 Rich Goodrich were enjoying a tussle of their own for points that could prove crucial later in the year.

The first half of the race did little to separate the leaders, and as they passed the crossed flags from the flagstand there was just a single car length between them, with Herdegen still maintaining the slim lead over Korpi, but behind him Holley had made his way past Smith and was now chasing down Kayse in 3rd. Korpi would finally make his move on the 19th lap, going hot into turn 1 down the inside of Herdegen, and despite having to hang on for dear life as his car fought back against his aggressive entry into the corner, he was able to keep ahead as they went into the back straight and all the way around to the start line, putting Herdegen out of the lead for the first time in the race.

But Herdegen was not to be denied, and with Korpi pushing his car to the limit Herdegen knew he still had something in reserve, so with the sight of slower cars ahead of him the #51 cleverly moved to the outside groove, pinning his younger rival down on the inside as they quickly closed in on the lapped cars. Korpi had nowhere to go, and despite pushing his car as hard as he could, Herdegen pushed his car back into the lead, running perfectly to keep Korpi low and denying him a clear run at getting back ahead. With 2 laps to go Korpi had no choice and had to swing out wide and try to go even higher outside his rival, and as they came out of turn 4 for the last time the race for the finish saw Herdegen with just enough speed to hold off the #211 and take a hard-fought win in what had been a great race.

The race at the front was not the only intriguing battle during the closing laps of this feature, and behind the leaders Holley had also been using the lapped traffic to his advantage as he chased down Kayse. With nowhere to go Kayse and Holley were more than happy to make contact with each other, but in this battle of wills it was Holley that proved stronger and he sailed through the finish line to take 3rd just ahead of Kayse’s #3 car. Their battle was far from over, and on the warm-down lap Kayse decided to show Holley exactly what he thought of his driving by forcing the nose of his car hard into Holley’s rear bumper in turn 2. After a brief tussle of cars, Holley was able to continue, but Kayse was still hot, and again took a shot at Holley’s car, but this time in pit road as the tech officials checked the cars tires. For this it was no surprise that Kayse became the next driver to be announced as disqualified, this time for unsportsmanlike conduct, and it was a shame that this cast something of a cloud over what had been an incredible but clean race at the front between Herdegen and Korpi. The DQ confirmed Holley in 3rd place, pushing Smith up to 4th and seeing Russell rounding out the top 5.

Limited Late Models came out next for their feature, but this race too would start off with an incident as the fight for 3rd place between #9z Zach Donnatti and #33 Casey Caudill saw contact in turn 1 of the 3rd lap mean the cars hooked up and headed high into the turn 2 wall lked together, Donnatti taking the brunt of the impact and meaning the emergency crews had to rush onto the track to check that the young driver was alright. After a brief moment of concern he was out of his car, but his race was over for the night, although Caudill was able to continue after a trip to the pits, aided by the lengthy delay before the restart. His night would quickly be over too, lasting just 5 more laps before retiring.

Once back underway the race at the front was dominated by #9 Rich Clouser and #55 Todd Allen, although Clouser would soon make the race his own and move off into a substantial lead. Behind him Allen would be briefly challenged by #98 Bobby Joe Woodley, but this challenge wouldn’t last for long and soon the front 3 cars had plenty of distance between them. Elsewhere the crowd was treated to the return of the popular #4 Cynthia Strahley, making a rare appearance back out on the track but showing enough pace to suggest that it would take just a few races for her to be fully competitive again.

With green flag laps now being put in the books for posterity, Allen would slightly close the gap on Clouser but still not threaten his lead, and the checkered flag was taken by Clouser by ½ the length of the straight ahead of Allen, with Woodley an equal distance behind him in 3rd. The #20 of Anthony Sergi was well behind in 4th, and the last remaining car on track was the lapped #7 of Billon Jackson. The infamous tech shed again proved pivotal in the final result of this race, and although both Clouser and Allen sailed through with no issues, the cars of Woodley, Sergi and Jackson were all thrown out giving 3rd place to Strahley ahead of Caudill and the luckless Donatti.

A brief intermission would follow, and then the Sportman division would start the second half of the show, a week after #111 Donnie Williams and #23 Mike Pletka had kicked the season off with an incredible battle that saw Williams edge out his friend and rival in a final lap race to the finish where neither car had let the other out of its shadow for the entire 25 laps. For their second race of the season it was Williams and Pletka who again made the running up at the front, but this time Pletka was able to take the advantage and run with clear track ahead of him. Williams would be briefly challenged by #3 James Frisbie before pulling clear, while #45A Adam Soukup was enjoying track time at the rear of the field after handling problems in afternoon practice combined with still running the gear from his previous night’s trip to Orlando Speedworld meant he was never likely to threaten the leaders.

By half distance in the race Williams had got within a car length of Pletka, well ahead of Frisbie in 3rd place and with Soukup already a lap down, but a sideways slide out of turn 2 would cost him momentum and see him slowly drop back to give a gap between himself and the leader that Pletka would not surrender. The 2009 champion in the #23 car would take the checkered flag ahead of Williams, putting the two drivers back on equal points in the early standings of their division championship.

The Sportsman cars would be replaced on track by the Mini Stocks, a division that could possibly give Cody Blair a happy ending to what had been a disastrous night’s racing so far. Starting on the second row, Blair wasted no time in coming around into 2nd place, chasing down #8x Robbie Yoakam who had sped away into an early lead. Yoakam and Blair would quickly be well ahead of #09 Todd Haught in 3rd and clear of the field, but Blair’s night would soon turn into an absolute nightmare as again just 5 laps into the race his car started pushing high into the turns and dropping back off the pace and back to the rear of the field. Blair would take a couple more laps around the track in the vain hope that the car would somehow sort itself out and get back up to speed, but with Yoakam now half a lap ahead of his competitors, Blair limped back into the pits for his 3rd DNF of the night, although ironically – thanks to the tech inspectors – with the points for 2 third place finishes under his belt!

Back on the track Yoakam was significantly faster than his rivals and would take the checkered flag over half a lap ahead of the #19 Rick Maguire in 2nd place. Maguire had provided the race’s main entertainment thanks to a long battle with Haught for the runners up spot, while the previous week’s winner #23 Wayne Wells came home 4th after catching the battle ahead of him in the closing laps and briefly challenging for a higher finish.

Just the Strictly Stock cars left to race and finish off the night, but their night got off to a spectacular opening at the #77 of Buddy Rainey came out of turn 4 for the start with a magnificent plume of smoke, reminiscent of a classic 1930s steam locomotive, pouring from its hood. Rainey would quickly pull back into the pits, but the track would require an extensive clean up before the pace truck was happy that a restart could be attempted.

Once underway the early running was made by #35 Chuck Hill, but behind him the near-identical SADE cars #60 Gino Tuminello, #13 Tony Candolino and the #9, formerly raced by Chris Brannon, who had earlier been disqualified after winning the E-Modified race, but tonight being driven by his father, David, were moving up to challenge. Of these cars it was Brannon, making his first ever appearance in a race at New Smyrna, who was showing the most speed and control, and he was shortly around the others and out into the lead, powering around Hill with barely 5 laps gone.

Brannon would pull away at the front and be totally in control of the race while Tuminello and Candolino provided the spectacle as they fought hard for 2nd place. Both cars took their turns leading this fight before Candolino overcooked it in turn 4 of the 15th lap, having to wrestle his car back under control and dropping back in the process. When the checkered flags were thrown to signal the end of the 2nd week of action it was Brannon who took a convincing win ahead of Tuminello, with Candolino out of the picture in 3rd place ahead of the dependable #21M of Maureen Dahm in 4th.

But it was entirely fitting on this night of multiple disqualifications that the night should end with another overturned win, this time seeing Brannon disqualified as the technical inspectors quickly discovered his car was lacking any rear brakes! And so the night drew to a close with a miserable night for the Brannon family, a miserable night for the Sergi family after their son Anthony was disqualified from both of his races, and perhaps the biggest cloud of the night hanging over Cody Blair, who had taken three cars onto the track in three different divisions and had failed to finish a single race. For these three racers, week three of the season simply couldn’t come around quickly enough.

NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
OFFICIAL RESULTS – 03.20.10

LATE MODELS
1. #9 Rich Clouser
2. #55 Todd Allen
3. #4 Cynthia Strahley
4. #33 Casey Caudill
5. #9z Zack Donatti
DQ #98 Bobby Joe Woodley
DQ #20 Anthony Sergi
DQ #7 Billon Jackson
DNS #44 George Donnally

E-MODIFIEDS
1. #40 George Murphy
2. #36 David Le Beau
3. #15 Cody Blair
DQ #59 Chris Brannon
DQ #93 Bruce Gayton

PRO-TRUCKS
1. #63 Zach Curtis
2. #24 Bruce Bennett
3. #15 Cody Blair
DQ #28 TJ Duke
DQ #20 Anthony Sergi
DQ #8 Bobby Kennedy
DQ #82 Steve Jones
DNS #7 Thomas Warnick

SPORTSMAN
1. #23 Mike Pletka
2. #111 Donny Williams
3. #3 James Frisbie
4. #45A Adam Soukup
5. #211 Jack Lenzen

MINI-STOCKS
1. #8x Robbie Yoakam
2. #19 Rick Maguire
3. #09 Todd Haught
4. #23 Wayne Wells
5. #24 Andy Giammalvo
6. #81 Cody Blair

SUPER STOCKS
1. #51 Butch Herdegen
2. #211 Jarrett Korpi
3. #56 Bobby Holley
4. #01 Scott Smith
5. #16 David Russell
6. #60 Ernie Tuminello
7. #15 Michael Wofford
8. #2x Mike Amato
9. #86 Richard Goodrich
10. #21D Mike Dahm
11. #22 Bruce McGonigal
DQ #3 Rob Kasye

STRICTLY STOCKS
1. #60 Gino Tuminello
2. #13 Tony Candalino
3. #35 Chuck Hill
4. #21M Maureen Dahm
5. #57 Joe Candalino
6. #77 Buddy Rainey
DQ #9 David Brannon