By Jimmy Rouse- Bubba Raceway Park Media
November 26, 2011
Though the event was sad as it marked the end of the 2011 season, the racing was spectacular leaving us all wanting more. Of course, along with our race winners we also had champions to crown and it was all done on the frontstretch.
The Mini Stocks ran on Friday night and they ended their season first. The race started with “Hammerdown” Shirlene Hammond pushing her 22H into the lead with Buddy Pope in hot pursuit. Megan Meyer made contact with the wall as she spun her 11M bringing out the caution on lap 3. The accident allowed Ray Folwell to put his 21X behind Pope. A 5 lap run followed before Nick Hebrank found his 9H going around in turn 2. Another 5 lap run followed with Hammond, Pope, and Folwell trying to take an advantage but it was stopped when Kris Prouty spun the 19T. On the lap 13 restart Megan Meyer, Prouty, and John Yates made contact and spun putting the yellow back out. On lap 18 a debris caution was thrown for Ryan Babcock’s nosecone in the entrance of turn 3. Hammond, Pope, and Folwell had separated themselves from the rest but the advantage was gone. “Hammerdown” took the 22H to a flag-to-flag victory while Pope and Folwell went 2nd and 3rd. Points champion Brittany Yates in her first season of auto racing was 4th and Stehphen Hahlbaugh completed the top 5. Kris Prouty finished 6th even with his troubles and Nick Hebrank was right behind him. Ryan Babcock, the only Mini Stock driver to start every feature, was 8th with Megan Meyer 9th and Reid Christensen completed the top 10. It was “Girl Power” in victory lane as the winner and champion came out for a celebration under the flagstand.
Along with the Mini Stocks the Barrett’s Race Cars And Components Of Daytona Beach Hobby Stocks ran on Friday night. Of course, Tommy Ausburn got a new view of Bubba Raceway Park as he violently flipped his #69 while leading the heat race. Kevin Durden, who actually started yelling, trying to find out if Ausburn was okay, lended his Thunderstock to Ausburn so he could start the feature and hold on to 5th place in points. On lap 2 Robert Sirmons cut the left rear bringing out a caution. Meanwhile Chad Scranton was leading with a bandaged hand. A 4 lap run was halted when Mark Maresca, Eric Arminio, Buck Woodhouse, Jeff Sargent, and Scott Haas spun in turn 4. Scranton had Tim Powers and Grady Christian in hot pursuit now. Powers made the pass on lap 7 and didn’t look back until lap 8 when Arminio and Brett Barrett made contact before Maresca, Woodhouse, and Sirmons joined in the accident. Joe Boyd brought out the yellow on lap 16 with Tim Gay right behind Powers. Trevor Gamble spun on lap 18 setting Powers, Gay, and Scranton up for a 2 lap dash. Powers slipped in the middle of 3 and 4 on the final lap giving Tim Gay a chance and driver #90 powered to the checkers. Powers finished 2nd but went to victory lane as the champion. Scranton, Christian, and Kevin Durden completed the top 5. Johnny Zackery finished 6th while Sean Babcock took an impressive 7th place finish. Don Woosley ended his season 8th, Buck Woodhouse was 9th, and Trevor Gamble finished 10th.
UMP DirtCar Open-Wheel Modified action got underway with one crazy line-up. Buzzie Reutimann and Wayne Hammond started on row 1 with a combined age of over 120. Row 2 consisted of David Reutimann and Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., both Powell Memorial champions. Row 3 had 2 of the fastest men at Bubba Raceway Park in Kyle Bronson and Mark Whitener. Lap 2 saw Jim Passino, Dalton Lanich, Joe Belkey, Scott Mooers, and Jason Davis involved in a spin. All continued on. A 20 lap run, the longest of the season, followed before Kent Corbin’s right front let go. This allowed every one to refuel and put more tear offs on as it was used as the competition caution. Hammond led David Reutimann and Kyle Bronson on the restart. Reutimann powered past Hammond on the restart and began to pull away but on lap 30 the field bunched back up when Jeff Mathews and Joe Belkey spun in turn 2. The restart saw David Moheng, B Main winner, spin in turn 4. The next restart saw Tim Powers, Buzzie Reutimann, Dalton Lanich, and Ronald Soltis get the worst of a brake check game. All continued on. David Moheng spun on lap 36 and Kyle Bronson made slight contact but not enough to destroy his race. Just 3 laps later Dalton Lanich broke something in the rear end while running an impressive 6th. Reutimann was still leading Bronson and Hammond through it all. With 10 to go Rich Pratt had a tire go flat and he brought out the yellow. On lap 43 Jeff Mathews slowed entering turn 1 and Jeff Bagent made what appeared to be incidental contact. The caution was thrown as the leaders were rapidly approaching. On the restart Mathews and Bagent showed their displeasure at each other and a brawl nearly came to be. Mathews calmed down when he remembered about the championship he so wanted. Both were parked for the remainder of the Modified event. It was green to the end but the David Reutimann Foundation D00 of David himself won with Wayne Hammond 2nd. Jason Davis took an impressive podium finish with Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. and Buzzie Reutimann behind. Tim Powers finished 6th, Kyle Bronson spun on the last lap trying to win and finished 7th, Ronald Soltis 8th, Rich Pratt 9th, and Dalton Lanich completed the top 10. In victory lane Reutimann was ecstatic and joked ‘The only thing I’ve won all year!’ Mathews went to the work area to suit up for his Late Model race.
The National Late Model Series Hedman Hussler Hedders Southern Dirt Tour finished their season at Bubba Raceway Park with an intense points battle between 3 drivers. On lap 8 John Koller spun out of turn 4. Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. led Mark Whitener and Austin Kirkpatrick at this time. The next 40 laps saw 1 of the most dominant performances you’ll ever see anywhere. Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. went faster and faster and lapped all but 1 driver and even he was 3/4 of a lap down at a point. On lap 48 Bobby Richardson lost air in the tire and found the turn 2 wall ending Lloyd’s chances of lapping the whole field. Mark Whitener was left with Lloyd on the lead lap which meant he could cruise around to an NLMS title. Lloyd took the $5000 check and the Bubba Raceway Park championship for the 3rd time (he hadn’t focused on winning the title since he last won it back in 1993) while Whitener became a National Late Model Series champion. Jeff Mathews showed that he can run the Late Model with the best and he finished 3rd with “IceMan” Austin Kirkpatrick a solid 4th. Jason Fitzgerald completed the top 5. Rodney Wing was 6th, Hunter Peacock finished 7th but saw a championship fade away in the closing stages of 2011. Dillon Wood finished 8th but held on to place 2nd in the standings at Bubba Raceway Park. Bo Allen and Brandon DeWitt completed the top 10. Lloyd and Whitener threw compliments and congratulations back and forth in victory lane and showed that 2 of the best are also 2 class acts.
In the only points battle that truly came down to the last race the Amsoil V-8 Thunderstocks gave the fans a thriller for the ages and gave fans of a certain driver heart attacks throughout as well. With the way the starting line-up was set the 2 competitors for the title, Jason Gamble and Brian Shea, were tied after the drop night of points (27 for Gamble; 0 for Shea) setting up a battle for the ages. Unfortunately, on lap 2 Luke Sadler and Donnie Dobbins got the blame for an accident that knocked the right front of Gamble’s 21 out of place. He was able to stay on track but was left hoping for a miracle. Scott Brumfield spun around on the restart while Robbie Shell lost a tire that nearly shot into the work area. Marlon Durbin spun on lap 10 and “Clutch” Jonathan Gillette made slight contact. A lap later Terry Dunbar had tire trouble. Meanwhile Davey Kinsey, Kevin Durden, and David Miller, Jr. were battling up front. On lap 13 the top 5 reshuffled after David Miller, Jr. and Kevin Durden made contact and both went to the tail. The Stalnaker brothers took advantage of that incident and went 2-3 for the restart. Jason Gamble spun 8 laps later bringing out the yellow. Another 8 laps were run before Luke Sadler lost his right rear and the field slowed again. Miller did the same with the left rear on lap 36. On the restart Mike Stalnaker scraped the wall with the right side and ended his night in turn 2. That allowed his brother Jeff to smell the front with just Kinsey to pass. On lap 42 Jason Gamble spun by himself knowing the championship may be lost but it was still a great season for his team. Kinsey went flag-to-flag while Stalnaker was a happy 2nd. Justin Durbin was a quiet 3rd. Jonathan Appleby originally finished 4th but was disqualified in the tech shed. That allowed the newly crowned champion “Speechless” Brian Shea to finish 4th and his team-mate Gordon Cade to complete the top 5. Kevin Durden was 6th, Jason Blackmer 7th, Shane Nichols 8th, Jeff Baer an up-and-down 9th, and Marlon Durbin completed the top 10. In victory lane Kinsey was happy to finally finish and reward owner Augie Burttram for all of the hard work Big Frog Motorsports puts in to every one of their race cars. On the other side of victory lane a mob of supporters had surrounded Brian Shea. Shea thanked sponsors, crew members, and supporters but had no other words.
From a battle that went until the final 50 laps to a championship that was sealed a few weeks ago. The Gladiators put on posiibly the best show of the entire week-end as they had more lead changes than the other 5 divisions combined. On lap 6 Jordan McMillan, last week’s winner, hit the wall in a 3-wide battle and the right front shot off of the 68. Steve Cox, the man who would be crowned champion later in the night, hit the tire and destroyed the radiator. His night was over. On the restart Denica Hetznecker was the meat in the sandwich and when Billy Holmes glanced off the wall he made incidental contact which sent the 16 into the outside wall before it tried to leave Bubba Raceway Park in turn 3. Hetznecker was okay but the #16 didn’t appear to be as fortunate. Just 2 laps later Reid Christensen overtook Curtis Clark for the lead but on lap 19 he gave it back as the engine began to expire. The 17D stopped on track a lap later as it had no power. Brad Fender, Jr. used the restart to position himself to battle with Clark and that they did. On lap 30 fender finally got around Clark but 2 laps later Clark took it back. On lap 39 Billy Holmes right front went flat ending a great run for driver #26. The final 11 laps of ’11 were green and Curtis Clark held on to the win. Fender was 2nd, Casey Feaster put pink in 3rd, Ray Hunter 4th, and Austin Stamper an impressive top 5. Steve Johnson cut a tire on the last lap and finished 6th, Rex Christensen was 7th, Billy Holmes 8th, Mike Autenreyth finished 9th, and Reid Christensen completed the top 10. Clark held the emotions in check in victory lane as did Steve Cox.
The season is over at Bubba Raceway Park but continue to check www.bubbaracewaypark.com or call the Speedway hotline at 352-622-9400. From all of us at Bubba Raceway Park we thank you for your continued support. Enjoy your holidays and we’ll see you in February!
Bubba Is Thankful Weekend Results
RaceCar Engineering Late Models in a National Late Model Series Southern Tour Event
1- 21 Ivedent Lloyd, Jr.
2- 58 Mark Whitener
3- 33 Jeff Mathews
4- 11K Austin Kirkpatrick
5- 35 Jason Fitzgerald
6- 11W Rodney Wing
7- 12 Hunter Peacock
8- 1W Dillon Wood
9- 71 Bo Allen
10- 2 Brandon DeWitt
11- 0 Mike Nasworthy
12- 01 Jack Nosbisch
13- 98 Casey Barrow
14- 46P Darrell Padgett
15- 1* John Koller
16- 88 Wallace Peacock
17- 15 Roger Crouse
18- 45 Bobby Richardson
19- 111 Andy Cobb
20- 99 Travis Carter
21- 23 VP Pipken
22- Z Tim Zackery
UMP DirtCar Open-Wheel Modifieds
1- D00 David Reutimann
2- 40 Wayne Hammond
3- 145 Jason Davis
4- 333 Ivedent Lloyd, Jr.
5- 00 Buzzie Reutimann
6- 44 Tim Powers
7- 40B Kyle Bronson
8- 61 Ronald Soltis
9- 78 Rich Pratt
10- OK Dalton Lanich
11- 34 Jim Passino
12- 11 Chuck Gustafson
13- 10 Scott Mooers
14- 12 David Moheng
15- Z06 Larry Mott
16- 94 Jeff Bagent
17- 33 Jeff Mathews
18- 2 Joe Belkey
19- 7 Kent Corbin
20- 31 Mark Whitener
21- 67 Garret Stewart
22- 41 Barry Sheffield
DNS- 57P Zack Pemann
DNS- 7P Matthew Permann
Barrett’s Race Cars And Componets Of Daytona Beach Hobby Stocks
1- 90 Tim Gay
2- 44 Tim Powers
3- 7S Chad Scranton
4- 36 Grady Christian
5- 56 Kevin Durden
6- 11 Johnny Zackery
7- 9 Sean Babcock
8- 81 Donald Woosley
9- 55W Buck Woodhouse
10- 12 Trevor Gamble
11- 83 Joe Boyd
12- 77M Mark Maresca
13- 44R Todd Roberts
14- 94 Robert Sirmons
15- 19 Mike Stalnaker
16- 109 Brett Barrett
17- 96J Scott Haas
18- 18 Eric Arminio
19- 73S Jeff Sargent
20- 50 Cody Kinsey
21- 27 Tommy Ausburn
22- 82 Mike Wade
Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants V-8 Thunderstocks
1- 58 Davey Kinsey
2- 77 Jeff Stalnaker, Jr.
3- 72X Justin Durbin
4- 19 Brian Shea
5- 121 Gordon Cade
6- 27 Kevin Durden
7- 39 Jason Blackmer
8- 65 Shane Nichols
9- 3 Jeff Baer
10- 1 Marlon Durbin
11- 21M David Miller, Jr.
12- 21G Jason Gamble
13- 64 Jonathan Gillette
14- 114 John Thorpe
15- 8 Mike Stalnaker
16- 15S Luke Sadler
17- 17L Ryan Lasik
18- 36 Grady Christian
19- 23 Gary Champion
20- 15V Mike Valdez
21- 72 Terry Dunbar
22- 33 Donnie Dobbins
23- 2W Robbie Shell
24- 238 Scott Brumfield
25- 3W Vaughn Woodall
DQ (tech)- 60 Jonathan Appleby
Mini Stocks
1- 22H Shirlene Hammond
2- 81 Buddy Pope
3- 21X Ray Folwell
4- 53 Brittany Yates
5- 75H Stephen Hahlbaugh
6- 19T Kris Prouty
7- 9H Nick Hebrank
8- 9 Ryan Babcock
9- 11M Megan Meyer
10- V3 Reid Christensen
11- 41 John Yates
12- 21 Ray Ethridge
Gladiators
1- 0 Curtis Clark
2- 9 Brad Fender, Jr.
3- 20 Casey Feaster
4- 79 Ray Hunter
5- 01 Austin Stamper
6- 81 Steve Johnson
7- 30 Rex Christensen
8- 26 Billy Holmes
9- 27 Mike Autenreyth
10- 17D Reid Christensen
11- 77K Matt Kramer
12- 3H Brandon Haseleu
13- 16 Denica Hetznecker
14- 3T Tony LaPorta
15- P38 Steve Cox
16- 68 Jordan McMillan
17- 96 Chris Maag