by Dave Westerman
Judging from the number of phone calls and e-mails this week, Auburndale Speedway is bracing for an SRO crowd this Saturday night as the Late Models will be in action in the AMF Chassis/Chassis Works 100 racing for a purse of over $22,000 in cash and contingencies. The Late Models will be joined by seven other classes including the Legend Cars, Sportsman, Mini Cups, V-8 Bombers, Scramblers, Bandoleros and the Kids Club.
With the possible exception of the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, the Late Models will be running for the biggest purse offered for an asphalt race this year in the State of Florida. Sixty-three drivers are eligible for the bonus money added to the purse because they have run at least one of the other Late Model events staged at Auburndale this year although there are several entries who will be here for the first time this season including veteran “Big Daddy” Dave Pletcher of St. Petersburg and Jason Boyd of Orlando. Boyd has been concentrating on the Modified class at the two FASCAR-sanctioned tracks, Orlando SpeedWorld and New Smyrna Speedway, but has secured a ride for the Late Model event here this week.
Needless to say, there will be plenty of stiff competition this week. Point leader Jeff Scofield, with two victories on the season, has seen his point lead cut to 42 by ageless veteran Perry Lovelady who has had a very good year this year. Young Ryan Lisak has parlayed several steady runs to a third in points just four markers in back of Lovelady. Another young hard-charger, Jason Vail, is fourth in points and is only 26 behind Lisak.
Tim Russell has entered four of the six Late Model races at Auburndale this year and won three of them scoring enough points to sit fifth in points, just three back of Vail. Daniel Webster is the only other driver to win a Late Model event on the quarter-mile this year and plans to pull out all the stops this week to take home the big money. Webster is tied for eighth in points with another veteran enjoying a resurgence this year, David King.
The season didn’t start out well for King as his throttle hung wide open during his qualifying lap for the first race of the year and he did his best to knock down the turn one wall. Since then, King has had a string of excellent finishes including a third last time out. “I think when we fixed it, we somehow made it faster,” says King.
Expect many other top drivers to be looking for their pot of gold at the end of the 100 lap rainbow including Ron Lofquist, Kevin Ingram, Joe Boyd, Anthony Campi, Rusty Ebersole, Chris Fontaine, Johnathan Guy, Danny Maddox, Josh Todd, Joe Winchell and many, many more.
The Legend Cars return after a two week hiatus and another big field of the cars that are powered by 1250CC Yamaha motorcycle engines is expected. Jake Perkins holds the current point lead over Gerald White, Jr. by 32. The two young drivers have combined for 14 feature race victories this year. Justin Brown has moved back to third in Legend Car points but is 98 behind White.
Mark Medeiros cut just slightly into Dave Dunkin’s Sportsman point lead last week and is poised to get even closer this week as the Sportsman have rare back-to-back races. Dunkin holds a 26 point advantage over Medeiros while last weeks winner Brandon Duchscherer is third but too far behind the lead duo to challenge for the season title. Rick Ragan’s recent win has propelled him to the top of the Mini Cup point standings. Ragan has just a four point margin over Georgia driver John Beach.
Third place Harold Crooms is 50 points back of Beach but is no longer racing in the class which means the season title will come down a battle between Ragan and Beach.
Kimberly Gullett continues to hold a big lead in Scrambler points, now 116 ahead of Richard Brown. Brian Tyre won last week and is now just eight points behind Brown. Meanwhile, Josh Borem maintains a comfortable advantage in the V-8 Bombers leading second place Buddy Phillips, Jr. by 78 points. Preston Davis has three straight wins in the class and is solidly in third place but is still 118 behind Phillips.
Pit gates open at 2PM and grandstand gates open at 5PM. Qualifying for all classes except Mini Cups and the Kids Club begins at 5:30PM and racing begins at 7PM. Unlike many tracks, Auburndale Speedway does not raise admission prices for special events, so adult admission is the usual $12, seniors are $10, kids aged 5-12 are $5 and children age 4 and under are free. A family “four-pack” (two adults and two kids age 5-12) is $25. The first 250 fans through the gate will get a free hat and t-shirt courtest Wix Filters. Fans are asked to arrive as early as possible to secure their favorite seats and avoid long lines expected near race time.
NOTES:
Fans will have the chance to cart off some neat prizes this week. Midas Jewelers is giving away his and her watches and Aaron’s will be on hand with a big raffle that will include prizes like a big screen television and a whole lot more.
“Lindsey’s Little Racers” will be giving away two more bicycles to a pair of lucky kids this week thanks to the Lions Club of Auburndale. Two prize packs will also be up for grabs courtesy of Aaron’s. Forty lucky kids will win a free ice cream treat this week thanks to Sportsman driver Dave Dunkin and Street Stock drivers Jeff Waterman, Matt McCrary and Cody McDuffie.
Sponsors for this weeks Late Model race include AMF Chassis, Chasis Works, Progressive Race Engines, American Racer Tires, Florida’s Barn, Lilley Air Conditioning, Ray Hester, Hobby Crap Stores, All Pro U-Pull-It, Earth Scapes, JPL Auto Empire and Choo Choo Lawn Equipment… THANKS!!
Legend Cars of Florida continues to work in a handicapped situation since their parts trailer was stolen just over two weeks ago. Among the items that also were in the trailer were the Legend Car that is driven by Zach Napoleon and the Bandolero of Nick Baluch. Russ Thomson, who heads up Legends Cars of Florida, says he just about has a car ready for Napoleon and has purchased a Bandolero from Mark Bibeau and given it to Baluch. “We should have enough parts available for anybody who needs them this week,” says Thomson who is waiting for his insurance company to come through to help him get a new trailer and his inventory back up to snuff, but we all know those companies are in no hurry to settle claims.
Auburndale Speedway Legend Car point leader Jake Perkins nearly won the National Point Championship for the Legend Car Young Lions class finishing just three points behind North Carolina driver Sean Shalvoy. By the way, Perkins turns 14 years old this week. Just think, in another year he’ll be able to drive a car on the street in Florida… with a learner’s permit!
Another big field of Legend Cars are expected this week. Bandolero standout Ryan Shattuck, who has won nearly every race he has entered at Auburndale this year, has his new Legend Car and may be in the field this week. Legends Cars of Florida’s Thomson indicates he has a big list of individuals wanting to do their “test ride” program but has had to put that on hold until he gets another trailer. Look for 2011 to be a huge year for the Legend Car class at Auburndale Speedway.
Fans are reminded that they are invited to the special Late Model practice session that will be held from 5-8PM Friday evening. Only the pit side gate will be open and admission is just $10. Fans can chat with the drivers and get an “up close and personal” look at the racecars along with having a free hot dog or hamburger. Once practice is over, free beer will be available.
And for those who say that Track Owner Rex Guy is “all wet,” they will be right this week! Rex will be sitting in a dunk tank both Friday and Saturday night and is encouraging everybody to “soak him to the bone.” Since temperatures are expected to dip into the upper 50s and low 60s both nights, Rex’s wife Colette will have plenty of chicken soup on hand to keep him warm!
?Points as of October 9, 2010:
LATE MODELS:
1-#07 Jeff Scofield 483 (2 wins)
2-#50 Perry Lovelady 441
3-#17 Ryan Lisak 437
4-#407 Jason Vail 411
5-#36 Tim Russell 408 (3 wins)
6-#49 Ron Lofquist 398
7-#21 Kevin Ingram 382
8-#22 David King 369
#33 Daniel Webster 369 (1 win)
10-#5 Joe Boyd 307
OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS:
1-#56 James Wright III 1242 (2 wins)
2-#98 Wayne Morris 1118 (1 win)
3-#75 Bobby Blake 1116 (2 wins)
4-#87 Keith Lilley 1060 (2 wins)
5-#01 Von Pope 825
6-#10 Travis Roland 690 (1 win)
7-#00 Shawn Harper 614
8-#19 Kevin Macy 598 (1 win)
9-#03 Kyle Bookmiller 596 (2 wins)
10-#07 Harold Crooms 572
SPORTSMAN:
1-#71 Dave Dunkin 596 (7 wins)
2-#13 Mark Medeiros 570 (2 wins)
3-#22 Brandon Duchscherer 360 (2 wins)
4-#8 Austin Carr 278 (1 win)
5-#55 Richard Elkins, Jr. 258
6-#60 Richard Fiore, Jr. 242
7-#1 Bart Weatherford 238
8-#89 Brett Jenkins 232
9-#77 Lance Daubach 228 (2 wins)
10-#8 Chuck Harrison, Jr. 214
MODIFIED MINI STOCKS:
1-#89 Scotty Sharpe 504 (2 wins)
2-#55 Mike Sweet 490 (3 wins)
3-#15 Jason Rendell 472 (3 wins)
4-#45 Dennis Jones 322
5-#07 Bruce Anderson 218
6-#85 Drew Carter 210
7-#37 Brandon McSwain 190 (1 win)
8-#26 Jimmy Pugh 186
9-#02 Bo Collier 184
10-#38 Burt Morse 170 (2 wins)
TRUCKS:
1-#16 Tim Sozio 246 (1 win)
2-#2 Jim Cowhey, Jr. 242
3-#99 Brent Tyler 220
4-#37 Nick Hernandez 202 (1 win)
5-#87 Keith Lilley 170 (3 wins)
6-#15 Roger Blevins 160
7-#18 Cheyne Hammond 156
8-#23 Mike Smith 124
9-#54 Zach Harris 122
10-#25 David Hartin 110
LEGEND CARS:
1-#59 Jake Perkins 834 (6 wins)
2-#38 Gerald White, Jr. 802 (8 wins)
3-#8 Justin Brown 704 (1 win)
4-#71 Mason Ketterman 692
5-#07 Dave Gleason 660
6-#31 Lynn Wiles 590
7-#4R Zach Napoleon 470
8-#7 Dakota Baggette 446
#4 Tyler Smith 446 (4 wins)
10-#21 Devin McLeod 380
STREET STOCKS:
1-#5 Matt McCrary 962
2-#42 Jeff Waterman 942 (4 wins)
3-#4 Dave Colpritt 762 (4 wins)
4-#56 James Wright III 746 (8 wins)
5-#29 Bobby Mobley 630 (4 wins)
6-#53 Kyle Peters 606 (4 wins)
7-#17 Kyle Hall 520
8-#25 Cody McDuffie 506 (1 win)
9-#142 Chris Spring 360
10-#65 Ken Lawrence 300
MINI STOCKS:
1-#42 Chris Spring 1102 (9 wins)
2-#21 Fred Harrison, Jr. 1078 (10 wins)
3-#40 Jason Swilley 700
4-#3 Chris Narramore, Sr. 532 (3 wins)
5-#33 Donnie Guy 470
6-#4 Marilyn McCrary 412
7-#551 Mark Wells 432
8-#88 Kevin Steadman 326
9-#46 Randy King 302
10-#2 Dwight Ryals, Jr. 258
V-8 BOMBERS:
1-#111 Josh Borem 956 (5 wins)
2-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr. 878 (1 win)
3-#89 Preston Davis 740 (6 wins)
4-#56 James Wright, Jr. 548 (2 wins)
5-#96 Larry Chumney II 514 (3 wins)
6-#88 Gene Harrison 478 (2 wins)
7-#51 Matt Johns 456
8-#0 Paul Bookmiller 352
9-#105 Jeff Lacey 308
10-#96 Larry Chumney, Sr. 276 (2 wins)
SCRAMBLERS:
1-#28 Kimberly Gullett 824 (4 wins)
2-#62 Richard Brown 708
3-#66 Brian Tyre 700 (3 wins)
4-#71 Dave Canfield 460 (1 win)
5-#00 Chad Cutting 438 (1 win)
6-#8 Richie Acres 328 (4 wins)
7-#77 Jeremy Watts 286
8-#17 Jerry Pruitt 272
9-#42 Mike Bauer 246
10-#01 George Gorham, Jr. 244 (1 win)
MINI CUPS:
1-#21 Rick Ragan 188 (1 win)
2-#74 John Beach 184
3-#7 Harold Crooms 134 (2 wins)
4-#47 Brandon Beach 130
5-#07 Tyler Scofield 114 (1 win)
6-#14 Sam Scott 112 (1 win)
7-#2 Skip Baird 104
8-#22 Rick Cline, Sr. 102
9-#27X Dale Pulst 82
10-#46 Frank Beach 80
BANDOLEROS:
BANDITS:
1-#38 Cameron White 940 (4 wins)
2-#5 Derek Sobel 148 (2 wins)
3-#30 Noah Cornman 130
#55 Michael Held 130
5-#1Jr Dustin Turnage 44
4-#19 Keith Sinkula 42
OUTLAWS:
1-#96 Teddy Lively 634 (6 wins)
2-#48 Andy Metz 588 (2 wins)
3-#11 Daniel Conlin, Jr. 304
4-#13 Ryan Shattuck 276 (5 wins)
5-#1 Mark Bibeau 238
6-#03 Jake Hunter 228
7-#65 Coty Bibeau 164 (1 win)
8-#16 Nick Baluch 86
9-#83 Joey Padgett 76
10-#65 Daniel Conlin, Sr. 28
FIGURE EIGHTS:
1-#14 Wayne Calkins 114
2-#31 Wayne Whitehead 98
3-#03 Paul Bokmiller 66
4-#27 John Baranauskas 62
5-#89 Rodney Davis 60
6-#25 Ronnie Powell 40 (1 win)
#0 Jimmy Thompson 40 (1 win)
8-#4 Terry Zimmerman 36
9-#A6 J.R. Meyer 34
#89X William Hindman 34