by BJ & Cindy Cavin

ORLANDO, FL-  Racers, race fans, and a lengthy list of unselfish sponsors and contributors, came together for the fifth time this past weekend for the Annual Charity Truckers 200 at Orlando Speedworld, all in an effort to raise funds to assist families in need due to serious illness.  Three families were selected from a long list of worthy recipients, each with a family member whose medical expenses have created financial hardships.

Promoter and race organizer Rick Bristol, made it a point all weekend to emphasize that although the event was about racing, the real reason for the effort was to help those in need, and many of the race’s finishers heeded those words and donated their winnings back to the cause. In all a grand total of $22,343.00 was raised, which translates to $7,446.66 going to each family from this year’s event.

The race was won by Auburndale’s Mike Smith, who lead the starting field to the green flag from the pole position.  Smith took control early despite a challenge from Joe Fitos, and he, Fitos, and Blake Koch, quickly formed a lead pack of three trucks that began pulling away from the rest of the pack. Traffic quickly became an issue as the leaders caught the tail of the field within two laps, as did the yellow flag as a few spins at the rear portion of the field slowed things down, and between the two no racers were able to breakaway and create an insurmountable gap.

Steve Darvalics picked his way through the top three, finally ending up in second place behind Smith and looking for a passing opportunity. Darvalics got his shot late in the first half of the race, ducking under Smith in turn 3 and racing side by side with the leader for two laps before the caution waved for a unrelated spin, thus thwarting the effort.  Once the green returned Smith was onto Darvalics’ game plan and refused to allow him to get into position for another attempt.

As the trucks entered the halfway break and received service from their pit crews, Mike Smith held the lead with Steve Darvalics in second place.  Blake Koch held onto the third spot, followed by Joe Fitos and Bruce Bennett as the green waved to begin the second 100 laps.  It quickly became evident that if any team had counted on any long green flag runs in the second half, that it was not going to happen as a flurry of spins and mishaps resulted in multiple cautions.

And it was during one of these cautions that second place runner Steve Darvalics may have run over some debris, as on the restart he quickly slid high in turn one and began losing positions as a tire went down.  That incident might have been the end of Darvalics’ chances but for yet another quick caution for a spin in turn 4, allowing the 41 machine to duck into the infield for a tire change and not lose a lap, but with 27 of 30 trucks still running Darvalics had quite a mess to pick his way through to get back to the front from the rear of the lead lap trucks.

With Darvalics dealing with traffic issues at the rear, Blake Koch moved into the second position and began his efforts to dislodge Mike Smith from the lead spot while Chad Pierce entered the top three, followed by J.R. Garcia and Jessica Green.  Spins and cautions continued, and on each successive restart Smith proved too powerful for Koch to overtake. But the constant cautions worked well for Steve Darvalics, who by lap 172 had fought his way back to the top 5, thus complicating matters for the lead group which had settled down and were clicking off laps in preparation for whatever planned advances they might mount in the final circuits.

A late caution for a two truck tangle in turn 2 came with only ten laps to go, bunching up the field and setting the stage for a heated battle on the restart, and as the green flew on lap 196 Blake Koch pulled out and attempted to challenge Mike Smith for the lead.  That move turned out to be the wrong one for Koch, who got trapped on the outside when Smith proved too fast and lost three positions.  Meanwhile Steve Darvalics took advantage of the situation and muscled his way forward, bypassing two trucks to jump into line behind Smith.

But with the white flag already waving Darvalics had no time to repeat his earlier challenge for the lead and Mike Smith claimed the win, plus collected the $2000 in lap money as a result of leading all 200 laps of racing.  Darvalics settled for the second spot while Chad Pierce claimed third place.  Bruce Bennett got the fourth place finish followed by Blake Koch, who salvaged fifth place after his challenge to Smith went awry.

Three other divisions hit the asphalt in support of the cause on Saturday night, including the only Bandalero which signed into the pit area.  Nicholas Beluth was not denied some track time, as he was awarded the first place hardware and allowed to do a solo green/white/checkered exhibition as a reward for his time and efforts.  And Beluth did not disappoint the fans as he drove the car as if he were in the midst of a qualifying effort, hitting the turns at max speed and all but spinning out at one point.

Saturday night’s Champ Kart race was quite a show as multiple combinations of carts hooked up to form drafts and make repeated charges toward the front.  Any combination higher than three machines would quickly break into smaller packs that pulled out and charged forward, resulting in multiple leaders at various times and making for some very exciting racing.  The final laps saw Romay Vewta pullout and make a run to the front, which set off a wild charge by three other carts at race leader Chase Fitzgerald.  The resulting four wide finish was so close that video had to be used to determine the winner.  In victory lane both the first and second place finishers watched the video, after which Rusty Chauncey, who had already been handed the winner’s trophy, unselfishly handed the trophy to Tim Simmons, who appeared to have won on the video replay.  However, race officials in the tower awarded the win to Chauncey, as the transponder system indicated that he had crossed the line first.   Chase Fitzgerald was scored as the second place finisher, with Tim Simmons scored in third place.  Dennis Mace and Romay Vewta rounded out the top five.

The Champ Karts also had a go at Orlando Speedworld on Friday night, with Doug Schmidt claiming the win with Chase Fitzgerald finishing second.  Tara Henderson had worked well drafting with Fitzgerald during the race and claimed the third spot, while J.D. Corson took fourth place and Rusty Chauncey was fifth.

Saturday night’s action wrapped up with the Legends Cars who battled for 20 laps before Darin Coker claimed the victory.  The race had been scheduled for 30 laps, but due to an early flurry of cautions and one red flag situation, race officials shortened the event.  Jake Perkins held the early lead and looked to have the race well in hand, but Coker worked his way forward from his less than optimum starting position and bypassed Donovan Ponder for second place, then went to work on Perkins for the lead.  Dave Gleason was also on the move, working his way to second in the final laps as Coker got past Perkins on the backstretch to gain the lead.  Dave Gleason followed Coker to the checkers for second place while Jake Perkins settled for the third spot.  Donovan Ponder was fourth with Jimmy Norman claiming the fifth spot.

Other action from Friday night’s schedule included the Fast Mini Cup Cars in a race that was won by James Irish.  Rich Clouser claimed victory over the Super Stocks, and Neil Kirby overcame a strong field of Strictly Stocks in a hotly contested battle.  Also making the trip to Orlando on Friday was a respectable field from the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association vintage race cars.

” I am so amazed at the response of the sponsors, drivers, crews , officials and fans that help us make this all happen. I am so very thankful and proud of them all. Each year our goal has been to grow this event, it has. With all that has gone on in this economy and the pretty tough year for many it has been, we were still able to beat last years amount and set a new goal. I want to wish all of the folks that came to our sides, that sponsored, that gave, served and prayed a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! To all the sponsors Fountain Motorsports, MJS Concrete, Biscayne Roofing, Coulter Motorsports, Subway, Gary Yeoman’s Ford, Ford Racing, Brun’s Inc. General Contractors, Webb’s Commercial Services, Florida Lift Systems Inc. along with all the lap and award sponsors, thank you for giving us what we need to make the event happen. ” stated Rick Bristol, Charity Truckers 200 promoter and organizer.

Many other awards were given over the weekend thanks to the generosity of many fine sponsors.  Those awards and winners are as follows:

Casey Caudill Motorsports Fast Qualifier- Stephen Darvalics
Rex Engineering Hard Charger Award/Race Car Engineering Hard Charger- Mike Powers
Eye Spy Detective Agency Halfway Leader Award- Mike Smith
Florida Lift Systems Inc. Hard Luck Award- Roger Blevins
Florida Lift Systems Inc. Lucky Dog Award- Jim Cowhey Jr.
Florida Lift Systems Inc. Fast Lap of the Race Award- Mike Smith
Dannis & Dannis Inc. Calculated Move of the Race Award- Jessica Green
Rex Engineering That’s Just Racin’ Award- Anthony Sergi
Race Car Engineering Most Missing Pieces Award- Joe Fitos
Race Car Engineering Finish Bonuses- Mike Smith, Blake Koch, Colby Clements, Jim Cowhey Jr.
ARP Race Bodies 13th Place Bonus Award- J.R. Garcia
Schoenfeld Headers 20th Place Bonus Award- Jeff Dulaney
Gary Yeoman Ford Racing Bonuses- Chad Pierce, Jessica Green, J.R. Garcia, Eric Pierce
Tampa Bay Champions Jacket Award- Mike Smith

Official Results:

5th Annual Charity Truckers 200

1- 23 Mike Smith
2- 41 Steve Darvalics
3- 14 Chad Pierce
4- 124 Bruce Bennett
5- 2X Blake Koch
6- 1 Tommy King
7- 40 Jessica Green
8- 05 Mike Powers
9- 6 Joe Fitos
10- 17 Colby Clements
11- 20 Anthony Sergi
12- 55 Scott Reeves
13- 13 J.R. Garcia
14- 17X Ken Lilley
15- 2 Jim Cowhey Jr.
16- 14X Mike Burns
17- 30X Eric Pierce
18- 26 Jessica Murphy
19- 121 Andy Leserra
20- 15 Jeff Dulaney
21- 18 Jason Rosarius
22- 17G Bill Gould
23- 63 Zachory Curtis
24- 37 Nick Hernandez
25- 94 Andy Megronigle
26- 51 Roger Blevins
27- 18H Cheyne Hammond
28- 24 Michael Pilla
29- 00 Whitney Poole
30- 14S Sam Scott