Jim Rouse (Ocala, FL)- The 5th week of racing at Bubba Raceway Park will be intense as the Crate Late Models will run their first points race for the NeSmith Weekly Series. Joining them will be the E-Mods, Hobby Stocks, 1-800-ASK GARY Thunder Stocks, and the Rent-N-Roll Gladiators.The Crate Late Models ran a race earlier in 2013 with Bryan Bernhardt the victor. He now leads the standings over Jeff Mathews. Mathews, a 4-time Modified champion, will take the fight to Bernhardt but must also fight off 3rd place drivers Kenny Monohan and 10-year old Tyler Clem. Monohan has excelled in both disciplines so far while Clem continues to mature and has embraced the confidence that comes with being 10-and-a-half. Bernhardt has a tough task ahead of him if he’s to stay undefeated in the Crate Late Models.
After 2 shots for the E-Mods they get another chance to take Shane Nichols down. Nichols is up by a few points on Shane Taylor and Roy Crain. The Taylor boys, Shane and Shawn, will put the fight on and, along with Crain, try to end the reign of car #65. Nichols has won 4-in-a-row before and he’s hlfway there again; can he do it again?
The Bubba Army Hobby Stocks have a coupld of young drivers at the top of the board in Hunter Gustafson and Devin Walker. Gustafson leads Walker by just 3 points after 3 races while Donnie Ashford sits 42 out after failing to start the last feature. Walker, however, claimed early in 2013 that the Walker Team would travel throughout Florida- if he leaves his spot open, Sean Monoghan could snatch it from him and chase a championship himself. It’s wide open, just like in the next division.
Of course, the 1-800-ASK GARY Thunder Stocks are just as competitive as ever! Defending champion Jonathan Appleby said his car was ‘trashed’ in last week’s crash so he leaves the door open in his title defense. Harold Erickson leads Tony Campbell by just 2 points and William Gillam sits 3 behind Tony. Those 3 all struggled last week and allowed Brandon Tillander to jump into 4th and he has a chance at the lead. Gillam, a rookie, will try to get career win #1 as well as Tillander and Campbell; Erickson has plenty of wins but has shown no interest in running for championships. Again, the door is wide open.
Finally, the Rent-N-Roll Gladiators have a tight battle between Jerry Taylor and Josh Fincher. Taylor leads Fincher by just 5 points while Robert Gullett sits well back, 41 out. Taylor and Gullett each have a feature win while Fincher has a career best of 2nd. Stephen Frankland will take the fight to them along with Devan Pegel, Tom Sheehan, and Kody Fisher and the door here is also wide open!
Bubba Raceway Park starts racing at 7 with the pits opening at 4 and the grandtsands at 5. For more info lease visit www.bubbaracewaypark.com or call us at 352-622-9400!