Week number two of NASCAR Whelan All American Series action saw some outstanding competition on a warm, muggy night as second-generation driver Travis Cope of Weeki Wachee proved dominant in the headline race of the night, the Bright House Challenge 100 for the Super Late Models.
A dozen Super Lates checked in for action with Orlando’s David Rogers, the defending and four-time Bright House Series champion, setting quick time at 13.765 seconds, just ahead of Daniel Keene, Jr.’s 13.782 lap. Rogers pulled the three pill placing third-fast qualifier Dusty Cornelius of Cocoa on the pole for the 100-lap feature race.
Cornelius shot out from his pole slot into a rather substantial early lead as Rogers slipped by Keene but was not able to match the speed of Cornelius. Meanwhile, Travis Cope had moved to third and was putting the pressure on Rogers, eventually getting by the veteran and now having his sights set on the leader. Cope quickly cut the deficit between himself and Cornelius in half, then seemed to back off a bit to save his tires as the race continued under green.
By lap 40, Cope had had enough of “riding” and quickly closed on Cornelius making a relatively easy pass for the lead on lap 42. At half way, Cope led Cornelius, Rogers, Keene and T. J. Duke. Keene slipped by Rogers on lap 60 as it was clear the handling had gone away on Rogers’ TM Ranch machine.
The first caution flag flew on lap 65 as Anthony Sergi went for a slide off
turn four. Keene was on the move on the restart passing Cornelius for second but it was clear he was no match for Cope who was in a league of his own.
Rich Clouser, who started ninth after a disappointing qualifying run, was on the charge and took over fifth and began to close on Rogers as the second, and final yellow flag of the race appeared on lap 79 when Duke lost power and was unable to coast into the infield.
Cope had the field covered for the remaining distance but Clouser wasn’t done though as he tracked down and passed Cornelius for third on lap 86. From that point it was a fast run to the checker as Cope won with room to spare. Keene settled for a nice runner-up finish while Clouser was very happy with his hard-fought third place effort. Cornelius held on for fourth while rooke sensation Anthony Cataldi made a late charge for fifth. Rogers faded to sixth at the finish ahead of Jake Perkins, Sergi and Vince Keeler. Unable to finish the grind were Duke, Shaughn McCormick and Louisiana visitor Chet Morrison.
With his victory, Cope took over the Bright House Challenge point lead.
Lady drivers grabbed the top two spots in the Pro Truck feature after a highly entertaining race that saw a little bit of everything happen before the checkered flag fell. Colby Clements snared the early lead and looked strong until the caution flag came out when Matthew Green went for a spin off the bumper of Whitney Poole’s truck. Poole took responsibility for the incident and Green was placed back in his second place spot for the restart. Once back under way, Green caught
fire and began to press Clements for the lead while Poole got around Becca Monopoli to take back third spot.
As the field began lap 18, Clements and Green collided in turn one with
Clements looping his mount. At this point, both were placed at the rear of
the field giving the top position to Poole who had made it to the track late and only gotten a handful of practice laps. The young lady from Vero Beach led the remaining seven laps to claim the victory over Monopoli. Clements held off Green for third with Jerry Maxson fifth.
Deland’s Ernie Tummenillo came out on top of a marathon Super Stock feature that saw numerous caution flags and took nearly an hour to run.
Donny Funk started from the pole and was able to fend off all challengers despite several double-file restarts due to the excessive number of yellows.
On the final restart on lap 19, Funk’s car began to slow with a deflating tire and Ernie Tummenillo took over the top spot. From there Tummenillo streaked away for the win as Justin Reynolds gave chase but had to settle for second on what he said were “old tires.” Young Michael Held was impressive coming back from a couple of incidents to finish third ahead of Jeff Cuddy and Brandon Christian. Charles King was the only other car running at the end and took sixth spot while Funk was credited with seventh after pulling off on the white flag lap. Unable to complete the 25-lap distance and scored eighth through twelfth were J. T. Tippins, Gino Tummenillo, Bobby Cuddy, David Gould and Art Hendren.
Shain Held zipped by early leader Matt Wheeler on lap 18 and drove away from the field to win the Open-Wheel Modified feature event. Wheeler held on for second trailed by Earl Beckner, Doc McKinney and Herb Simpson.
When Pinellas Park racing veteran Rick Sirmans and his wife Kim decided to head east to watch their friend Travis Cope run the Bright House race, they decided to bring their Mini Stock with them. The move proved to be a good one as Sirmans won the 25-lap Mini Stock feature after a dandy back-and-forth battle with defending track champion David Russell of Melbourne.
Russell led the first three laps before Sirmans took over until a caution flag on lap five. Russell re-claimed the top spot on the restart and the gamely held off Sirmans until lap 16 when Sirmans took over again. A lap 20 caution gave Russell another chance but Sirmans was up to the task as he drove the Fascats Cattery machine to the win over Russell, Brad Blanton, Ray Hindman, Scott Jarrett (who flew in from his new home in Colorado to race) and Mark Broat. “This is pretty neat,” said Sirmans. “Travis (Cope) wins the Bright House race and we win our race. I really like this race track, I just wish we could get a few more cars,” he said.
Doug Samion has a habit of bringing old cars out of moth balls to race and he did it again Friday night. The Orlando driver brought a rust-covered Oldsmobile to the track that had not seen action in several years and dominated the Strictly Stock feature, leading flag-to-flag. Trailing Samion to the checker where Jim “Crusher” Erb, Wes Railing, Jr., Shane Sutorus, Eddie Moran and Donald Springer.
Probably the most entertaining race of the night was the one between Ryan Pierce and David Owen in the Bandoleros. The pair swapped the lead five times in twelve laps before Pierce took over on the final lap to score the victory over Owen. Brett Suggs had the best seat in the house as he watched the lead pair do battle from his eventual third-place finish.
Next week, April 19th, The Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Sportsman cars, Super Stocks, Strictly Stocks and Bandoleros will be in action starting at 8 pm.
